Srinagar: Four top J&K leaders missing in the central government’s list of political invitees for the much hyped maiden key meeting called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on post August 5,2019 talks include Dr Karan Singh the first Head of erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir from 1952 to 1965 then called Sadr-e-Reyast , Prof Saif Ud-Din Soz a record four time Lok Sabha member, three time Rajaya Sabha member and two time Union Minister, Hakeem Mohammad Yaseen five time MLA ,three time cabinet minister and head of the Jammu &Kashmir Peoples Democratic Front (JK PDF) the party registered with Election Commission of India for over a decade and Er Rasheed two time MLA Langate and one of the most popular leaders from North Kashmir and also head of J&K Awami Ittehad Party another party registered with the Election Commission Of India but presently under detention . Below is the brief political profiled of all the four top J&K leaders :-
Dr Karan Singh: He was the first Head of erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir from 1952 to 1965 then called Sadr-e-Reyast and is significantly known for his instrumental role in the enactment of the scrapped J&K Constitution adopted by the erstwhile J&K constituent assembly in the year 1956 the time when late Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah was under detention and late Bakshi Gh Mohammad was the Prime Minister of erstwhile J&K State. From 1947 Karan Singh also worked closely, as a teenager, with Jawaharlal Nehru, and Sardar Patel during the transition of the Republic of India, from dominion of India and in 1967 he became the youngest ever union cabinet minister in Indira Gandhi led Congress Government at the centre . He was the Prince regent of Jammu and Kashmir until 1952. At the age of 21 years old, Karan Singh served as the first elected Head of State of Jammu and Kashmir from 1952 to 1965. In the 2022 Indian Presidential Election, Indian National Congress had nominated him as the Presidential Candidate which was then changed for Vice President Hamid Ansari. Karan Singh though considered a rootless politician in Jammu & Kashmir now but he still commands great deal of political following in Jammu, Udhampur, Reasi and Kathua district of Jammu province.
Prof Saif Ud Din Soz : Soz an academician by profession took to politics in 1983 after quitting government service as Secretary J&K Board of School Education. He contested and won Lok Sabha elections as National Conference candidate in 1983. The time, National Conference was headed by Farooq Abdullah Soz went on to win three more Lok Sabha elections as National Conference candidate from Baramulla Lok Sabha constituencies .He also represented National Conference and Jammu and Kashmir in the Rajya Sabha in mid-’90s. In 1997-98, he was inducted as Minister of Environment and Forests into the cabinet of Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral. Before that in 1996-97, Soz served in the same capacity under Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda. In 1999, Soz was expelled from National Conference for voting against the first BJP led NDA Government headed by the then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. Soz was then National Conference Lok Sabha member but defied the whip of his party leadership and his vote brought down Vajpayee headed first BJP led NDA Government at the center. Vajpayee as the first BJP Prime Minister had to tender his resignation after loosing trust vote in the Lok Sabha by a solitary vote cast against his government by Prof Soz . In 2003, Soz joined Congress party and was elected to Rajya Sabha. In January 2006, he was inducted into the ministry of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as Minister of Water Resources, a position he held until early 2009. Soz was appointed President of the Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee in February 2008. He was also one of the front runners for the post of Vice-President of India in the 2007 Vice-Presidential election. While Gh Nabi Azad known to be a rootless politician in J&K after his landslide debacle against BJP’s Jitendra Singh in 2014 Lok Sabha election is on the top of the central government’s list of the political invitees for Prime Minister’s key maiden meet on J&K post August 5, 2019 talks, Prof Soz one of the popular Congress leaders in Kashmir has not been included in the list of political invitees.
Hakeem Mohammad Yaseen: He is a former three time cabinet minister of erstwhile Jammu & Kashmir state. He has won assembly elections five times from the Khansahb assembly constituency of Central Kashmir’s Budgam district and played an instrumental role in the formation of PDP-Congress coalition government headed by late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed for first three years and later by Gh Nabi Azad also for almost another three years. Hakeem was Vice Chairman Peoples’ Democratic Forum a group of 12 independent MLAs led by late Sofi Mohi Ud Din the then Forest Minister as Chairman and a trusted follower of late Khawaja Ab Gani Lone the founder of Peoples’ Conference . However Peoples’ Democratic Forum divided into two factions within few months with one led by Sofi Mohi Ud Din the then Forest Minister and the other by Hakeem Mohammad Yaseen the then Revenue Minister who launched Peoples’ Democratic Front later. Hakeem did not join Omar Abdullah led Congress-NC Coalition government in 2009 and not also Mufti Mohammad Sayeed led PDP-BJP coalition government in 2015 and Mehbooba Mufti led PDP-BJP coalition government in 2016. He was instrumental in the election of Gh Nabi Azad as Member Rajaya Sabha in 2015 as a single vote cast by him led to Azad’s election for Rajaya Sabha from Jammu & Kashmir. Against all speculations Hakeem did not Join Altaf Bukari led J&K Apni Party in post August 5, 2019 scenario when most of the former ministers from PDP and Congress joined Bukhari’s newly launched party. Hakeem choose to maintain his own political identity as head of the Peoples’ Democratic Front (J&K PDF).
Er Rasheed –J&K AIP : Sheikh Ab Rasheed popularly called Er Rasheed an engineer by profession is the founder of Jammu & Kashmir Awami Itehad Party (J&K AIP). He was initially holding the position of Assistant Manager (equivalent to junior engineer) in J&K Projects Construction Corporation (JKPCC)—a semi government construction corporation of the J&K Government . He maintained a clean image without facing any charge of corruption during his professional career. Rashid started his political career in the year 2008 after quitting his government job as a construction Engineer from Government own JKPCC. He joined politics in the year 2008 and stunned political observers by defeating senior NC and PDP leaders Sharif Din Shariq and Muhammad Sultan Panditpuri by 210 votes. He also won convincingly from the same constituency in the year 2015. On October 8, 2015 Engineer Rashid was assaulted and thrashed by BJP MLA’s inside the Jammu and Kashmir assembly for hosting a party where he served beef on the lawns of the government owned circuit house. He was also attacked with ink in Press Club New Delhi a day after his critical comments regarding the lynching of a Kashmiri truck driver in Udhampur. Rashid was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on August 9,2019—four days after New Delhi revoked special status of the erstwhile state—in connection with a “militant funding” case in Kashmir. He’s still under detention in New Delhi’s Tihar jail. Detained by NIA in connection with a “ militant funding” case Er Rashid is also not in the list of Prime Minister’s list of political invitees for obvious reasons.
