BAGALKOT: Padma Shri awardee social activist and spiritual thinker Ibrahim Sutar passed away at Mahalingapur in Karnataka's Bagalkot district on Saturday morning after suffering a massive cardiac arrest.
The 81-year-old is survived by his wife, a son and two daughters.
Ibrahim was born on May 10, 1940 to a carpenter couple Nabisaheb and Aminabi.
He had dropped the schooling after pursuing Class 3 due to poverty.
Along with working as a weaver, he attended namaz at a local mosque but developed the interest to know the gist of other religions and traditions.
He, then, started attending bhajans at local mutts and temples. He was one among them who floated 'Bhaivaikyada Janapada Sangeetha Mela' in 1970.
The spiritual thinker started delivering discourses along with singing bhajans, vachanas, philosophical and soofi songs. He delivered thousands of spiritual discourses in Karnataka, Maharashtra and other states. He was also trying to create awareness among rural people against superstitions.
He was fondly called as 'Kabir of Karnataka'. He was honored with various state and national awards including Padma Shri in 2018. He has lakhs of followers for his discourses and songs on social media.
Chief minister Basavaraj Bommai, opposition leader in assembly Siddaramaiah, opposition leader in council B K Hariprasad and others condoled the death of Ibrahim and recalled his contributions to the society.
