Sajad Gani Lone (born 1966) is an Indian politician, and former Member of the Legislative Assembly elected from the

Handwara Handwara is a sub-district and a town in Kupwara district of Kashmir. It was known as Uttar Machipora until the division of Baramulla district in the 1980s resulting in the formation of two new districts: Kupwara and Bandipora. It is located on ...

constituency. He is the chairman of

Jammu and Kashmir People's Conference The Jammu and Kashmir People's Conference is a political party in Jammu and Kashmir, India, founded by Abdul Ghani Lone and Molvi Iftikhar Hussain Ansari in 1978. It is currently led by Sajjad Lone. It won two seats in the Jammu and Kashmir ...

Early and personal life

Sajjad Lone was born on 9 December 1966. Sajjad Gani Lone is the youngest of the two sons of Abdul Ghani Lone, who was assassinated in a rally in Srinagar in 2002. His brother, Bilal Gani Lone, is a member of Hurriyat Conference's Executive Council. His sister, Shabnam Gani Lone, is a lawyer by profession and an independent politician from

Kupwara Kupwara is a town and a municipal council in Kupwara district in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. Municipal council Kupwara is an Urban Local Body with 13 elected members (also in Delimitation in progress for wards), which adm ...

, J&K. Sajjad attended Burn Hall School in Srinagar and graduated from the University of Wales, College of Cardiff, UK in 1989. Sajjad Lone is married to Asma Khan, daughter of

Amanullah Khan Ghazi Amanullah Khan ( Pashto and Dari: ; 1 June 1892 – 25 April 1960) was the sovereign of Afghanistan from 1919, first as Emir and after 1926 as King, until his abdication in 1929. After the end of the Third Anglo-Afghan War in August 1 ...

, the Pakistan-based leader of the

Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front The Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) is a militant separatist organization active in both the Indian-administered and Pakistani-administered territories of Kashmir. It was founded by Amanullah Khan, with Maqbool Bhat also credited as a ...

. The couple have two sons.

Political career

Lone remained associated with the

Hurriyat All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) is an alliance of 26 political, social and religious organizations formed on 9 March 1993, as a united political front to raise the cause of Kashmiri separatism in the Kashmir conflict. Mehmood Ahmed Sagh ...

for a while in early 2000's but in 2004, after the assassination of his father, Lone became the chairman of People's Conference. Before he stood as an independent candidate in the 2009 Indian general election from the Baramulla Lok Sabha constituency, he in 2008, at the height of the

Amarnath land transfer controversy On 26 May 2008, the government of India and the state Government of Jammu and Kashmir reached an agreement to transfer of forest land to the ''Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board'' (SASB) in the main Kashmir valley to set up temporary shelters and f ...

, believed that the protests were a mass uprising against Indian rule and decided to boycott the Assembly elections. He was defeated by the National Conference candidate Sharifuddin Shariq. Book Launch of Gilgit Baltistan And Its Saga of Unending Human Rights Violations by Alok Bansal, speaking at podium is Sajad Lone

Book Launch of Gilgit Baltistan And Its Saga of Unending Human Rights Violations by Alok Bansal, speaking at podium is Sajad Lone

2014 Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly election The Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly election, 2014 was held in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir in five phases from 25 November – 20 December 2014. Voters elected 87 members to the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly, which en ...

, Lone won Handwara assembly constituency in north Kashmir, by a margin of more than 5000 votes. He was the one of the two People's Conference candidates elected to the state legislative assembly. His party JKPC led in all blocks of Handwara constituency including Rajwar, Ramhal and Magam. In 2018, days after BJP withdrew its support to the PDP-BJP coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir, Lone staked claim to form the government in the erstwhile state as he possessed the required support of

BJP The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Mo ...

and some other lawmakers. However, the then Governor Satya Pal Malik dissolved the state assembly without letting Lone to prove his claim.

Opposition to the revocation of special status

Sajad Gani Lone has been vocal supporter of special status of Jammu & Kashmir. He was part of an-all party group formed for safeguarding Jammu and Kashmir's special status. Hours before BJP-led centre revoked the special status of the status by reading down the Article 370, Lone was put under house arrest. On 5 August, Lone was arrested by Jammu & Kashmir police and lodged in a jail in Srinagar. He was taken into police custody on 5 August 2019 and was freed from detention on 31 July 2020.

Recognition

* Sajjad Lone featured in list of top 6 Indians of 2015 by Khaleej Times, UAE.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lone, Sajjad Jammu and Kashmir People's Conference politicians Living people Jammu and Kashmir MLAs 2014–2018 People from Baramulla district State cabinet ministers of Jammu and Kashmir Indian Muslims 1966 births