SRINAGAR: Senior Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (NC) leader and former Cabinet Minister Sheikh Mustafa Kamal died on Tuesday after a long career in public life and politics.
Kamal was serving as the Additional General Secretary of the National Conference and was one of the party’s senior-most leaders. He was the son of Sher-e-Kashmir Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, younger brother of National Conference President and former Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah, and uncle of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.
Trained as a medical doctor, Kamal later entered politics through the National Conference and served as a Cabinet Minister during different tenures of the party-led government. Over the years, he played a key organisational role within the party and remained actively involved in political affairs in Jammu and Kashmir.
His political career began in 1983, when he became a member of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Council. The same year, he was inducted into the Cabinet headed by his brother, Dr Farooq Abdullah.
Dr Kamal was elected to the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly from the Gulmarg constituency in 1987 and retained the seat in subsequent elections, serving as MLA until 2002. During this period, he was a Cabinet minister in the National Conference governments formed in 1983, 1987 and 1996, holding several important portfolios.
Political leaders from across the spectrum, along with party workers and supporters, expressed grief over his demise, remembering his decades of service to the National Conference and public life.
The deceased will be laid to rest at Bominsar graveyard in Sonwar Srinagar.
