Mufti Mohammad Sayeed
{{Short description|6th chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir (1932–2016)}}
{{Use Indian English|date=February 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2016}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix =
| name = Mufti Mohammad Sayeed
| image = Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.jpg
| caption = Mufti Mohammad Sayeed in 2015
| office = 6th Chief Minister of Jammu & Kashmir
| deputy = Nirmal Kumar Singh
| term_start = 1 March 2015
| term_end = 7 January 2016
| governor = Narinder Nath Vohra
| predecessor = Omar Abdullah
| successor = Mehbooba Mufti
| governor1 = Girish Chandra Saxena
Srinivas Kumar Sinha
| term_start1 = 2 November 2002
| term_end1 = 2 November 2005
| predecessor1 = Governor's rule
| successor1 = Ghulam Nabi Azad
| office2 = Minister of Home Affairs
| primeminister2 = V. P. Singh
| term_start2 = 2 December 1989
| term_end2 = 10 November 1990
| predecessor2 = Sardar Buta Singh
| successor2 = Chandra Shekhar
| office3 = Minister of Tourism
| primeminister3 = Rajiv Gandhi
| term_start3 = 12 May 1986
| term_end3 = 14 July 1987
| predecessor3 = HKL Bhagat
| successor3 = Jagdish Tytler
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1936|01|12}}
| birth_place = Bijbehara, Jammu & Kashmir, British India
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|2016|01|07|1936|01|12}}
| death_place = New Delhi, India
| office4 = Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
| constituency4 = Anantnag
| predecessor4 = Mohammad Maqbool Dar
| successor4 = Ali Mohammed Naik
| termstart4 = {{Start date|1998||}}
| termend4 = {{End date|1999||}}
| constituency5 = Muzaffarnagar
| termstart5 = {{Start date|1989||}}
| termend5 = {{End date|1991||}}
| predecessor5 = Dharamvir Singh Tyagi
| successor5 = Naresh Kumar Baliyan
| party = Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party
| otherparty = Jammu & Kashmir National Conference {{small|(1950–1965)}}
Indian National Congress {{small|(1965–1987, 1991–1999)}}
Janata Dal {{small|(1987–1991)}}
| nationality = Indian
| children = 4 (including Mehbooba Mufti, Tassaduq Hussain Mufti, Mehmooda Sayeed, and Rubaiya Sayeed)
| alma_mater = Aligarh Muslim University
| occupation = Politician
| imagesize =
}}
Mufti Mohammad Sayeed (12 January 1936{{snd}}7 January 2016; Urdu: مفتی محمد سید) was an Indian politician who served as the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir twice from November 2002 to November 2005 and from March 2015 until his death on January 7, 2016. He held various positions, including minister of Tourism in Rajiv Gandhi's cabinet and minister of Home Affairs in V. P. Singh's cabinet.{{cite news |date=24 December 2014 |title=Mufti Mohammad Sayeed: Another chance in a chequered career |url=http://www.business-standard.com/article/politics/mufti-mohammad-sayeed-the-other-in-j-k-politics-114122300829_1.html |access-date=23 June 2015 |newspaper=Business Standard}} Sayeed began his political career in the wing of the National Conference led by G. M. Sadiq, which later merged with the Indian National Congress. In 1987, he transitioned to the Janata Dal and subsequently founded the People's Democratic Party (PDP), a regional political party that remains influential in Jammu and Kashmir, currently led by his daughter, Mehbooba Mufti.
Early life
Sayeed was born on 12 January 1936, in Bijbehara, Anantnag district, then part of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, British India, into a Kashmiri Shia Muslim clerical family. He completed his basic studies in Srinagar and earned his law and postgraduate degree in Arabic from Aligarh Muslim University before entering politics.{{cite news|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/india/mufti-mohammad-sayeed-much-more-than-delhi-s-man-in-kashmir/story-dQtQ0BMxLCNyLkchav1yuI.html|title=Mufti Mohammad Sayeed: Much more than Delhi's man in Kashmir|newspaper=Hindustan Times|date=7 January 2016}}{{Cite news|url=http://indianexpress.com/article/india/politics/the-sunday-story-a-show-of-hands/|title=The Sunday Story: A show of hands|date=2015-01-04|work=The Indian Express|access-date=2018-05-07|language=en-US}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.scoopwhoop.com/Deceased-JK-CM-Mufti-Mohd-Sayeed-Changed-The-Way-India-Negotiated-With-Terrorists-Here-Are-10-Facts-You-Should-Know-About-Him/#.953vqlqv2|title=Deceased J&K CM Mufti Mohd Sayeed Changed The Way India Negotiated With Terrorists. Here Are 10 Facts You Should Know About Him|last=ScoopWhoop|date=2016-01-07|work=ScoopWhoop|access-date=2018-05-07|language=En}}{{Cite web|url=http://indianexpress.com/article/india/politics/the-sunday-story-a-show-of-hands/|title=The Sunday Story: A show of hands|date=March 2015}}{{Cite news|url=http://www.greaterkashmir.com/news/opinion/dulat-disclosures/191353.html|title=Dulat disclosures}}
His daughter, Mehbooba Mufti, is a politician and former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir.{{cite news|url=http://www.dnaindia.com/india/live-jammu-kashmir-cm-mufti-mohammed-sayeed-passes-away-2163089|title=Live: Mufti Mohammad Sayeed to be laid to rest in Bijbehara; Seven-day state mourning declared|newspaper=Daily News and Analysis|date=7 January 2016}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-30585105|title=Kashmir's first woman chief minister|last=Masroor|first=Shujaat Bukhari and Riyaz|date=2016-04-04|work=BBC News|access-date=2018-05-07|language=en-GB}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.firstpost.com/politics/j-bjp-gets-more-cabinet-berths-2711272.html|title=J&K gets its first woman CM in Mehbooba Mufti; BJP gets more Cabinet berths - Firstpost|website=www.firstpost.com|date=4 April 2016|access-date=2018-05-07}}
Political party affiliations
Sayeed started his political career in the 1950s in the Democratic National Conference, a splinter group of the Jammu & Kashmir National Conference led by Ghulam Mohammed Sadiq. He was appointed as the district convenor of the party,Nistula Hebbar, [http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/JampK-Chief-Minister-Mufti-Mohammad-Sayeed-dead/article13986437.ece J&K Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed dead], The Hindu, 7 January 2016. which merged back into the National Conference in late 1960.{{sfn|Bose, Kashmir: Roots of Conflict, Paths to Peace|2003|p=77}}
In 1962, he was elected to the Legislative Assembly from Bijbehara. After G. M. Sadiq became the chief minister of the state in 1964, Sayeed was appointed as a deputy minister in his government.
In January 1965, the National Conference merged into the Indian National Congress.{{sfn|Bose, Kashmir: Roots of Conflict, Paths to Peace|2003|p=82}} Thus Sayeed became a member of Congress.
In 1972, Sayeed became a cabinet minister and, the president of the state Congress unit.{{cite web|url=http://www.ibnlive.com/news/politics/mufti-mohammed-sayeed-a-political-opportunist-and-stalwart-of-jk-1186359.html|title=Mufti Mohammed Sayeed: A political opportunist and stalwart of J&K|publisher=IBNLive|date=7 January 2016}} He joined the Rajiv Gandhi's government in 1986 as minister of Tourism. In 1987, he quit the Congress party to join V. P. Singh's Jan Morcha, which led to him becoming the first Muslim minister for Home Affairs in the Union Cabinet of India for one year, from 1989 to 1990.{{cite news | last = Prabhat | first = Abhishek | title = Profile: Mufti Mohammad Sayeed |work=BBC News |publisher=BBC | date = 29 October 2002 | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/2369851.stm | access-date = 5 March 2009}}{{cite news|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/india/mufti-a-man-caught-in-the-mid-stream-tragedy/story-YvwYbSI2hxMzKk8UqG4AkO.html|title=Mufti: A man caught in the 'mid-stream' tragedy|newspaper=Hindustan Times|date=7 January 2016}}
He rejoined the Congress under P. V. Narasimha Rao, which he left in 1999 along with his daughter Mehbooba Mufti to form his own party, the Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party.{{fact|date=November 2023}}
Political career
=Chief Minister: First tenure (2002–2005)=
File:Chief Minister of Jammu & Kashmir Shri Mufti Mohammed Sayeed calls on the Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee in New Delhi on December 12, 2003.jpg in New Delhi on 12 December 2003]]
Sayeed participated in the 2002 assembly election and won 18 assembly seats for his Peoples Democratic Party. He went on to form a coalition government with the Indian National Congress, and was sworn in as the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir for a term of three years.{{cite news | title = New leader promises Kashmir 'healing' |work=BBC News |publisher=BBC | date = 3 November 2002 | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2394023.stm | access-date = 5 March 2009}}
In 2003, he merged the autonomous Special Operations Group with the Jammu and Kashmir Police.{{cite news|title=Mufti disbands SOG, merges force with police|url=http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2003-02-25/news/27516040_1_anti-militancy-sog-special-operations-group|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160205022045/http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2003-02-25/news/27516040_1_anti-militancy-sog-special-operations-group|url-status=dead|archive-date=5 February 2016|website=Economic Times|access-date=7 January 2016|date=25 February 2003}} It was under his tenure which coincided with the peace process led by Indian prime ministers Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh and Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf, with LOC opened for trade and bus service.{{cite news|url=http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-mufti-mohammad-sayeed-a-master-politician-who-tried-to-nurture-true-indian-constituency-in-kashmir-2163383 |title=Mufti Mohammad Sayeed: A master politician who tried to nurture true Indian constituency in Kashmir|newspaper=Daily News and Analysis|date=8 January 2016}}
=Chief Minister: Second tenure (2015–2016)=
File:Shri Mufti Mohammad Sayeed meeting the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, in New Delhi on February 27, 2015.jpg, in New Delhi on 27 February 2015]]
File:The Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed calling on the Union Home Minister, Shri Rajnath Singh, in New Delhi on April 07, 2015.jpg, in New Delhi on 7 April 2015]]
File:The Chief Minister of Jammu & Kashmir, Shri Mufti Mohammad Sayeed calling on the President, Shri Pranab Mukherjee, in New Delhi on March 28, 2015.jpg, in New Delhi on 28 March 2015]]
In the 2014 Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly election, the PDP emerged as the single largest party, though it fell short of a majority. Following a coalition agreement between the BJP and the PDP, Sayeed started his second tenure as the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir in 2015.{{cite web|url=http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/pm-modi-will-attend-oath-ceremony-says-jammu-and-kashmirs-chief-minister-to-be-mufti-sayeed-742836?story_interestedin_related|title=PM Modi Will Attend Oath Ceremony, Says Jammu and Kashmir's Chief Minister-to-be Mufti Sayeed|author=Amit Chaturvedi|date=27 February 2015|work=NDTV.com}}
=Union Minister for Home Affairs=
In 1989, within few days of taking office as the Union Minister for Home Affairs, his third daughter, Rubaiya, was kidnapped in 1989.{{cite news | last = Sreedharan | first = Chindu | title = 'Elections in J&K have not been fair since 1987' | work=Rediff.com | date = 18 September 1999 | url = http://www.rediff.com/election/1999/sep/18inter.htm | access-date = 5 March 2009}} Under pressure, she was released from captivity. During his tenure as Home Minister of India the Exodus of Kashmiri Hindus took place.{{Cite web |url=http://www.greaterkashmir.com/news/kashmir/story/207367.html |title=On 'Holocaust' day, Kashmiris seek probe into Pandit exodus |last=DIN |first=ZAHIR-UD |date=20 January 2016 |location=Srinagar |access-date=14 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180701222257/https://www.greaterkashmir.com/news/kashmir/story/207367.html |archive-date=1 July 2018 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all }}{{Cite web |url=http://www.kashmirink.in/news/coverstory/probe-the-exodus/133.html |title=PROBE THE EXODUS |last=Din |first=Zahir-ud |date=1 April 2016 |publisher=Kashmir Ink |access-date=14 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180701193934/http://www.kashmirink.in/news/coverstory/probe-the-exodus/133.html |archive-date=1 July 2018 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all }}{{Cite web |url=http://www.rediff.com/news/2005/jan/19kanch.htm |title=19/01/90: When Kashmiri Pandits fled Islamist terror |date=19 January 2005 |publisher=Rediff |access-date=10 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170126101005/http://www.rediff.com/news/2005/jan/19kanch.htm |archive-date=26 January 2017 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all }}
Attacks on his family and himself
{{Main|1989 kidnapping of Rubaiya Sayeed}}
Besides attacks on family members Sayeed also survived attacks on his life by Kashmiri separatists. His daughter Rubaiya Sayeed was also kidnapped on 9 December 1989.
Death
File:The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi paying homage at the mortal remains of Shri Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, at Palam Airport, in New Delhi on January 07, 2016. The Union Home Minister, Shri Rajnath Singh is also seen (1).jpg, in New Delhi on 7 January 2016]]
On 24 December 2015, Sayeed was admitted to the AIIMS hospital in New Delhi. He suffered from neck pain and fever. His condition gradually deteriorated, and he was put on ventilator support. He died on 7 January 2016 due to multi-organ failure{{cite news |url=http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/mufti-mohammad-sayeed-dies-jammu-and-kashmir/ |title=Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, passes away at AIIMS Delhi |date=7 January 2016 |newspaper=Indian Express }}{{cite news|title=J&K CM Mufti Mohammad Sayeed passes away|url=http://www.abplive.in/india-news/jk-cm-mufti-mohammad-sayeed-passes-away-270725|website=ABP Live|access-date=7 January 2016|archive-date=8 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160108013017/http://www.abplive.in/india-news/jk-cm-mufti-mohammad-sayeed-passes-away-270725|url-status=dead}} at about 7:30, according to provincial Education Minister and PDP Spokesman Nayeem Akhter. He was just five days short of his 80th birthday when he died.
Reactions to this death came from prime minister Narendra Modi, national Home Minister Rajnath Singh at Delhi airport and the 14th Dalai Lama.Yeshe Choesang, [http://www.thetibetpost.com/en/news/exile/4867-his-holiness-the-dalai-lama-of-tibet-offers-condolences-to-ms-mufti His Holiness the Dalai Lama of Tibet offers condolences to Ms Mufti], 11 January 2016, Tibet Post International He was buried at his ancestral burial ground in Bijbehera{{cite web|url=http://onlykashmir.in/mufti-mohammad-sayeed-laid-to-rest/|title=Mufti Mohammad Sayeed laid to rest - Only Kashmir - Behind the News|access-date=23 October 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160126140733/http://onlykashmir.in/mufti-mohammad-sayeed-laid-to-rest/|archive-date=26 January 2016|df=dmy-all}} with state honours. Former chief ministers Omar Abdullah and Ghulam Nabi Azad were present at his funeral. Condolences also came from former president Pranab Mukherjee, former deputy prime minister L. K. Advani, Ram Madhav, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, BJP vice president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, former national Oil minister Milind Deora, PDP member Rafi Mir and politicians Kalraj Mishra, Jitendra Singh and Ahmed Patel.{{cite web|url=http://www.firstpost.com/politics/he-provided-a-healing-touch-to-kashmir-from-modi-to-kejriwal-condolences-pour-in-for-mufti-mohammad-sayeed-2573756.html|title='He provided a healing touch to Kashmir': From PM Modi to Kejriwal, condolences pour in for Mufti Mohammad Sayeed - Firstpost|date=7 January 2016|access-date=23 October 2016}}
According to party member and PDP chief spokesperson Mirza Mehboob Beg, the PDP supported his daughter, Mehbooba Mufti, as the next chief minister, while coalition ally BJP expressed "no objection" to her succeeding her father.{{Cite web|url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/nation/cm-who-brought-jammu-with-kashmir-dies/180846.html|title=CM who brought Jammu with Kashmir dies}}
Sayeed was buried in Dara Shikoh Garden Bijbehara.{{cite web | last=Ehsan | first=Mir | title=Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, laid to rest in Mughal era park he developed | website=The Indian Express | date=8 Jan 2016 | url=https://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/mufti-mohammad-sayeed-laid-to-rest-at-ancestral-graveyard-in-anantnag-district/ | access-date=11 Oct 2024}}
See also
References
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}
Bibliography
- {{citation |first=Sumantra |last=Bose |author-link=Sumantra Bose |title=Kashmir: Roots of Conflict, Paths to Peace |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=2003 |isbn=0-674-01173-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3ACMe9WBdNAC |ref={{sfnref|Bose, Kashmir: Roots of Conflict, Paths to Peace|2003}}}}
External links
{{Commons category|Mufti Mohammad Sayeed}}
- [http://muftisayeed.in/ Official website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304100055/http://muftisayeed.in/ |date=4 March 2016 }}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20141117225615/http://jkpdp.org/chief-patron/ Biography on J&K PDP website]
- [http://www.caravanmagazine.in/reportage/the-collaborator-mufti-mohammed-sayeed The Collaborator: How Mufti Mohammad Sayeed became Delhi’s man in Kashmir]
{{s-start}}
{{s-par|in-lwr}}
{{s-bef|before=Mohammad Maqbool}}
{{s-ttl|title=Member of Parliament
for Anantnag|years=1998–1999}}
{{s-aft|after={{nowrap|Ali Mohammed Naik}}}}
|-
{{s-off}}
{{Succession box
| before = Buta Singh
| title = Minister of Home Affairs
| years = 2 December 1989 – 10 November 1990
| after = Chandra Shekhar
}}
{{Succession box
| before = President's Rule
| title = Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir
| years = 2 November 2002 – 2 November 2005
| after = Ghulam Nabi Azad
}}
{{Succession box
|before = President's Rule
|title = Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir
| after = Mehbooba Mufti
| years = 1 March 2015 – 7 January 2016
}}
{{s-end}}
{{Home Ministry (India)}}
{{Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sayeed, Mohammad}}
Category:Chief ministers of Jammu and Kashmir
Category:People from Bijbehara
Category:Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party politicians
Category:V. P. Singh administration
Category:Rajya Sabha members from Jammu and Kashmir
Category:Rajya Sabha members from Uttar Pradesh
Category:Lok Sabha members from Jammu and Kashmir
Category:Ministers of internal affairs of India
Category:Jammu and Kashmir MLAs 2014–2018
Category:Aligarh Muslim University alumni
Category:Faculty of Law, Aligarh Muslim University alumni
Category:Chief ministers from Peoples Democratic Party
Category:Indian National Congress politicians from Jammu and Kashmir
Category:Janata Dal politicians
Category:Lok Sabha members from Uttar Pradesh
Category:People from Muzaffarnagar
Category:20th-century Indian Muslims