Iftikhar Hussain Ansari


Iftikhar Hussain Ansari , widely known among his followers as Moulvi Sahib, was a Kashmiri Shia cleric, politician, businessman and a proponent of the Grand Ashura Procession In Kashmir. He succeeded his father Muhammad Jawad Ansari as president of the All Jammu and Kashmir Shia Association in Jammu & Kashmir in 1962, a position which he held for life. He was a sitting member of Jammu and Kashmir's Legislative Assembly for the Jammu and Kashmir People's Democratic Party; he was earlier a member of the National Conference and Congress.

Assassinations

Ansari was thrice the target of unsuccessful assassination attempts. In June 2000 Ansari barely escaped the explosion of a landmine while addressing a religious congregation at Gund Khwaja Qasim. The blast killed twelve of his followers. On 1 September 2000 Ansari was injured by an IED explosion that killed two policemen and a driver. Police suspected the Hizbul Mujahideen.

Death

Ansari died at his residence in Dar ul Jawad, Qamarwari, Srinagar on the morning of 30 September 2014 after a prolonged liver illness. Ansari had been undergoing specialized treatment in the United States. Various political, religious and social leaders offered condolences. Almost half a million people attended his funeral procession, from qamarwari to Zadibal imambargah where namaz e jenazah was offered. He was buried in his ancestral graveyard, Baba Mazar, Alamgari bazar, Zadibal, Sriangar.