Why in news:

• Veteran Gujjar leader and Padma Bhushan awardee Mian Bashir Ahmed, a resident of Ganderbal district of Jammu and Kashmir, passed away recently after a prolonged illness. He was 98.
• Ahmed was the son of top Gujjar leader and saint Mian Nizam Din Larvi and father of former Minister and National Conference (NC) leader Mian Altaf Ahmad.
• Born in November 1923, Mian Bashir Ahmed was a minister in Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah's cabinet.
• Later, he left politics and started working for Islamic Sufi tradition and to help downtrodden people.
• In 2008, he was honoured with the Padma Bhushan award for his extraordinary service for the Gujjar-Bakarwal community and other downtrodden groups.
• The tribal Gujjars and Bakarwals (Goat herds) took pride in saying that the Baba Sahib belonged to their community while Kashmiris and Dogras of the Jammu division said he was the eldest of their communities as well whose love transcended communities and religions.
  
   

A Significant Personality
 

• Hardly has anyone in Kashmir's recent history had the rare quality of having remained in politics without losing his respect of being a religious and spiritual leader.
• He remained the most powerful tribal leader till his very end.
• He gave up politics nearly two decades ago, but he never lost sight of political developments in the country and abroad.
• Baba Sahib's respect has cut across political loyalties. He remained a referral point in Kashmir's history for all those who studied his life.
• He has penned down an interesting and insightful record of religious, social and political events of J&K in his book which is also the story of his personal life.
• He is known to have rubbed shoulders with the likes of Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Maulana Azad, Hafeez Jallandari, the poet, Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Meera Behan, Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah, Abdul Gaffar Khan, the frontier Gandhi and had developed a personal relationship with them, a privilege perhaps unique to him alone in Kashmir.

Work to remember
 

• Mian Bashir Ahmad was known for his generosity and charity. Those close to him vouch that he has never counted money when he gave it to the needy.
• He was the most benevolent host one would ever come across.
• The 'Langar' (Free Kitchen) at Wangat village in north Kashmir Ganderbal district, which is the ancestral seat of the Mian family, hosts many needy people daily.
• The guests at Baba Nagri, as the ancestral residence of the Mians is now called, include tribals from far off places, like Poonch, Rajouri, Ramban and even devotees from abroad, who come to pay obeisance at the shrine of Baba Zi Sahib, the grand father of Mian Bashir Ahmad.
• The poor and the needy are served the same food at the Baba Nagri Langar .

An Inspiration
 

• Till his very end, he continued to inspire members of different communities and religions.
• As a mortal, the saint has been buried, but for generations, parents and those who knew him, will continue to inspire their children by recalling Mian Bashir Ahmad's life story which is a saga of humility, nobility, generosity and love for all human beings irrespective of their station in life.