Mushtaq Ahmad Lone (11 September 2002) was an Indian politician who served as the minister of Law in the

government of Jammu and Kashmir The Government of Jammu and Kashmir is the principal administrative authority responsible for the governance of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. Established on 5 March 1948 as the Government of Princely state of Jammu and Ka ...

under

Farooq Abdullah Farooq Abdullah (born 21 October 1937) is an Indian politician who serves as current president of the Jammu & Kashmir National Conference. He has served as the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir on several occasions since 1982 till 2002, and ...

in 1987. He was a member of the National Conference (NC), a pro-India political party in the 20th century.

Electoral performance

Career and death

Lone was elected to the

Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly The Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly, also known as the Jammu and Kashmir Vidhan Sabha, is the legislature of Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. Prior to 2019, the State of Jammu and Kashmir had a bicameral legislature with a ...

in the 1987 elections, where he represented the Kupwara constituency. The 1987 elections were reportedly manipulated, which led to significant accusations of

electoral fraud Electoral fraud, sometimes referred to as election manipulation, voter fraud, or vote rigging, involves illegal interference with the process of an election, either by increasing the vote share of a favored candidate, depressing the vote share o ...

. On 11 September 2002, Lone, the minister of Law in the Jammu and Kashmir government, was assassinated by suspected

Lashkar-e-Taiba Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) is a Pakistani Islamism, Islamist militant organization driven by a Salafi jihadism, Salafi jihadist ideology. The organisation's primary stated objective is to merge the whole of Kashmir with Pakistan. It was founded in 19 ...

, then a guerrilla organisation, during an election rally in

Kupwara Kupwara ( ; ) is a city, District headquarter 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 elected members which administers the city Mun ...

. The attack, which occurred as Lone addressed the gathering in a school building, was part of a broader wave of insurgent activity reportedly aimed at disrupting the 2002 state elections. Militants opened fire from a nearby paddy field, assassinating Lone along with his five security officers, and a civilian. Lone was the second candidate to be killed during the campaign.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lone, Mushtaq Ahmad 1950s births 2002 deaths Place of birth missing Jammu and Kashmir MLAs 1987–1996 Indian politicians assassinated in the 20th century People from Kupwara district Jammu & Kashmir National Conference politicians