Mufti Sayeed was 'magnanimous and like my father', says Sajad Lone

SRINAGAR: People's Conference chief and separatist turned pro-India politician, Sajad Lone on Sunday stated that late chief minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed was 'like his father and he took great pride in being part of his cabinet'.

"My father passed away in 2002 and since then nobody shouted or reprimanded me till 2014. But Mufti sahib's scolding, reminded me of my father. I swear it was nostalgic," said Lone, while addressing a gathering of mourners at Mehbooba Mufti’s Fairview residence in Srinagar.

Those moments of scolding with love, Lone said were "huge asset for him as this is when he felt somebody has kept his caring hand on his head."

Lone, was Animal Husbandry minister in PDP-BJP government and his party PC has an alliance with BJP. He was recently won Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Award. He described Sayeed as 'magnanimous' person who would say good things even about his 'rivals and detractors'.

"During the first cabinet meeting, I felt very awkward, because this was the first time I was in mainstream," said Lone while remembering how Sayeed comforted him while praising his father Abdul Gani Lone, a pro-freedom leader, who was assassinated in 2002.

"Mufti sahib looked at me and addressed the cabinet saying that he and my father had started political career from this secretariat fifty years back. This sentence was a great comforter in a new atmosphere," Lone remembered.

Sayeed, according to Lone, would often mention Abdul Gani Lone and say, "Lone sahib and I had political differences, but we were good friends. You are son of my friend. This is new arena for you, you should learn."

"His death is end of an era," said Lone.