Question: Who had become the first Muslim Minister for Home Affairs?
(a) Mufti Mohammad Sayeed
(b) Salman Akhatar
(c) Sheikh Abdulla
(d) Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan
Ans (a)
Related facts:
- On 7 January 2016, Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Mufti Mohammad Sayeed passed away of multiple organ failure in New Delhi. He was 79.
- Sayeed, a two-time Chief Minister of J&K had started his second tenure on March 1st, 2015 heading Peoples Democratic Party-Bhartiya Janta Party (PDP-BJP) coalition government.
- He was born on 12 January 1936 in Anantnag district of South Kashmir.
- He has done Graduation from SP College Srinagar and completed his Post Graduate in Arabic and in Law from Aligarh Muslim University.
- He had started his political career with Democratic National Conference (DNC) Party of G M Sadiq from grass root level in 1950s.
- For first time he was elected to J&K state assembly from Bijbehara in 1962.
- In 1967 he was again elected from the same seat and he served as Deputy Minister in Ghulam Mohammed Sadiq led state government.
- Later he fell out with the DNC and joined the Indian National Congress (INC) becoming cabinet minister in Congress Government.
- He had served as Union Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation in Rajiv Gandhi Government in 1986.
- In 1987 he left the Congress Party and co-founded Jan Morcha with former Prime Minister V.P. Singh.
- In 1989, he became first Muslim Minister for Home Affairs in the Union Cabinet headed by then PM V.P. Singh.
- In 1989, within few days of taking office as the Union Minister for Home Affairs, his third daughter, Rubaiya, was kidnapped by the militants.
- She was released in exchange for the release of five militants.
- He left the Congress party in 1999 along with his daughter Mehbooba Mufti to form his own Jammu and Kashmir People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
- For first time he became CM in 2002 heading PDP-Congress coalition government and was in office from November 2002 to November 2005.
- In 2015, the PDP in his leadership became the largest party in the Jammu and Kashmir state assembly election, the government formed in coalition with the BJP and he became the CM again.
Reference:
http://jkcmsecretariat.nic.in/