April 03, 2008	Thursday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 25, 1429

MUZAFFARABAD, April 2: Senior Kashmiri journalist Ghulam Mohammad Mufti, who died on Tuesday at the age of 70, was laid to rest here on Wednesday.

Born in district Baramulla in Indian held Kashmir in 1938, G.M. Mufti migrated to Azad Kashmir at the age of 20 and joined a government service but soon quit the job perhaps because of his natural aptitude for journalism.

He was initially associated with Muslim Conference and played an active role from its platform for advancement of Kashmir freedom struggle. In mid seventies, he also brought out an Urdu language weekly, “Quaid”, which shortly became very popular.

Mr Mufti quit active politics in mid seventies and dedicated himself to journalism. He regularly wrote and read scripts for current affairs programmes of AJK Radio Muzaffarabad in Kashmiri and Urdu languages.

He also held the office of president Central Press Club Muzaffarabad for many terms.

The financial crisis compelled him to stop the publication of his weekly, but he did not let the passion in him to write fade away. Till his condition deteriorated badly, he continued to write for one or the other paper.

For the past several years, Mr Mufti was suffering from many ailments, but the tragic death of one of his three sons beneath the debris of his workplace during the Oct 2005 earthquake greatly upset him, worsening his condition.