Having him as a neighbour was a solace…

The solace of having a kind neighbour is no less than a blessing for anyone. I was blessed to have late Ghulam Mohididin Pandit as my neighbour. This neighbourhood boosted the bond of brotherhood and fraternity among us. This proximity resulted in frequent exchange of ideas & discussions as well, like social, political and religious issues.

Mr. Ghulam Mohididin Pandit was strongly influenced by Syed Inayatullah Andrabi, who was among the pioneers of kashmiri’s ideological awakening against illegal Indian occupation of kashmir. Despite not being a huge ideological icon, Mr Ghulam Mohididin Pandit was dedicated and committed to the cause of Kashmir as per his level of understanding, sincerity and conviction till his last breath.

Whenever I met him, I used to see him consumed & concerned about the global Muslim crisis in general and Kashmir imbroglio in particular. He had pinned huge hopes on Pakistan PM Imran khan, vis-a-vis kashmir, over which we largely differed & has strong disagreements. Nevertheless we shared a common agreement over shia-sunni unity & sectarian bashing that was undermining the soul of Islam. Both of us considered 1979, Islamic Revolution of Iran as the watershed moment in global Muslim history. We agreed upon this model of change to be followed by other Muslim states to purge them of deep social, political & religious crises.

Despite being among the earliest most activist of Kashmir freedom movement, he never had any inclination for material pursuits of the world, unlike others who started this journey with him but ended up as millionaires and compromised the sacredness of the freedom movement. Late Ghulam Mohihidin never had any remorse or any iota of regret for missing an opportunity to amass riches.

Nevertheless, The death is most unchallengeable reality in the journey of life. Mr. Ghulam Mohihidin had his day as well. On the fateful Friday night of 21 may 2021, my beloved friend responded to the call of angel of death and thus kashmir lost one more dedicated, honest and sincere son of soil. His void will be felt immensely by the likes of him. Wherever they are….