Battling for life for two weeks at the ICU of AIIMS, New Delhi, J&K Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed passed to his heavenly abode early in the morning of 7th January. He is survived by three daughters and one son. Born in a middle class family, he rose from an obscure lawyer to be the Home Minister of India and twice Chief Minister of J&K.
Mufti Sayeed was the last of the veterans of first generation politicians of the State in post-independence period. In early 1960’s he embarked on his political career and joined the Democratic National Conference under the leadership of Ghulam Mohammad Sadiq. As a trusted Congress activist, he became District Convener of Congress Party, and in 1962 he was elected to the State Assembly for the first time from Bijbehara constituency. In the government led by Ghulam Muhammad Sadiq, he became Deputy Minister. Joining the Congress party was a courageous decision keeping in view the widespread popularity of Sheikh Abdullah and the sympathy generated among the masses of people for him when he was removed from office and interned.
Congress party soon recognized his organizational capability and very sensible conduct of political nitty-gritty, and in 1972 he became a Cabinet Minister in Mir Qasim-led Congress government and Congress Party leader in the Legislative Assembly.
In 1987, Mufti Syeed shifted to Delhi and participated in national politics fighting for Parliamentary seat from Muzaffar Nagar constituency in UP. In V.P. Singh’s Government, he became Home Minister of India and thus has had the record of becoming the first ever Muslim Home Minister. With the exit of Janata Dal, Mufti returned to Kashmir. Under the stewardship of P.V. Narasimha Rao, Mufti rejoined Congress and fought and won Anantnag Lok Sabha seat on Congress ticket.
In 1999, Mufti left Congress and formed People’s Democratic Party. As Chief Minister of J&K coalition from 2002 to 2005, he proved to be gifted at both administration and political management. He pushed his development agenda across the State and brought corruption under check, and kept track of development at the grassroots, tapping his own people for real-time feedback on actual progress.
2014 Parliamentary elections in the country changed the decade old political landscape of the country. The stalwart Congress was replaced by BJP. This had its impact all over India including J&K State. 2014 Assembly elections in the State brought very puzzling and unexpected results in the sense that it was something like geographical divide. While Mufti’s PDP emerged the largest party in the valley with 28 seats in the Assembly, BJP emerged successful from Jammu with 25 seats. The crucial decision of forming a coalition government with these two majority groups coming to terms was a test of the statesmanship of the Mufti. It took them six weeks to hammer out an agreement or a formula of running the administration of the State. The Agreement of Alliance, which was finally concluded after negotiations between PDP and BJP, became the corner stone on which the coalition edifice was raised. But for the quality of statesmanship and vision of late Mufti Sayeed, this compromise formula would not have taken place. He knew that in ideological terms, the two parties were what he called “poles apart”. Yet if national interests and the interests of the people of the State were to be given their due, a formula for cooperating and collaborating in running the smooth administration of the State could be possible. That is indeed the contribution of Mufti Sayeed.
He was a democrat and a liberal leader. He had tremendous patience to listen to his opponents and convince them through the force of argument. When he came to power in 2002 or for the second time in 2015, people thought that he was a weakling and will have to surrender to the diktat of the separatists and their sympathies. But Mufti Sayeed proved them wrong. He did not hesitate to take firm action when circumstances and the larger interests of the people of the State demanded. He was a man who showed highest respect to the law of the land and the constitution. When the issue of illegal encroachments was brought to his notice, he ordered bulldozing and it started from his ancestral locality in Bijbehara. Those who were affected came to him after initial spell of anger, and begged his excuse saying that they had done something wrong and illegal.
Mufti Sayeed will always be remembered as a promoter of peace. He made repeated appeals to the gun wielders to shun violence and work for the development of the State. He was very insistent that New Delhi should talk to Pakistan. His logic for insisting on peace talks was simple yet forceful. He said it were the people of the State who were suffering as a result of animosity between the two countries. Mufti was liberal to his friends as well as foes. He never believed in making ostentatious publicity of achievements but preferred to do things silently and without fanfare.
The people of the State will remain thankful to Mufti Sayeed for giving real content to democratic process in the State. It is he who challenged the one-party politics of the State by creating a political party and raising it from strength to strength. In that sense he was an emancipated leader. In the game of politics, Mufti Sayeed had mastered the art of winning friends. He had an enviably warm relationship with both Prime Ministers with whom he worked as Chief Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh – and also with other national leaders across the political spectrum, from the Left to the BJP. He had developed very cordial relation with Prime Minister Modi and he is the only Kashmir leader who publicly said that Modi had done much more for the State than any other Prime Minister.
Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s exit leaves a void in political life of the State. His departure is a national loss and national leaders irrespective of diverse ideologies and perceptions have mourned his death and paid him glowing tributes. The State is poorer after his departure.
The Daily Excelsior expresses deep sorrow on his demise and extends condolence to the bereaved family.
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