Mirza Mohammad Afzal Beg[a] (3 February 1929 – 11 June 1982) was a Kashmiri politician who served as the first deputy chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir from 1975 to 1977 and was a member of Constituent Assembly of India from 1946 to 1952.

[1][8] Beg began his political career in the late 1930s when he became an active member of the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference, a party led by Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah.

[14] Despite the apprehensions, the special session of the party convened in June 1939, overwhelmingly passed a resolution transforming itself into National Conference.

[16] 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 was a close associate of Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, the founder of the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (NC).

Beg was one of the close members in the Quit Kashmir movement of 1946, which demanded the end of autocratic rule under the Dogra dynasty.

During this period, the political situation in Jammu and Kashmir changed significantly, with the National Conference leadership being sidelined.

[17] Beg played a central role in the negotiations that led to the 1974 Indira–Sheikh Accord between Sheikh Abdullah and prime minister Indira Gandhi.

[17] On 15 February 1975, after the Plebiscite Front's Executive Council approved the accord,[19] Beg officially announced the dissolution of the organization, bringing an end to two decades of political opposition.

However, tensions between him and chief minister Sheikh Abdullah began to surface, leading to political rifts within the National Conference.

Abdullah had previously named Maulvi Mohammed Yasin Hamdari, a member of the Legislative Assembly, as the chief witness to these allegations against Beg.

[20] Despite some initial success in drawing crowds to his meetings, Beg faced challenges in gaining widespread support from the electorate.

However, indications suggested that the central government preferred to maintain the status quo in Jammu and Kashmir, refraining from interference in what it considered internal political matters.