SRINAGAR: The newly constituted Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly, convening for its first session in over six years, dedicated its second day to pay tribute to 51 lawmakers who passed away since the assembly was last active. This solemn observance served as the first opportunity for legislators to acknowledge the contributions of these leaders, whose deaths went unaddressed in the absence of an active assembly.
The house is expected to pay homage while acknowledging the immense contributions of these former ministers, MLAs, MLCs, and members of the Constituent Assembly, recognising their roles in shaping Jammu and Kashmir’s political landscape. The list of departed lawmakers includes senior leaders such as Abdul Rashid Dar, ex-Chairman of the Legislative Council; Mian Bashir Ahmad and Madan Lal Sharma, both ex-Ministers; and Syed Ali Shah Geelani, an ex-MLA and a prominent figure in Kashmir’s political landscape. Among those remembered was Devender Singh Rana, a recently elected member of the current assembly who passed away just days before this inaugural session.
The tribute also included Prof Bhim Singh, a former MLA and advocate for Jammu and Kashmir’s rights on the national stage; Krishan Dev Sethi, a member of the historic Constituent Assembly; and Yashpal Sharma, a former MLC and prominent Congress leader. The observance of these tributes highlighted the bipartisan respect these figures held within Jammu and Kashmir’s political community.
Apart from 51 lawmakers from the two houses of the assembly, the obituary reference list included former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, Somnath Chatterjee, Jagmohan, and P Namgyal, former minister in the Government of India.
Here are the 51 lawmakers from Jammu and Kashmir who passed away since the last assembly session in 2018:
Abdul Rashid Dar, ex-Chairman, Legislative Council
Mian Bashir Ahmad, ex-Minister
Madan Lal Sharma, ex-Minister
Mohammad Sharif Niaz, ex-Minister
Syed Mushtaq Ahmed Bukhari, ex-Minister
Thakur Randhir Singh, ex-Minister
Abdul Gani Mir, ex-Minister
Govind Ram, ex-Minister
Puran Singh, ex-Minister
Sardar Rafiq Hussain Khan, ex-Minister
Togdan Rimpoche, ex-Minister
Ghulam Qadir Mir, ex-Minister
Qazi Mohammad Afzal, ex-Minister
Devender Singh Rana, late Member of current Assembly
Prof. Bhim Singh, ex-MLA
Krishan Dev Sethi, ex-Member Constituent Assembly
Haji Abdul Aziz Parray, ex-MLA
Mohammad Yasin Shah, ex-MLA
Rachpal Singh, ex-MLA
Peer Ab Gani Shah, ex-MLA
Choudhary Bashir Ahmad Naz, ex-MLA
Syed Ali Shah Geelani, ex-MLA
Mohammad Shafi Khan, ex-MLA
Abdul Gani Naseem, ex-MLA
Abdul Wahid Shan, ex-MLA
Ghulam Qadir Bhat (Bedar), ex-MLA
Abdul Aziz Parray, ex-MLA
Ghulam Rasool Bahar, ex-MLA
Abdul Razak Wagay, ex-MLA
Thakur Diwakar Singh, ex-MLA
Rajesh Gupta, ex-MLA
Som Nath, ex-MLA
Prakash Sharma, ex-MLA
Mohammad Maqbool Bhat, ex-MLA
Ghulam Rasool Sofi, ex-MLC
Choudhary Fateh Mohammad, ex-MLC
Abdul Rehman Badana, ex-MLC
Habib-ullah Bhat, ex-MLC
Thakur Kashmira Singh, ex-MLC
Yashpal Sharma, ex-MLC
Raja Nasir Khan, ex-MLC
Wali Mohammad Bhagwan, ex-MLC
Haji Ali Mohammad Bhat, ex-MLC
Abdul Aziz Wani, ex-MLC
Chuni Lal Dhiman, ex-MLC
Trilochan Singh Wazir, ex-MLC
Aga Syed Jamal, ex-MLC
Haji Mohammad Sultan, ex-MLC
Gulzar Ahmad Khatana, ex-MLC
Mohammad Aslam, ex-MLC
Mirza Mohammad Yaqoob, ex-MLC
The speaker said that in my political career. “I have never seen such a long list of obituary references,” he said, insisting it is impossible to pay homage to everybody in detail, so we must be brief.
Satish Sharma, the minister in Omar’s government, spoke about his father Congressman Madan Lal Sharma. He regretted as a son he could make his father proud when he was alive.
Apart from Madan Lal Sharma whose son is now a member of the assembly, Ghulam Qadir Bedar’s son, Javed Riyaz Beader was recently elected to the assembly on JKNC mandate. He was a retired SSP.
Rafiq Naik, a PDP lawmaker from Tral, paid tributes to his father Ali Mohammad Naik, the former Speaker. He paid tributes to Geelani saying that though he has political differences but he was a great orator and has contributed to the assembly.
