SRINAGAR: Abdul Majeed Bhat, Kashmir’s senior-most automobile engineer who migrated to Saudi Arabia during the initial years of militancy has died.
A resident of Chitloora that falls in Rafiabad’s Watergam belt, he was the son of a school headmaster Sanaullah Bhat. Bhat was the Muslim United Front (MUF) candidate from Bandipore in the 1987 assembly elections. He lost the contest as he got fewer votes than the runner up.
After passing the pre-university class (PUC)in 1974, Bhat went for AMIE course to Madras, where he joined the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI). After completing his engineering, he returned and joined Jamaat-e-Islami in 1986.
A year later, the young Bhat was given the MUF mandate for Bandipore. He lost the election. After losing the elections, he migrated to Srinagar – his wife was in the health sector and started a bookshop in Maisuma. After one of his brothers, Musaib was killed in 1992, his other brother Manzoor crossed the LoC and lives there. In 1993, Bhat – who was unimpressed by the militancy, migrated to Saudi Arabia. Initially, he was working with some company and then his children grew up.
He is survived by his wife, two sons – one of them a doctor and another engineer, and a daughter, who is also a doctor. Reports available on social media suggest that he was unwell and was hospitalised for breathing issues.
