Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah (5 December 1905 – 8 September 1982) was an Indian politician who played a central role in the politics of Jammu and Kashmir.

[8] Sheikh Abdullah again became the Chief Minister of the state following the accord with Indira in 1974 and remained in the top slot till his death on 8 September 1982.

[10][11] As claimed by him in his autobiography Aatish-e-Chinar,[12] his great-grandfather was a Hindu Brahmin of the Sapru clan, who converted to Islam after getting influenced by a Sufi preacher.

[10] He was first admitted to a traditional school or maktab in 1909, when he was four, where he learnt the recitation of the Quran and some basic Persian texts like Gulistan of Sa'di, Bustan and Padshanama.

He became convinced that the feudal system was responsible for the miseries of the Kashmiris and like all progressive nations of the world Kashmir too should have a democratically elected government.

In 1922, G. A. Ashai set up the Islamia School Old Boys Association (a reading room) with 20 members as part of the leadership, including Sheikh Abdullah.

[24] In March 1933 the Muslim Conference constituted a committee which included Molvi Abdullah and nine other members for the purpose of establishing contacts with non-Muslim parties and exploring the possibility of forming a joint organisation.

[26] According to Sheikh Abdullah the support of Chaudhary Ghulam Abbas of Jammu was very important in motivating the members to vote for this change.

[31] Seventeen years later in 1951, the government of Kashmir with Sheikh Abdullah as prime minister held elections to a constituent assembly on the basis of universal adult suffrage.

[38] The Maharajah was not willing to accept these demands and so he along with many of his companions was arrested for defying prohibitory orders and sentenced to six months imprisonment and a fine.

[40] In May 1946 Sheikh Abdullah launched the Quit Kashmir agitation against Maharajah Hari Singh and was arrested and sentenced to three years imprisonment but was released only sixteen months later on 29 September 1947.

In his accession offer dated 26 October 1947 which accompanied The Instrument of Accession duly signed by him on 26 October 1947, Maharaja Hari Singh wrote "I may also inform your Excellency's Government that it is my intention at once to set up an interim Government and ask Sheikh Abdullah to carry the responsibilities in this emergency with my Prime Minister.

The support of Mahatma Gandhi and prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, was a key factor in getting Sheikh Abdullah appointed as Head of the emergency administration by the Maharaja.

[46] As a consequence, Sheikh Abdullah was appointed head of an emergency administration by an order issued by the Maharaja which was undated except for the mention of October 1947 in place of the date.

[47] He raised a force of local Kashmiri volunteers to patrol Srinagar and take control of administration after the flight of the Maharaja along with his family and Prime Minister Meher Chand Mahajan to Jammu even before the Indian troops had landed.

This was articulated in his letter to Sardar Patel dated 7 October 1948 in which he wrote, "With the taking over of the State forces by the Indian Government, it was agreed that steps would be taken to reorganise and rebuild our army so that when the present emergency is over and the Indian forces are withdrawn the State will be left with a proper organised army of its own to fall back upon.

[51] Sheikh Abdullah spoke at the UN Security Council on 5 February 1948 thus: While the [tribal] raiders came to our land, massacred thousands of people — mostly Hindus and Sikhs, but Muslims too — abducted thousands of girls, Hindu, Sikhs and Muslims alike, looted our property and almost reached the gates of our summer capital, Srinagar, the result was that the civil, military and police administration failed.

[56] According to Sheikh Abdullah his dismissal and arrest were engineered by the central government headed by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

Nehru requested Sheikh Abdullah to act as a bridge between India and Pakistan and make President Ayub to agree to come to New Delhi for talks for a final solution of the Kashmir problem.

[64] On his suggestion, President Ayub Khan sent a high level Pakistani delegation led by his Foreign Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto along with him to take part in the last rites of Jawaharlal Nehru.

The political realities shifted towards maintaining the status quo, with India and Pakistan managing their respective parts of Kashmir.

The political climate in J&K had also evolved, with new leaders and parties emerging, and the National Conference (NC) losing its dominant position.

[67][68] The Indira–Sheikh Accord of 1975 was a result of prolonged negotiations where Sheikh Abdullah agreed to accept the position of Chief Minister under the Indian Constitution, effectively dropping the demand for a plebiscite.

The Central Government and the ruling Congress Party withdrew its support so that the State Assembly had to be dissolved and mid term elections called.

[70] The National Conference won an overwhelming majority in the subsequent elections and re-elected Sheikh Abdullah as Chief Minister.

[76] It is based on extensive interviews that Taing had with Sheikh Abdullah and provides valuable information on Sheikh Abdullah's family background, early life, ringside glimpses of happenings in Kashmir at a crucial juncture in its history, and his viewpoint about the political events in Kashmir in which he himself played a central role.

In 1933 he married Akbar Jahan, the daughter of Michael Harry Nedou, of Slovak and British descent, and his Muslim Gujjar wife Mirjan.

[82] He spoke against Pakistani government in United Nations by comparing it with Hitler's rule, and he also endorsed Indian stand on Jammu and Kashmir.

Among the persons who received him was Chaudhary Ghulam Abbas his once colleague and later political enemy who earlier in his book Kashmakash had denounced Sheikh Abdullah as a turncoat and traitor.

[91][92][93] The Flame of the Chinar, a 1998 Indian feature documentary film directed by Zul Vellani covers his life and works.