Srinagar | WTNS | August 7: Kashmir`s legendary educationist and academician Agha Ashraf Ali passed away at 11:45 pm Friday night at his Rajbagh residence in Srinagar.
Family statement said he was weak due to old age but healthy. He died at the age of 98 and peacefully minutes after going to bed, said a family statement. He will be buried today at his family graveyard Gulistan Mazaar at Alamgari Bazar in Srinagar.
Wilayat Times reports , a family statement said there will be no congregational gathering due to prevailing circumstances in the valley. People have been requested to offer Fatiha individually and offer condolences to family members through social media.
Agha was born in the illustrious and highly educated Agha family of Srinagar Kashmir and was famous as a speaker. He spoke widely on history, education, culture and contemporary politics.He has spoken widely on history, education, culture and contemporary politics. An admirer of Gandhian philosophy he has been an advocate of human rights and has been vocal on human rights issues in Kashmir.
Agha Ashraf, Born on 18 October 1922 at his ancestral house Qasr-e-Qizilbash in Khanqah-e-Sokhta, Nawa Kadal in Downtown Srinagar, His mother Begum Zafar Ali, herself an educationist and legislator, was the first female matriculate of Kashmir. Agha Ashraf Ali is survived by a son Agha Iqbal Ali and daughter Hena Ahed and Saeetah Agha. He headed the Department of Education for many years and in that capacity served as the acting Vice Chancellor of the University of Kashmir. He was also the Chairman of Board of School Education, where he introduced compulsory mathematics and science in schools for all girls. From 1971-75 he was a member of Baghwan Sahai committee report. He was made Director of Training and Curricula from 1973 -1975, in which all training was under his guidance. Agha retired as Commissioner of Higher Education, Jammu & Kashmir.In 2002 When the then Governor G C Saxena nominated him to the state legislative council as MLC, Agha Ashraf Ali refused the ‘honour’.He was an independent thinker, a visionary in political thought, and has an acute-insight and enthusiasm for national and international affairs that is par excellence. On the eve of Teachers’ Day, on 5 September 2006 Agha was awarded ‘Nigeena-e-Watan’ for his “unmatched contribution in the field of education”. In 2011 Agha released his autobiography, “Kuch to Likhyay ki log kehtay hain”, in Urdu.He is the father of Kashmiri-American poet Agha Shahid Ali. Agha is widely known as a public speaker. (WTNS)