Maulana Masoodi

Maulana Muhammad Syed Masoodi (27 January 1903/1905 – 13 December 1990)[1] was a Kashmiri politician affiliated with the National Conference party.

Born in Lawat, Karnah/Neelan Valley/Muzaffarabad District. He was a descendent of Khwaja Masoodi Narwari from Srinagar.

After completing his education he was appointed as a teacher but later after joing the freedom struggle against the autocratic rule in J&K he resigned and played a key role in the freedom movement and "Quit Kashmir" struggle along with Sher I Kashmir Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah.

Maulana Masoodi also played a key role in the organisation's of Plebiscite Front and the Holy Relic Movement through the action committee. He was often referred to as Mufakir I Kashmir by his colleagues for his intellectual and political understand of the Kashmir issue and India Pakistan relations. He also participated in key negotiations between India and Pakistan on Kashmir and even accompanied Sheikh Abdullah to Pakistan for talks on behalf of India.

He functioned as the founder General Secretary of the National Conference for nearly two decades.

Maulana Masoodi had also served as a member of the Maharaja Hari Singh's Praja Sabah along with Maulana Ghulam Mustafa Masoodi.

After Independence he was nominated as a member of the Constituent Assembly of India,[2] and memeber of 1st Lok Sabha.

Maulana Masoodi was also elected as a member of the Constituent Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir and nominated it's interim Chairman.

After the death of Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah J&K National Conference legislature party formally endorsed the decision of then Governor B K Nehru and elected Farooq Abdullah as Chief Minister of the state. Maulana Masoodi the stalwart of the freedom movement and one-time colleague of the Sheikh, was a special invitee at the legislature party meeting to endorse the decision and strengthen the leadership of Farooq Abdullah.

He was the General Secretary of the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference from 1939 to 1953.[3] Maulana Masoodi wrote an anthem for the State of Jammu and Kashmir which was adopted in the Constituent Assembly along with the flag of J&K.[4]

On 13 December 1990, Masoodi was assassinated by terrorists.[5][6]

References

  1. ^ "Whos Who 1950 - Parliament of India" (PDF). NIC. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
  2. ^ "22 years on, J&K varsity remembers slain leader". KashmirWatch. 31 October 2012.
  3. ^ "The parties: Who's who in J&K politics". India Today. 19 September 2014.
  4. ^ "Why Kashmiris missed a heartbeat on July 13 - Mohammad Sayeed". Mainstream Weekly.
  5. ^ "Soz pays tribute to Moulana Masoodi on his 26th anniversary". Kashmir News Service. 12 December 2016.
  6. ^ Goldston, James (1991). Human Rights in India: Kashmir Under Siege. Human Rights Watch. ISBN 978-0-300-05614-3.