Mufti Mohammed Sayeed Laid To Rest , Thousands Attend Burial

07 January, Srinagar

Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, who passed away after a prolonged illness at AIIMS New Delhi, was laid to rest at his ancestral place in south Kashmir’s Bijbehara town this evening.

Union Ministers Rajnath Singh & Dr Jitendra Singh, former Chief Ministers Omar Abdullah & Ghulam Nabi Azad, senior political leaders across party lines and officers of the State government attended the last rites of the departed leader.

A huge mass of mourners, inclusive of VIPs, family members and party activists, assembled at the first ‘Nimaz-e-Jinaza’ (funeral prayer) for Sayeed here and a second in his hometown Bijbehara where he was laid to rest, marking the end of a long chapter in Kashmiri politics.

The Union Cabinet today passed a resolution expressing profound sorrow on the sad demise of Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. The resolution was passed in the Cabinet meeting Chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

It said the nation has lost an eminent and distinguished leader, a true nationalist and a stalwart from Jammu and Kashmir. The Cabinet has extended its heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family.

Sayeed, who led the first coalition government in the state also involving the BJP, died in New Delhi on Thursday, 14 days after he was hospitalized.

Sayeed passed away at 9.10 a.m. at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, three days after he was put on ventilator. A severely diabetic, he “died due to bone marrow dysfunction”, hospital sources said. He was admitted on December 24 with fever as well as chest infection.

Amid national mourning, his body was flown to Srinagar.

Leader of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Sayeed – who survived several attacks on him by militants – was chief minister the first time in 2002-05 in a coalition government with the Congress. In March last year, he allied with the BJP to become the chief minister again.