India-held Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed dies
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NEW DELHI: Chief Minister of Indian-held Kashmir and founder of Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Mufti Mohammad Sayeed passed away here at the age of 79, said a report published on The Hindu.
Sayeed had been hospitalised for a week and died of multiple organ failure.
He started his second tenure as chief minister of India-held Kashmir on March 1, 2015 after forming a coalition government with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He previously served as chief minister between 2002 and 2005.
He was also the home minister of India between 1989 and 1990.
Mufti Sayeed founded the Jammu and Kashmir PDP in July 1999 to "persuade the government of India to initiate an unconditional dialogue with Kashmiris for resolution of the Kashmir problem".
PDP is now headed by his daughter Mehbooba Mufti, who is tipped to become the next chief minister of India-held Kashmir after Mufti Sayeed's death.
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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled Mufti Sayeed's death in a serious of tweets, and remembered the "healing touch" that he provided to the people of India-held Kashmir.
Mufti Sayeed's death "leaves a huge void in the nation and J&K", Modi said in a tweet. "What stood out about Mufti Sahab was his statesmanship."
Former chief minister of India-held Kashmir Omar Abdullah also expressed sorrow at the demise of Mufti Sayeed, extending his sympathies for the chief minister's family.
Mufti Sayeed advocated a dialogue with Pakistan to settle the Kashmir dispute, and sought to promote trade and travel between the divided parts of the Himalayan region.
At the start of insurgency in the Indian-held Kashmir in 1989, rebels abducted one of Sayeed's daughters. He was India's home minister then.
His daughter was later freed in exchange for the Indian government releasing five militants from prison.
His body will be taken to Srinagar, the main city in Kashmir, and then buried in his ancestral village, said his party leader and Kashmir state Education Minister Nayeem Akhter.
