Former minister Mushtaq Bukhari passes away

Rajouri, Oct 2: Former minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s candidate from Surankote assembly constituency of Poonch, Syed Mushtaq Ahmad Bukhari passed away on Wednesday after suffering a cardiac arrest at his home in Surankote.

Bukhari, 75, was a resident of Surankote sub-division in Poonch district.

His family members said that Bukhari complained of uneasiness on Wednesday morning following which he suffered a cardiac arrest and breathed his last.

“We are in a state of shock and we inform our beloved Syed Mushtaq Ahmad Bukhari suffered a massive cardiac arrest on Wednesday morning and passed away,” his family members said.

Thousands of people, including politicians from different political parties, visited Bukhari’s residence at Surankote and offered condolences.

His Nimaz-e-Janazah, attended by thousands of people, was offered at Surankote Masjid on Wednesday afternoon.

Addressing the gathering, religious, social, and political personalities discussed Bukhari's social and political contributions and termed him a stalwart political leader whose demise would be an irreparable loss to society.

Bukhari remained affiliated with the National Conference for decades and contested assembly elections on the party mandate multiple times.

He won in the 1996 and 2002 assembly elections and was also inducted as a cabinet minister for the Social Welfare Department.

He also served as Vice Chairman of the State Pahari Advisory Board.

Bukhari, who was considered to be close to three-time chief minister Farooq Abdullah and his family, went against the party last year regarding the granting of ST status to the Pahari ethnic clan.

Earlier, he announced to stand with any political party that grants ST status to Paharis and later joined the BJP after a bill was passed in the parliament.

Bukhari was also announced as BJP’s assembly candidate from the Surankote constituency from where he contested the polls.