Mufti Mohammad Sayeed

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mufti Mohammad Sayeed (born January 12, 1936) was the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir till November 2005. He leads the People's Democratic Party or the PDP, a Jammu and Kashmir-based party which he formed in July 1999 to "persuade the Government of India to initiate an unconditional dialogue with Kashmiris for resolution of the Kashmir problem".

He has previously been a member of the Congress party. He is said to have brought about the downfall of the Farooq Abdullah led National Conference government of Jammu and Kashmir in 1984. In 1987, he quit the Congress to join V P Singh's Janata Dal, which led to his becoming the first Muslim Home Minister in 1989. His daughter Rubaiya was kidnapped by terrorists within few days of his taking office. She was released in exchange for the release of some militants.

He rejoined the Congress under P V Narasimha Rao which he left in 1999 along with his other daughter Mehbooba Mufti to form his own party, People's Democratic Party.

He has survived several attacks on his life by terrorists over the years.