Mehbooba Mufti

Mehbooba Mufti (born 22 May 1959) is an Indian politician of the Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who served as the last Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir as a State, from 4 April 2016 to 19 June 2018. After the revocation of the special status (autonomy) of the state in August 2019, Mufti was detained without any charges at first and later under the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act.[2] She was released only in October 2020, after the Supreme Court of India quizzed the government about the length of her detention.

Mehbooba Mufti
Mufti in 2016
Vice president of People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration
Incumbent
Assumed office 20 October 2020
9th Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir
In office 4 April 2016 – 19 June 2018
Preceded by	Mufti Mohammad Sayeed
Succeeded by	President's rule
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
In office 2014–2018
Preceded by	Mirza Mehboob Beg
Succeeded by	Hasnain Masoodi
Constituency	Anantnag
In office 16 May 2004 – 16 May 2009
Preceded by	Ali Muhammad Naik
Succeeded by	Mirza Mehboob Beg
President of Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party
Incumbent
Assumed office January 2009
Personal details
Born	22 May 1959 Bijbehara, Jammu and Kashmir, India
Political party	Jammu and Kashmir People's Democratic Party
Spouse(s)	Javed Iqbal Shah[1]
Children	Two Daughters, Iltija Mufti and Irtiqa Javed
Relatives	Mufti Mohammad Sayeed (father)
Alma mater	University of Kashmir

Mufti was the first woman to hold the office of Chief Minister in the state.[3] She formed a coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir jointly with the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP). She resigned in June 2018 after the BJP withdrew from the coalition.[4]

Mufti is the president of the PDP and was a member of the Indian parliament, representing Anantnag in the 16th Lok Sabha; before she was sworn in as the Chief Minister of J&K. She also represented Anantnag in the 14th Lok Sabha (2004–09).[5]

Early life

She is the daughter of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and Gulshan Ara,[6] born in 1959 in Akhran Nowpora. She graduated in English literature from Government College for Women in Jammu,[7] and has a law degree from the University of Kashmir.[8][9] Post 1989, she shifted to N. Delhi and joined the Bombay Mercantile Bank, after which she worked with East West Airlines, before moving back to J&K. Her ex-husband is a political analyst, an animal-rights activist, and was briefly with National Conference party.[1] She has two daughters, Iltija and Irtiqa. [10]

Political career

When elections for the state assembly were held in 1996, Mehbooba became one of the most popular members elected from Bijbehara on an Indian National Congress ticket. Her father had returned to the Congress, which he had left in 1987, angry at the alliance that party had formed with its traditional rival in the state, the National Conference. Mehbooba quickly made a mark as the leader of the opposition in the assembly, taking on the government of Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah with asperity.

She resigned her assembly seat and went on to contest the parliamentary elections in 1999 from Srinagar, where she lost to incumbent member Omar Abdullah. She won the Pahalgam seat in the state assembly from South Kashmir, defeating Rafi Ahmed Mir, when assembly elections were held again in 2002. She was elected to the Lok Sabha from Anantnag seat in 2004 and 2014.She defeated Mirza Mehboob Beg who was the incumbent MP in 2014 Lok Sabha Elections.

After her father's death in January 2016, when he was heading the coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir, she took forward the same alliance with Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), the second time the BJP and the PDP formed a government in Jammu and Kashmir.[11][12][13] On 4 April 2016, she took the oath and became the first woman Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir.

On 25 June 2016, she won an Assembly seat in a by-election in Anantnag with the highest margin in any recent elections there and thereafter focussed on settling of Rohingyas.[14]

She again contested 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Anantnag seat but lost it to Hasnain Masoodi of National Conference.[15]

Detention

On 5 August 2019, she was detained by the Central government.[2] Her daughter Iltija Mufti took over her mother's Twitter account on the 46th day of detention.[16] In November, Iltija Mufti wrote a letter to the Srinagar Deputy Commissioner to shift her mother to a place better equipped for the valley's winter.[17]

In February 2020 she was further detained under the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act.[18] She was released on 13 October 2020.[19]

25 Nov 2020, Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and Peoples Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti was detained by Jammu and Kashmir Police and was not allowed to visit South Kashmir’s Pulwama to meet the family of senior PDP leader Waheed Parra, who was arrested by the National Investigating Agency earlier this week.

Mufti said that her daughter Iltija Mufti has also been placed under house arrest.

https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/mehbooba-mufti-alleges-illegally-detained-again-by-jammu-and-kashmir-administration-daughter-iltija-placed-under-house-arrest-2330873

https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/kashmir-mehbooba-mufti-daughter-allegedly-put-under-house-arrest/story-dclw7vSig7705AnwWdf94O.html

See also

• Mehbooba Mufti ministry (2016–2018)

References

1. "Insider tears into Muftis and family party". Telegraph India. 2 March 2016.
2. Haq, Shuja-ul; Wani, Ashraf (15 November 2019). "After daughter's appeal, Mehbooba Mufti shifted to warmer location in Srinagar". India Today. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
3. "Mehbooba is J-K's first woman CM and India's 16th". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
4. Masoodi, Nazir and Tikku, Aloke (19 June 2018). "Dumped By BJP, Mehbooba Mufti Says Muscular Policy Won't Work In Kashmir". ndtv.com.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
5. Mufti, Mehbooba (1 March 2019). "Why is GoI so uncomfortable with Jamaat e Islami?..." Twitter. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
6. Gulshan Ara hugs her daughter Mehbooba Mufti after the oath ceremony at Raj Bhawan in Jammu on Monday. -Excelsior/Rakesh – Jammu Kashmir Latest News | Tourism | Breaking News J&K. Dailyexcelsior.com. Retrieved on 28 August 2019.
7. Raina, Anil (11 April 2016). "The queen of the valley". Mumbai Mirror. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
8. Mehbooba Mufti (JKPDP):Constituency – Anantnag (Jammu & Kashmir) – Affidavit Information of Candidate. Myneta.info. Retrieved on 28 August 2019.
9. Waldman, Amy (12 October 2002). "A new face signals political change in embattled Kashmir". The New York Times.
10. "Mehbooba Mufti: Profile, Husband and Family". ipious.blogspot.in.
11. Mehbooba Mufti sworn in as Jammu & Kashmir's first woman chief minister. Times of India (3 April 2016)
12. Mehbooba Mufti takes over Jammu & Kashmir reins. Indianexpress.com (4 April 2016). Retrieved on 2019-08-28.
13. Mehbooba Mufti To Take Oath As Chief Minister. Ndtv.com (31 March 2016). Retrieved on 2019-08-28.
14. Mehbooba Mufti wins Anantnag by elections by 12 thousand votes. Jagran.com (25 June 2016). Retrieved on 2019-08-28.
15. "Mehbooba Mufti". CNBCTV18. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
16. "Mehbooba Mufti's Daughter Takes Over Her Twitter Account". NDTV. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
17. "Shift my mother to place equipped for winter: Mehbooba Mufti's daughter". India Today. 5 November 2019. Retrieved 24 December 2019.
18. "Some Words Used In Mehbooba Mufti Dossier Were Avoidable: J&K Top Cop". NDTV. 16 February 2020. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
19. Masood, Bashaarat (14 October 2020). "Mehbooba released, says 'will take back what Delhi snatched'". indianexpress.com. Indian Express. Retrieved 15 October 2020.

External links

• Official biographical sketch in Parliament of India website
• State Assembly hall security remove opposition People's Democratic Party
• Jolly, Asit (15 May 2017). "Mehbooba Mufti under Siege. Can She Stem the Rot?". India Today. pp. 30–38. ("Buffeted by Insurgency and Dissent within Her Party, She Needs All the Help She Can Get from a Reluctant Centre.") indiatoday.intoday.in 4 May 2017