Kidnapping of Rubaiya Sayeed

{{Short description|Kidnapping of the daughter of the Minister of Home Affairs by the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front}}

{{infobox civilian attack

|title=Kidnapping of Rubaiya Sayeed

|location=Srinagar, India

|date=8 December 1989

|time=3:45 p.m.

|type=Kidnapping

|victim=Rubaiya Sayeed

|perpetrators=Kashmiri separatist militants, members of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front

|motive=Release of five jailed members of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front

}}

In 1989, Rubaiya Sayeed, the daughter of the then Indian Home Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, was kidnapped by Kashmiri separatist militants in Srinagar, the capital of Jammu and Kashmir. The kidnappers demanded the release of five jailed members of Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) in exchange for Sayeed's release.{{cite news |date=2004-02-08 |title=14 yrs down, JKLF admits Rubaiya kidnap |newspaper=Times of India |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/484093.cms |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180109123431/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/484093.cms |archive-date=9 January 2018 |accessdate=2007-04-28}} The Indian government headed by V. P. Singh of the Janata Dal party, with outside support from the BJP, agreed to the demands and induced the state government to release the jailed militants.{{cite news |author=Praveen Swami |author-link=Praveen Swami |date=2002-11-09 |title=A man of many parts - and parties |work=The Frontline Magazine, Volume 19 - Issue 23 |url=https://frontline.thehindu.com/cover-story/article30246743.ece |accessdate=2007-04-28}}

[https://archive.today/20120912130050/http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,959443,00.html World Notes INDIA], TIME, 25 December 1989 In 2004, the JKLF admitted to having carried out the kidnapping, and the court case is ongoing. In July 2022, Rubaiya identified Yasin Malik, one of the key leaders of JKLF at that time, as one of her kidnappers.{{cite news |last1=Prakash |first1=Priyali |title=Explained The 1989 kidnapping of Rubaiya Sayeed, daughter of former minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/explained-the-1989-kidnapping-of-rubaiya-sayeed-daughter-of-former-minister-mufti-mohammad-sayeed/article65809700.ece?homepage=true |access-date=2022-08-27 |work=The Hindu |date=2022-08-26}}

Rubaiya Sayeed

Rubaiya Sayeed, the third daughter of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed was then 23 years old, and a medical intern at Lal Ded Memorial Women's Hospital.

Modus operandi

She was kidnapped at 3:45 p.m. on 8 December 1989, about 500 metres from her home at Nowgam when she was returning from the Lal Ded Memorial Women's Hospital in a local mini bus. Four people forced her out of the vehicle at gunpoint into a waiting Maruti car and disappeared. The kidnapping was done by J K Liberation Front run by Yasin Malik.[http://www.rediff.com/news/1999/dec/08blood1.htm The Rubaiya episode. Its impact] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070525190301/http://www.rediff.com/news/1999/dec/08blood1.htm|date=25 May 2007}}, Rediff.com, 1999-12-08

Demands of abductors and negotiations

Representatives of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front telephoned the local newspaper Kashmir Times at about 5:30 p.m., stating that their group's mujahideen had Ghulam Nabi Butt, younger brother of the convicted and hanged rebel Maqbool Butt; Noor Muhammad Kalwal; Muhammed Altaf; and Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar.[https://www.nytimes.com/1989/12/14/world/abducted-woman-freed-in-kashmir.html ABDUCTED WOMAN FREED IN KASHMIR] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180625132454/https://www.nytimes.com/1989/12/14/world/abducted-woman-freed-in-kashmir.html |date=25 June 2018 }}, The New York Times, 1989-12-14

The editor, Muhammad Sofi, phoned both the Home Minister and the government to pass on the news. The chief minister Farooq Abdullah cut short his holiday in London and returned to Delhi. Senior IB and police officials, including Ved Marwah, Director General of the National Security Guards, reached Srinagar before dawn the next day.

The negotiations opened through Zaffar Meraj of the Kashmir Times, while Shabnam Lone, daughter of A.B. Ghani Lone and Maulvi Abbas Ansari of the Muslim United Front were tapped as possible channels. Later, a judge of the Allahabad High Court, Moti Lal Bhat, entered the picture. A friend of Mufti, he began negotiating directly with the militants on behalf of the home minister.

At 3:30 a.m. on 13 December 1989, two Union Cabinet Ministers, Inder Kumar Gujral and Arif Mohammad Khan, personally flew into Srinagar, believing that Farooq was coming in the way of a deal because Farooq held the view that abject surrender to the militants' demands would open the floodgates.

At 7:00 p.m. on 13 December 1989 Dr. Rubaiya Sayeed was set free, two hours after the government released the five jailed militants.{{cite web|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india/mufti-saeed-s-dark-hour-militants-released-for-abducted-daughter/story-527VIWsrLi2F3kiQ1hTT4O.html | title=Mufti Sayeed's dark hour: Militants released for abducted daughter | publisher=Hindustan Times | author= Harindar Baweja | location=India | date=2016-01-08 | accessdate=2021-07-23}} Thousands of young men gathered at Rajouri Kadal to take them out in a triumphant procession, but they quickly disappeared to their hideouts.

Aftermath

Years later {{when|date=June 2024}} Farooq Abdullah claimed that his government was threatened with dismissal by the central government if the militants were not exchanged for Rubaiya.[http://www.tribuneindia.com/2000/20000215/nation.htm#3 Farooq toughens stand on autonomy]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090525043542/http://www.tribuneindia.com/2000/20000215/nation.htm#3 |date=25 May 2009 }}, The Tribune, 2000-02-15 The kidnapping set the stage for heightened militancy in the state, and the mass support for militants could be clearly seen in the streets. Many say the abduction was the watershed in the Kashmir insurgency.[https://www.nytimes.com/1989/12/15/world/kashmir-officials-under-attack-for-yielding-to-muslim-abductors.html Kashmir Officials Under Attack For Yielding to Muslim Abductors] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180710043009/https://www.nytimes.com/1989/12/15/world/kashmir-officials-under-attack-for-yielding-to-muslim-abductors.html |date=10 July 2018 }}, The New York Times, 1989-12-15 Had the V P Singh government not buckled down, things would have been different," they say, "The JKLF would not have harmed Rubaiya due to public sentiment. In 1999 three JKLF militants Shoukat Ahmed Bakshi, Manzoor Ahmed Sofi, and Mohammad Iqbal Gandroo were granted bail after 9 years.[http://www.tribuneindia.com/1999/99feb01/j&k.htm#4 Rubaiya case accused get bail after 9 yrs] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020224004/http://www.tribuneindia.com/1999/99feb01/j%26k.htm#4 |date=20 October 2012 }}, The Tribune, 1999-02-01

Yasin Malik is currently{{When|date=March 2024}} under trial for the kidnapping and exchange of five militants.{{Cite web|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/tihar-jail-refuses-to-present-yasin-malik-before-court-in-iaf-officer-murder-case-cites-mha-instructions-1605046-2019-10-01|title=Tihar Jail refuses to present Yasin Malik before court in IAF officer murder case, cites MHA instructions|last=Bhat|first=Sunil|date=1 October 2019|website=India Today|language=en|access-date=2020-03-17}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/hc-shifts-rubaiya-abduction-case-against-yasin-malik-to-jammu/story-xkvSdJEEdVhRn8jM1Kc34O.html|title=HC shifts Rubaiya abduction case against Yasin Malik to Jammu|date=2019-03-15|website=Hindustan Times|language=en|access-date=2020-03-17}}

Kidnapping of Rubaiya Sayeed

Rubaiya Sayeed

Modus operandi

Demands of abductors and negotiations

Aftermath

See also

References

Further reading