Veteran NC Leader Dr. Mustafa Kamal Passes Away; LG, CM Lead Condolences

Srinagar: Veteran National Conference (NC) leader, former Cabinet Minister and the party’s Additional General Secretary, Dr. Mustafa Kamal, passed away on Monday after a prolonged illness. He was 87.
Dr. Kamal, younger brother of National Conference president and former Chief Minister Dr. Farooq Abdullah, breathed his last at around 5 pm at Paras Hospital in Srinagar, where he had been undergoing treatment for the past several months. His condition had deteriorated over the last four days.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah announced the demise in a post on X, saying his uncle had put up a brave fight against illness. “My father’s younger brother Dr. Mustafa Kamal passed away earlier this evening at Paras Hospital in Srinagar. Uncle Mustafa had been unwell for some months but took a turn for the worse four days ago. He put up a brave fight against the odds. The doctors and staff treating him were amazing, but Allah called him for his final journey. May Allah grant Uncle Mustafa the highest place in Jannat,” the Chief Minister said.
Hundreds of mourners, including NC president Dr. Farooq Abdullah, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, Cabinet ministers, legislators, political leaders and people from different walks of life, attended the Namaz-e-Janaza at the family’s Nedous residence near the MLA Hostel in Srinagar. He was later laid to rest at the family graveyard in Sonawar.
Son of National Conference founder Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, Dr. Kamal remained one of the party’s senior-most leaders and served both as a legislator and Cabinet Minister in the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir government. He was elected to the Legislative Council in 1983 before winning Assembly elections from Tangmarg in 1987 and 1996, and later represented the Pattan Assembly constituency after winning the 2006 by-election.
Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha expressed profound grief over Dr. Kamal’s demise, saying he was deeply saddened by the passing of the veteran leader. In his condolence message, the Lieutenant Governor extended heartfelt sympathies to the bereaved family, well-wishers and admirers, and prayed for peace to the departed soul.
The Chief Minister’s Office also expressed condolences, with officers and staff conveying their sympathies to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and the bereaved family. In a condolence message, they remembered Dr. Kamal as a former minister and senior National Conference leader and prayed for eternal peace to the departed soul while wishing strength and fortitude to the family to bear the irreparable loss.