By IANS,
Jamm: Jammu and Kashmir’s two main parties Monday paid tributes to a former judge who had played a key role in negotiating the release of People’s Democratic Party (PDP) leader and then union home minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s youngest daughter Rubiya Sayeed in December 1989.
Justice Moti Lal Bhat, who retired as Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court, died in Delhi Monday.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah expressed grief on the death of Justice Bhat.
He conveyed his sympathies to the bereaved family and prayed for the peace of the departed soul.
Sayeed also expressed his condolences over the death of Bhat.
Recalling his association with Bhat, the PDP leader said that he was a legal luminary.
Late Peoples Conference leader Abdul Gani Lone had sought the help of Justice Bhat in 1989 for the release of Rubiya Sayeed who was kidnapped by Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front militants on Dec 8, 1989, days after Sayeed became the first Muslim home minister of the country in the V.P. Singh government.
Five JKLF militants were set free in exchange for Sayeed Dec 13, 1989, a measure that was described as a turning point in the history of Kashmir’s militancy.