Akbar Jehan Abdullah (1916 – 11 July 2000) was an Indian Kashmiri politician. The wife of Abdullah Sheikh, three-time

Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir The Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir was the title given to the head of government of Jammu and Kashmir. As per the Constitution of India, the Lieutenant Governor is the state's ''de jure'' head, but ''de facto'' executive authority rests wi ...

, she twice served as a Member of

India Parliament The Parliament of India (IAST: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Republic of India. It is a bicameral legislature composed of the president of India and two houses: the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok Sabha (House of the Peo ...

. Akbar Jehan was the daughter of Michael Harry Nedou, the eldest son of the European owner of an Indian hotel chain that included Nedous Hotel in Srinagar, and his Kashmiri wife Mirjan. Nedou was himself the proprietor of a hotel at the tourist resort of

Gulmarg Gulmarg (), known as Gulmarag (; ) in Kashmiri, is a town, hill station, popular skiing destination, and notified area committee in the Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It is located at a distance of from Baramulla and from Sri ...

. The writer Tariq Ali claims that Akbar Jehan was previously married in 1928 to an Arab Karam Shah who disappeared after a Calcutta newspaper Liberty reported that he was actually T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) Mubashhir Hassan (2008) a British Intelligence officer. He claims that Akbar Jehan was divorced by her first husband in 1929. She married Abdullah in 1933.

Political career

She served as a member of 6th and

8th Lok Sabha The 8th Lok Sabha ran from 31 December 1984 to 27 November 1989. Politicians were elected in December 1984, taking office by the end of the month. The Lok Sabha (House of the People) is the lower house in the bicameral Parliament of India. 9 s ...

, from 1977 to 1979, and from 1984 to 1989, representing Kashmir's

Srinagar Srinagar (English: , ) is the largest city and the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It lies in the Kashmir Valley on the banks of the Jhelum River, a tributary of the Indus, and Dal and Anchar lakes. The city is known for its natu ...

and

Anantnag Anantnag (/ə'nʌntna:g/ or /-nɑːg/ ), also called Islamabad, is the administrative headquarters of the Anantnag district in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), Jammu and Kashmir. It is located at a distance of ...

constituencies, respectively. She had the distinction of being the first President of Jammu and Kashmir Red Cross Society from 1947 to 1951. She also served as Chairman of State Level Committee of International Year of Women, 1975 and President of all India Family Welfare Association, State Branch, 1976 and All India Women's Conference, State Branch in 1977.

Later life and death

Jehan Abdullah died on 11 July 2000 in Srinagar at the age of 84.

Personal

She is the mother of the Kashmiri politician

Farooq Abdullah Farooq Abdullah (born 21 October 1937) is an Indian politician who was Ex. President of Jammu & Kashmir National Conference. He has served as the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir on several occasions since 1982, and as the union minister fo ...

, who succeeded his father Abdullah Sheikh as J&K chief minister in 1982, and grandmother of

Omar Abdullah Omar Abdullah (; born 10 March 1970) is an Indian politician and former Chief Minister of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. He became the 11th and the youngest Chief Minister of the State of Jammu and Kashmir, after forming a governme ...

References

External links

Farooq's mother laid to rest
Akbar Jehan 20th-century Indian Muslims India MPs 1977–1979 India MPs 1984–1989 1916 births 2000 deaths Jammu & Kashmir National Conference politicians Lok Sabha members from Jammu and Kashmir Kashmiri people Women in Jammu and Kashmir politics 20th-century Indian women politicians 20th-century Indian politicians {{JammuKashmir-politician-stub