Thousands of people bid adieu to Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed who died of prolonged illness at AIIMS in Delhi where he was admitted a fortnight ago on December 24. His funeral prayers were offered twice, first at Srinagar’s Sher-e-Kashmir International Cricket Stadium, and then at his ancestral town Bijbehara in south Kashmir where he was later laid to rest at historic Dara Shikoh Garden in the evening with full State honours.
Mufti, 80, is survived by his wife Gulshan Begam, three daughters including Mehbooba Mufti and son Tasaduq Mufti. Shortly after the news about Mufti’s demise went public, the State Government announced holiday on Thursday with a weeklong State mourning. Mourners began to pour at Mufti’s official Gupkar Road residence and also at his ancestral home since morning. However, the normal life remained unaffected and most of the people were busy in their routine.
Sayeed’s body, draped in national Tricolor and J&K’s State flag, was flown from New Delhi to Srinagar in an IAF plane. Home Minister Rajnath Singh and MoS in PMO Jatinder Singh were also accompanying the mortal remains. Prime Minister Narendra Modi accompanied by several ministers arrived at the New Delhi Airport and laid wreath on the mortal remains of the departed leader. He met PDP president Mehbooba Mufti, who was by the side of her father for the last 14 days, and offered condolences.
Governor NN Vohra, former Chief Ministers Ghulam Nabi Azad and Omar Abdullah remained part of funeral procession as the coffin carried in a flower-decked vehicle descended from Gupkar Road to SK Stadium in Srinagar. They also drove to Bijbehara, 35 kilometers from here, to witness the burial. Scores of Cabinet Ministers, legislators, top bureaucrats, high court judges and political personalities attended the nimaz-e-jinaza.
While the funeral prayers in Srinagar were led by Mufti’s confidant and Education Minister Naeem Akhtar, the subsequent prayer was led by local cleric Ziauddin at Bijbehara.
The mortal remains of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed were later carried to his hometown of Bijbehera for burial. The initial plan was to bury him at his ancestral graveyard within the premises of Baba Nasibuddin Ghazi’s shrine but it was later shifted to a historic garden where the Government may build a mausoleum in future.
late Mufti Muhammad Sayeed had taken oath as Chief Minister of Jammu & Kashmir for a second term on March 01, 2015. Political leaders from all hues have expressed grief and sorrow over Mufti’s demise. Separatist leaders Syed Ali Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq also expressed grief over the demise.
Mufti joined the State politics in the late 1950s after returning from AMU Aligarh. In 1972 the late leader became a minister in the Cabinet, headed by Syed Mir Qasim and was also elected the party’s leader in the legislative Council. In 1975, he was made the leader of the Congress legislature Party and Jammu & Kashmir Pradesh Congress President. He continued to hold the post of PCC Chief in J&K for over a decade. In 1986, he was appointed as Union Tourism Minister in the Government headed by the then Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi. Mufti Mohammad Sayeed resigned from the Union Government and the Congress following Rajiv-Farooq Accord of 1987. He later joined the Jan Morcha, led by VP Singh and was appointed Union Home Minister in 1989, after having won the lok Sabha elections of that year as Jan Morcha candidate from Muzaffarnagar, in Uttar Pradesh.
Mufti Mohammad Sayeed returned to J&K politics after having rejoined the Congress in 1996. He won the Anantnag lok Sabha seat in 1998, but soon resigned from both his position and the Congress party to form a new regional political party-the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).