SRINAGAR: Prominent civil society activist and engineer Mohammad Anwar Ashai, scion of the distinguished Ashai family of downtown Srinagar, passed away peacefully at his residence on Tuesday, leaving behind a legacy of public engagement, intellectual curiosity and commitment to Kashmir’s social and developmental concerns.
The Kashmir Centre for Social and Development Studies (KCSDS), with which Ashai remained closely associated for years, mourned his demise, describing him as a valued colleague and an active participant in the organisation’s deliberations, seminars, round-table conferences and public discussions.
Ashai was the son of the legendary educationist and political activist Khwaja Ghulam Ahmad Ashai, one of the pioneering figures in the educational and political awakening of Kashmiri Muslims. Khwaja Ghulam Ahmad Ashai was among the earliest highly educated Kashmiri Muslims of his generation. After distinguishing himself at the matriculation level, he pursued higher education and eventually became the first Registrar of the University of Jammu and Kashmir.
He was also among the founders of the historic Reading Room Party, which played a seminal role in the political awakening of Kashmiri Muslims and in the developments that eventually culminated in the formation of the Muslim Conference, Kashmir’s first major organised Muslim political platform.
The Ashai family has a long association with Kashmir’s social, literary and commercial history. Its lineage is traced to Mukhtar Shah Ashai, remembered as a prominent shawl merchant associated with Kashmir’s celebrated shawl trade and as a patron of religious shrines in Srinagar. The family also traces its ancestry to Mulla Tahir Ghani Kashmiri, the celebrated 17th-century Persian poet whose work occupies an eminent place in the Persian literary tradition.
Anwar Ashai carried forward this legacy of intellectual engagement and public service. His involvement in public affairs began during his student years, when he participated actively in the political and social movements of his time and was also imprisoned. Remarkably, he continued his education during his incarceration and completed his engineering studies.
An engineer by profession, Ashai’s engagement with society extended well beyond his professional career. From his adolescence until the closing years of his life, he remained deeply interested in public affairs and was known among his peers as a widely read, articulate and socially conscious individual with a particular interest in Kashmir’s history, politics, education and contemporary challenges.
His association with KCSDS provided him a sustained platform for this engagement. He participated in discussions and helped contribute to seminars and public forums addressing issues ranging from environmental protection and education to healthcare, social reform and broader questions concerning the development and wellbeing of Jammu and Kashmir.
Friends and colleagues remembered Ashai as a dignified, warm and engaging personality whose conversations were marked by extensive reading and a deep understanding of Kashmir’s history and society. He believed in informed public discourse and remained willing to participate in deliberations on issues of wider public importance.
KCSDS members and associates said his contribution to civil society was marked by a sustained concern for Kashmir’s social, educational and developmental challenges. His passing, they said, has left a void not only among his family and friends but also in the wider civil society community.
Hundreds of people from different walks of life attended his funeral prayers, which were led by prominent Islamic scholar Moulana Showkat Hussain Keng. His mortal remains were subsequently laid to rest at the family’s ancestral graveyard at Ashai Kocha, Fateh Kadal, Srinagar.
According to family sources, the congregational Fateha Khawani will be held at the ancestral graveyard at 2:30 pm on Friday, August 14.
