‘Kashmiri Pandits part of our story’: Mirwaiz remembers Pandit Bhushan Bazaz

Srinagar: Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Tuesday paid rich tribute to noted Kashmiri Pandit intellectual Bhushan Bazaz, describing him as a moral compass who embodied Kashmir’s plural and inclusive tradition and remained committed to interfaith harmony and dialogue till his last days.

Bazaz, a progressive thinker and son of renowned political writer Prem Nath Bazaz, passed away in New Delhi on January 12 at the age of 91.

Speaking at a memorial meeting in New Delhi on January 21, the Mirwaiz said Bazaz’s death was not only a personal loss for his family but also a “deeper moral silence in Kashmir” at a time when voices of conscience were becoming increasingly rare.

“To the public, he was a respected Kashmiri Pandit intellectual. To me, he was simply Bhushan Uncle — a gentle elder, a moral compass and a cherished presence whose warmth shaped my growing years,” Mirwaiz said.

Recalling his childhood association with the Bazaz family, Mirwaiz said his relationship with Bhushan Bazaz began through his late father, Mirwaiz Muhammad Farooq, during visits to Delhi in the 1980s. The family home, Gaash-e-Aagur — meaning “source of light” — became a place of comfort, dialogue and belonging, he said.

“In that home, faith never defined belonging. Hindu or Muslim never mattered. What mattered was affection, respect and an unspoken sense of home,” he said.

After the assassination of his father in 1990, when he was thrust into public life at the age of 17, Mirwaiz said Bazaz became one of his earliest emotional anchors, offering reassurance through regular calls, letters and meetings.

“He reminded me that my father’s greatest legacy was not aggression, but restraint; not confrontation, but dialogue; not despair, but hope,” he said.

Mirwaiz also recalled Bazaz’s response to the displacement of Kashmiri Pandits in the 1990s, saying he never allowed bitterness to shape his thinking and believed Kashmir’s plural soul was “wounded, not lost.”

Reiterating his long-held position, Mirwaiz said the return of Kashmiri Pandits was a moral imperative.

“I have always maintained and said so from the pulpit of Jama Masjid that the dignified return of Kashmiri Pandits is not merely a political matter. It is a humanitarian and ethical obligation,” he said, adding that they must return to their homes “not to guarded enclaves or segregated colonies.”

Bazaz, the founder of the Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Front, believed in building bridges between communities and acknowledging the pain of both conflict and displacement, Mirwaiz said.

“As we bid him farewell, we honour not only a public intellectual, but a man who quietly embodied Kashmir’s finest moral traditions,” he said.