Kashmir’s first female leader takes charge

Mufti sworn in three months after her father’s death

JAMMU, INDIA // Mehbooba Mufti was sworn in yesterday as Indian-administered Kashmir’s first woman leader, taking over from her father nearly three months after he died in office.

India’s only Muslim- majority state had been ruled directly from New Delhi since the death in January of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, who formed an uneasy alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after an election last year.

His daughter, who heads the moderate People’s Democratic Party (PDP) that he founded in 1999, had initially appeared reluctant to continue the unpopular coalition with the Hindu nationalist BJP.

The PDP’s main support base is among Muslims in the Kashmir Valley, the epicentre of a separatist insurgency that broke out in 1989, although the party stops short of calling for independence for the Himalayan region.

“Her key task will be to recoup the PDP’s credibility among her constituents [ Kashmiri Muslims], which is at an all- time low, and manage support from Delhi vis-a-vis economic assistance,” said political historian Siddiq Wahid. Mehbooba Mufti reached an agreement at a meeting with prime minister Narendra Modi last month, although the terms of their deal have not been disclosed.

Her swearing-in took the number of female chief ministers in India to five, although she became the first woman to serve in the post in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Mr Modi did not attend the swearing- in ceremony in the state’s winter capital, Jammu, but tweeted his congratulations.

Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan, both of which claim the Himalayan territory in its entirety.

Several rebel groups have for decades been fighting troops and police on the Indian side of the divided region, seeking independence or a merger of the territory with Pakistan.

The fighting has left tens of thousands dead, mostly civilians.