The Beloved Broadcaster

For decades, Zahid Mukhtar brought warmth, insight, and poetry to Kashmir's mornings and its literary imagination.

- Sahil Manzoor Bhatti

I first met Zahid Mukhtar at Dargah Hazratbal, Srinagar, during a Scouting Camp in the sacred days of Rabi-ul-Awal. He came up to us, offered a firm but gentle handshake, and spoke warmly about our small efforts to serve the community.

In that moment, he seemed larger than the many titles he carried: poet, broadcaster, journalist, dramatist.

He was both unassuming and profound, as if all the work of his life distilled into that single gesture.

That memory of grace and humility has stayed with me ever since.

Zahid Mukhtar passed away early Thursday morning at his home in Nai Basti, Anantnag, at the age of 69, after a yearlong struggle with neurological ailments.

His passing closes a chapter on a life that moved seamlessly between literature, culture, and media.

Born in South Kashmir in 1956 to Haji Sana Ullah Qasid, Mukhtar showed an early love for words.