Mirza Afzal Beg

Mirza Mohammad Afzal Beg widely known as FAKHR-É-KASHMIR (Pride of J&K) (1908–1982) was a Kashmiri politician and one of the founding members of Jammu & Kashmir National Conference. He served as a minister in the pre-independence period in the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, and as the revenue minister in the post-independence government headed by Sheikh Abdullah. In this post he led the land reforms in Jammu and Kashmir, recognised as the most successful land reforms in India.

Mirza Afzal Beg
Mirza Afzal Beg
Deputy Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir
In office
1974–1977
Revenue Minister
In office
1948–1953
Cabinet Minister
In office
1951–1953
Member of Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly
In office
1974–1977
ConstituencyAnantnag (Vidhan Sabha constituency)
In office
1977–1982
ConstituencyAnantnag (Vidhan Sabha constituency)
President and Founder of All Jammu and Kashmir Plebiscite Front
In office
1955–1975
Cabinet Minister for Public Works (PWD) of Princely State of J&K
In office
1942–1946
Member of Constituent Assembly of India and Constituent Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir

After the dismissal of Sheikh Abdullah government in 1953, Beg was incarcerated along with Abdullah and charged in the Kashmir Conspiracy Case. Beg founded a new party called the Plebiscite Front, demanding that Kashmir's accession to India should be decided by a plebiscite. In 1974, he paved the way for Abdullah's rehabilitation by negotiating with the Indian government, leading to the 1974 Indira-Sheikh accord.[1][2]

Plebiscite Front was then transformed into the present day National Conference.

Beg served as the Deputy Chief Minister in the next government headed by Sheikh Abdullah.

Early life

Afzal Beg hailed from Anantnag and was the son of Mirza Nizamudin Beg, brother of Mirza Ghulam Qadir Beg and nephew of the landlord, Mirza Ghulam Mohammad Beg, of Anantnag. He graduated from Sri Pratap College, Sri Nagar and studied law at Aligarh Muslim University.[3]

Career

Princely state

Beg joined Sheikh Abdullah's Muslim Conference from its inception.[4] In 1934 elections, he was elected to the Praja Sabha and served as the deputy leader of the parliamentary party.[5] In 1937–38, after Gopalaswami Ayyangar became the prime minister of the state, Afzal Beg and Girdhari Lal Dogra were appointed cabinet ministers.[4]

Soon after the 1938 election, Sheikh Abdullah, along with other members, launched an initiative to transform the Muslim Conference into an inclusive nationalist party, to be called the National Conference.[6][lower-alpha 1] The Muslim nationalist members, including Choudhry Ghulam Abbas, opposed the move.[7] Afzal Beg is said to have counselled caution, fearing a vertical division of the party.[7] Despite the apprehensions, the special session of the party convened in June 1939, overwhelmingly passed a resolution transforming itself into National Conference.[8]

In 1944, Beg was appointed a cabinet minister again and given the charge of Public Works and Municipalities.[9] In March 1946, after Pandit Ram Chandra Kak was appointed the prime minister, the National Conference pulled out of the government and launched its Quit Kashmir movement. Beg stepped down from his ministerial post for this development.[9] He was arrested for taking part in the movement.

Indian state

He was part of the Constituent Assembly of India and Jammu and Kashmir.

Return to government

In 1978, Beg was expelled from the National Conference party by Sheikh Abdullah, on allegations of causing party defections. Abdullah then groomed his own son Farooq Abdullah as his successor.[10][11]

Death

Mirza Afzal Beg died on 11 June 1982. He is survived by three sons and three daughters. His son Mirza Mehboob Beg is also a politician in the state.

Notes
  1. In Indian terminology, inclusive nationalism tends to be called "secularism".

References
  1. "J&K on threshold of Socio Economic Transformation: Rather - Kashmir Times". www.kashmirtimes.in.
  2. "A closed chapter!". Archived from the original on 3 February 2014. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  3. Personalities: A Comprehensive and Authentic Biographical Dictionary of Men who Matter in India [Northern India and Parliament]. Arunam & Sheel. 1950. p. 9.
  4. Fotedar, M.L. (2015), The Chinar Leaves: A Political Memoir, HarperCollins Publishers India, p. 10, ISBN 978-93-5177-477-8
  5. Hussain, Sheikh Abdullah - A Biography (2016), p. 248.
  6. Das Gupta, Jammu and Kashmir (2012), pp. 60–61.
  7. Parashar, Kashmir and the Freedom Movement (2004), p. 115.
  8. Das Gupta, Jammu and Kashmir (2012), pp. 61–62.
  9. Das Gupta, Jammu and Kashmir (2012), p. 68.
  10. Deputy CM of J&K Mirza Afzal Beg resigns from state council of ministers, India Today, 15 October 1978.
  11. Chowdhary, Rekha (2015), Jammu and Kashmir: Politics of Identity and Separatism, Routledge, p. 43, ISBN 978-1-317-41405-6

Bibliography
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