With his inclusion in the Council of Ministers in Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s Cabinet, People’s Conference chairman Sajjad lone on Sunday crossed an important milestone in his political journey that started with an anti-India tinge in 2002. lone took the reins of his party after his father Abdul Gani lone was killed by militants on May 21, 2002. Senior lone was one of the seven executive council members of All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC), the amalgam of separatist groups cobbled up in Kashmir in 1993. He (senior lone) had remained a legislator and Minister in his political career but became a separatist after armed insurgency erupted in Kashmir.
Sajjad is the heir of the political legacy of his father but a part of it is held by his elder brother Bilal lone who continues to be in the separatist camp. Bilal lone is chairman of his own faction of People’s Conference and is counted among the top leaders of Mirwaiz Umar Farooq-led faction of Hurriyat Conference.