Poet Hamidi Kashmiri passes away at 86

Srinagar, December 27

Well-known Urdu poet and Padma Shri awardee Prof Hamidi Kashmiri passed away inSrinagar on Wednesday night. He was 86.

Prof Hamidi breathed his last at around 9.45 pm on Wednesday and his funeral prayers were performed at his Shalimar residence here on Thursday afternoon.

The demise of the poet and educationist, who had also served as the Vice Chancellor of Kashmir University and authored around 50 books, was widely condoled.

J&K Academy of Art, Culture and Languages vice-president Zafar Iqbal Manhas described Prof Hamidi as a ‘tall literary figure, who will always be remembered for his prolific literary works’. “On the account of his lifelong service to academics and literature, Prof Hamidi will always be remembered by us all,” he said.

J&K Pradesh Congress Committee president GA Mir expressed grief over his death. In a condolence message, Mir said Prof Hamidi was the ‘most-valued educationist, who had contributed enough to reform the education system in Kashmir University’. “A recipient of the Ghalib, Sahitya Akademi and Padma Shri awards, he was a noble soul and his death is a great loss to the state, which cannot be replaced by anything,” he said. — TNS