The Gazette of India
EXTRAORDINARY
PART I—Section 1
PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY
No. 164] NEW DELHI, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1982/BHADRA 20, 1904 Separate Paging is given to this Part in order that It may be filed as a separate compilation
2 THE GAZETTE OF INDIA : EXTRAORDINARY [PART I—SEC. 1MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS
NOTIFICATION
New Delhi, the 11th September, 1982
O B I T U A RY
No. 3/6/82-Publlc—In the death of Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah, the country has lost one of Its great sons. An embadiment of secularism, a democrat, a veteran freedom fighter and a staunch socialist, Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah dominated the political scene of the Jammu & Kashmir State for more than half a century.
2. He was. born on Decembor 5, 1903, at Soura, a suburb of Srinagar, in a shawl merchant's family. His father had died shorty before his birth and he lost his mother in childhood. After his Matriculation from the Government High School at Srinagar, he took his Bachelor's Degree from Islamia College, Lahore, and Master's Degree in Chemistry from Aligarh .Muslim University. On returning to Kashmir in 1930, he started his career as a school teacher but threw up his job a few months later to join national struggle for freedom.
3. As he entered the political arena, he was greatly in- fluenced by Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Maulanu Abul Kalam Azad. He converted the J and K Muslim Con. ference, of which he became the President in 1932, Into a secular forum and named it National Conference, thus affording equal opportunities to persons belonging to all faiths to participate in the freedom movement.
4. Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah believed that our country's multi-religious, multi-lingual heritage gave full opportunity for each region, with its distinctive cultural personality to contribute to the personality of the whole country. Religion, in his view, could not become the basis of the State. He firmly ' pposcd the two-nation theory propounded by Shri Mohammed Ali Jinnah. He was also a staunch democrat, and was an articulate fighter against feudalism. Following the lead given by Mahatma Gandhi in the struggle for India's freedom, he launched the 'Quit Kashmir' movement in 1946 denouncing Maharaja's right to rule and declaring that "sovereignty belongs to the people". For this, he was tried for sedition and imprisoned.
5. In 1947, when Pakistan invaded the Kashmir Valley, he mobilised tho people not only for the defence of the home- land against foreign aggression but also their support for accession to India. He became the Head of the State's Emergency Government.
6. After taking over the reins of the State Government, he launched a massive reform programme. Zamindari was abolished. The people were given debt relief. Schemes and programmes for the good of the people of the State in various fields were initiated.
7. Sheikh Abdullah was a Member of the Indian Consti- tuent Assembly and was a signatory to the Constitution. He visited the United Nations as a Member of the Indian delegation in 1948-49 and held the view that Pakistan had no legal pjsition in Kashmir because Kashmir had already acceded to India.
8. A new chapter in his distinguished life of service began when he resumed leadership of the Government in Jammu & Kashmir in February 1975 and up to his last day, he guidod the administration of the State with dedication and drive. During his stewardship, the State made good progress in various fields.
9. Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah cherished and firmly advocated, throughout his career, the ideals of unity, secularism, socialism and democracy. He fought all his life against sectarian interests and parochialism, and devoted all his energies to the uplift of the poor and the strengthening of the unity of the country. For his State he was a father figure and was popularly called the Lion of Kashmir. Sheikh Abdullah was a great patriot. In him, the country has lost a statesman and freedom fighter of remarkable stature and achievement. The people and the Government of India mourn his death with profound grief.
T. N. CHATURVEDI, Secy,