Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah occupies a singular place in the political history of Jammu and Kashmir. Few leaders anywhere on the subcontinent inspired such affection, provoked such debate, or shaped their society as deeply. Born in 1905 in Soura, Srinagar, he was the product of modest circumstances. Yet he emerged as the most compelling Kashmiri figure of the twentieth century, a man who channelled the aspirations and anxieties of an entire people with unusual clarity.

His early years coincided with the last phase of Dogra rule, a period marked by severe political exclusion and economic hardship for large sections of Kashmir’s population. Abdullah’s education at Aligarh Muslim University played a decisive role in sharpening his intellect and widening his horizons. But it was the lived realit

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