J&K Congress veteran Ghulam Rasool Kar passes away at 94

The last surviving member of the J&K Constituent Assembly and veteran Congress leader Ghulam Rasool Kar passed away Friday after a brief illness in north Kashmir’s Sopore town. He was 94.

In 1996, Kar took out a peace procession from Qazigund to Uri when all the mainstream politicians of Kashmir had left the Valley due to fear of militant threats. During the rally, Kar was roughed up and hit by a stone.

A member of the Constituent Assembly from 1951 to 1957, Kar was born in 1921 at Sopore. He was elected as a member of the Assembly in 1957. He served as a minister in state governments from 1965 to 1971 and later from 1972 to 1975. He was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in 1984 where he served his term till 1987 and from 1987-90 he again served as the minister and later was elected as Member of Parliament in 1996. Kar also served as J&K Pradesh Congress Committee president.

Kar started his political career with Muslim Conference. He was the first politician who visited Haji Peer on the Line of Control after Indian troops captured it. Kar was the only leader of the Valley who was close to the Gandhi family. He, however, was declined mandate by the party from Sopore in 2008 elections. During past few years, he kept his distance from politics.

CM Mufti Mohammad Sayeed referred his close association with the deceased leader. “He was full of political wisdom and in his death we have lost a great visionary leader who tirelessly struggled for raising the issues of the weaker sections of the society,” Mufti said.

Source:: Indian Express