Tributes paid to Kashmiri intellectual

Islamabad : Intellectuals, academicians, and scholars from different parts of the world termed the demise of renowned Kashmiri intellectual and journalist, Shaikh Tajammul-ul-Islam as a great loss, not only to the freedom struggle of Kashmir but also to the whole Muslim Ummah.

They were speaking at a webinar titled ‘Remembering Shaikh Tajammul-ul-Islam: His Personal and Ideological Legacy’, organized by Kashmiri activists to pay tributes to the late intellectual who had breathed his last on September 5, 2021, in Islamabad.

Among others, the webinar was attended by scholars, Kashmiri activists, and members of various All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) constituent parties.

Speaking on the occasion, renowned Kashmiri intellectual and Founder Convenor Mahaz-e-Islami Jammu and Kashmir, Syed Muhammad Inayatullah Andrabi said that Shaikh Tajammul was the torch-bearer of the freedom movement of Kashmir.

He said that Shaikh Tajammul introduced the idea of freedom convincingly and vigorously at a time when there were no other voices, adding that he ideologically linked the freedom struggle of Kashmir with the global Islamic movement when the very idea was unheard in Kashmir, even in existing Islamic organizations of that time.

He said that the slogan of freedom raised by the deceased was so powerful that the then Prime Minister of India, Indra Ghandhi, who at that time was stronger than today’s Narendra Modi, was shaken and the echoes of this slogans were heard in debates of Indian Parliament.

Speaking on the occasion, Director, Institute of Contemporary Islamic Thought (ICIT), Zafar Bangash, said that Shaikh Tajammul’s death was a great loss for Kashmir's freedom struggle.

He said, at a time when India was spending billions of dollars on propaganda and had crossed all limits in spreading fake news, Shaikh Tajammul had introduced an alternative and effective media in the shape of Kashmir Media Service (KMS) to counter this propaganda.

Chairman Al-Basirah Trust, Saqib Akbar while speaking on the occasion, said that Shaikh Tajammul was not only an asset for the Kashmir struggle but for the whole Muslim Ummah.

He said that he had virtually made KMS an institution of inspiration for struggling Kashmiris.

Country Director, Institute of Contemporary Islamic Thought (ICIT), Dr Perwez Shafi said on the occasion that the deceased desired to bring about change in the status quo of contemporary Islamic thought.

Many Kashmiri activists also spoke on the occasion and highlighted various aspects of late Shaikh Tajammul-ul-Islam’s life.