Party, politics & family will test Tassaduq

Amit Khajuria in Jammu

For almost two decades since most members of the Mufti family in south Kashmir’s Bijbehara town joined politics — when Kashmir valley was in the shadow of the gun — Tassaduq Hussain Mufti chose to stay away. Instead, he pursued his dream.

His sister, Mehbooba Mufti, rose in influence under the tutelage of their father, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed — the patriarch of the Mufti family and founder of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Tassaduq’s absence saw his father become the Chief Minister, for the first time in 2002, and then for a second time in 2015, as his sister strengthened the party by veturing out into militant hotbeds, and even surviving attacks. When Mufti Sayeed became the Chief Minister for the second time, the state’s political dynamics became even more unpredictable .

The BJP’s rise altered the political landscape as it emerged the second largest political party with 25 seats, three short of PDP’s 28. The 2014 winter election resulted in a shaky alliance between PDP and BJP, with Mufti Sayeed as its key architect and the state’s Chief Minister.

Tassaduq (45), who worked as a cinematographer in Bollywood, first appeared on Kashmir’s scene when Mufti Sayeed died in January last year. He was there in Bijbehara, with his sobbing sisters Mehbooba and Rubiya, when prayers were read for Mufti Sayeed at the Dara Shikoh Park. But he still chose to stay away from politics and returned to Mumbai.

However, a year later, on Mufti Sayeed’s first anniversary, Tassaduq finally made a reluctant leap into politics. “It is an important day of my life,” he said inside a stadium in Srinagar packed with party workers.

Tassaduq’s emergence as a politician came at a time when Mehbooba is trying to strengthen her grip over the party as she has isolated elements who were rumoured to have been planning a coup against her, when she was mourning her father’s death.

For Mehbooba, Tassaduq is someone whom she can trust. Party insiders are already suggesting that Tassaduq is a possible candidate for the upcoming parliamentary by-election and Mehbooba may want him to contest from South Kashmir’s Anantnag constituency, which she had previously represented before becoming the Chief Minister. Tassaduq has a hard task ahead as his party faces popularity deficit caused by its alliance with BJP and the 2016 summer unrest. Tasaduq’s belated entry into state politics makes him a novice in the game, in which rules, promises and allies change frequently.

There is a huge difference between the times when Mufti Sayeed and Mehbooba Mufti co-founded the PDP in 1999 and now. Around 17 years ago, the premier political party, the National Conference, had no regional alternative. By that time Farooq Abdullah had launched his son Omar into politics. Omar had contested and won the parliamentary elections from Srinagar constituency to tighten the grip of the Abdullah family on the NC. Now, Mehbooba has launched her brother to do the same.  Omar was new to politics despite being part of the first political family of Kashmir (his grandfather Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah was the founder of National Conference). Tassaduq Mufti is also new to politics. “He is a reflection of our father,” that is how Mehbooba describes him. 

“I am looking at creating a space for peace in the state by reaching out to the youth with new and innovative thoughts where we can tap their potential in preserving the beauty and the resources of the state,” says Tassaduq. 

His approach is to reach out in all the three regions. “This can happen only when Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh get involved in this exercise. This should be our unified approach. Only then we can achieve peace.”

The summers of 2017 will test him.