Samaan Lateef
SRINAGAR: Five days ahead of his 80th birthday, Chief Minister, Mufti Muhammad Sayeed breathed his last on Thursday morning at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), in Delhi, where he was under treatment following multiple health complications since December 24.
Mufti, the founder of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), is the third Chief Minister of J&K to die in harness after Congress leader Ghulam Mohammad Sadiq in December 1971 and National Conference founder Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah in September 1982. He was flown to New Delhi on December 24 after he complained of uneasiness and fever during a daylong tour of Srinagar in acute cold conditions.
Following the admission at the AIIMS, Mufti was detected with decreased blood count, sepsis, pneumonia with history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease—a progressive lung disease that makes breathing difficult.
However, his condition deteriorated on Tuesday and was put on sedation, a semi-conscious state, to ease pressure of his lungs, the AIIMS spokesperson, Dr Amit Gupta said. “CM’s heart beat dropped suddenly and he died at 9:10 am on Thursday,” Dr Gupta said.
Mufti is survived by his wife Gulshan, cinematographer son Tassaduq and three daughters including PDP President Mehbooba Mufti, who is likely to be his political successor and the State’s first woman Chief Minister.
While as the Union government declared Thursday a day of national mourning, the State government announced a day’s general holiday and mourning for seven days.
Mufti’s body was flown from New Delhi to Srinagar in an IAF aircraft. His family members alone, including Mehbooba, who attended her father continuously at AIIMS, were on board. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Minister of State in Prime Minister’s Office Dr Jitendra Singh travelled to Srinagar in another IAF aircraft. PDP’s MP Tariq Karra and Finance Minister Haseeb Drabu followed in the State aircraft while as almost all other Ministers followed in route commercial flights.
A galaxy of senior political leaders, including former J&K Chief Ministers Ghulam Nabi Azad and Omar Abdullah, Vice President Dr Hamid Ansari, Ministers Arun Jaitley and Dr Jitendra Singh, Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Dr Karan Singh visited AIIMS and paid tributes to Mufti. Later, at Pallam airport, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh laid wreaths on Mufti’s coffin before departure.
Former Chief Ministers Omar Abdullah and Ghulam Nabi Azad (leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha), Rajnath Singh and Dr Jitendra Singh besides Governor NN Vohra paid tributes to Mufti at a condolence meeting at Chief Minister’s residence. Almost all the State Ministers gathered there alongwith a large number of Mufti’s followers, party leaders and relatives who later participated in mass funeral prayers (Namaaz-e-Janazah) at Sher-e-Kashmir International Cricket Stadium in Sonwar. Mufti’s old confidant and Education Minister Naeem Akhtar led the prayers with a gathering of around 2,000 people.
A ceremonial Guard-of-Honour was also given to the deceased Chief Minister first at Sonwar and later at the burial in Bijbehara.
The mortal remains of Sayeed were taken in a flower bedecked carriage from Sonwar to Mufti’s hometown of Bijbehera, in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district amid extraordinary security arrangements and heavy deployment of police and paramilitary forces. The final funeral prayers at Bijbehara were attended by around 4,500 people including a number of Mufti’s ministerial and party colleagues and many senior government officials including Chief Secretary BR Sharma and DGP K Rajendra Kumar. However, Mehbooba and her sisters and mother did not travel to their hometown. Mufti was laid to rest in the famous Dara Shikoh garden on the bank of river Jhelum.
Dara Shikhoh, the 17th century Mughal prince, who translated the Upanishads, was Mufti’s inspiration. He wanted to make Dara Shikoh’s garden a tourist spot but that dream remained unfulfilled.
