Doda, Sept 2: Declared ‘Prisoner of Conscious’ by Amnesty International for spending 12 years in prison, National Conference stalwart Ghulam Muhammad, known as Bhaderwahi,  passed away after prolonged illness in Jammu on Thursday morning.
 He was 90. His body was brought to his ancestral place Bhaderwah, where he was laid to rest in the afternoon.
 Born on July 3, 1920, G M Bhaderwahi was one of the stalwarts of National Conference from Jammu region and a close aide of Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah. He, however, parted ways from the active politics after tragic death of his eldest son, Jaffar Hussain and subsequently after eruption of militancy.
 Bhaderwahi joined politics in 1937 and was later arrested from Lahore for his participation in Wazir Wazarat Movement. Immediately after his release, he was again arrested from Amritsar.
 He later joined Police Telecommunication Wing but was discharged from the service on the allegation that he connected someone in Pakistan over the official wireless set. Later after his brief tenure with Indian Railways, he joined Plebiscite movement with Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah in 1953 and was arrested.
 He remained one of the most active leaders from the Jammu region to participate in the movement. He remained general secretary of National Conference.
 However, he left the post in 1976 and contested elections in 1977 against Janata Dal candidate AG Goni from Inderwal constituency.
 He contested and won assembly polls from Indrewal, he remained minister in Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah and later Dr Farooq Abdullah’s cabinet. He later left National Conference and joined Ghulam Muhammad Shah for a brief period.
 Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has expressed sorrow over the demise of  G M Bhaderwahi. In a condolence message, Omar said that Bhaderwahi remained attached to the people throughout his life.
 Union Minister Dr Farooq Abdullah and general Secretary, N C Sheikh Nazir Ahmad have condole his demise.

Lastupdate on : Thu, 2 Sep 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Thu, 2 Sep 2010 18:30:00 GMT
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