Muzaffar Hussain Baig is an Indian politician. He was the former

Deputy Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...

of the Indian state of

Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to: * Kashmir, the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent * Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory * Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered ...

. On

Republic Day Republic Day is the name of a holiday in several countries to commemorate the day when they became republics. List January 1 January in Slovak Republic The day of creation of Slovak republic. A national holiday since 1993. Officially cal ...

of 2020 he received India's third highest civilian honour

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

. Baig was the founding member of

Jammu and Kashmir People's Democratic Party Jammu is the winter capital of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It is the headquarters and the largest city in Jammu district of the union territory. Lying on the banks of the river Tawi, the city of Jammu, with an area of , ...

led by

Mufti Mohammad Sayeed A Mufti (; ar, مفتي) is an Islamic jurist qualified to issue a nonbinding opinion (''fatwa'') on a point of Islamic law (''sharia''). The act of issuing fatwas is called ''iftāʾ''. Muftis and their ''fatwas'' played an important role ...

and was named as Patron of the party post-Mufti's death in 2016.

Awards

in 2020

Early life

He was born in Wahidna, a small hilly village in

Baramulla district Baramulla district or Varmul (in Kashmiri) is one of the 20 districts in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. Baramulla town is the administrative headquarters of this district. The district covered an area of in 2001, but it w ...

of the Kashmir valley. He received his master's degree from

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

Career

He started his political career in 1996 with the

Jammu and Kashmir People's Conference The Jammu and Kashmir People's Conference is a political party in Jammu and Kashmir, India, founded by Abdul Ghani Lone and Molvi Iftikhar Hussain Ansari in 1978. It is currently led by Sajjad Lone. It won two seats in the Jammu and Kashmir ...

where he held the position of Vice-Chairman. In 2002, he fought the Legislative Assembly election with the

and won from Baramulla constituency. He was reelected in 2008. He held the position of Law Minister and Parliamentary Affairs Minister in the state cabinet for the period 2002–2006. Until 2006 he was

Deputy Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir The Deputy Chief Minister of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir was a position that existed within the cabinet of Jammu and Kashmir, an Indian state between 1954 and 2019. The state was reconstituted by the government of India as the union ter ...

. He served as Chief Spokesperson for the

. He also worked in law firms in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. Baig served as Advocate General of the state of

from 1987 to 1989. Baig was elected to the

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past ...

in 2014 from

Baramulla Baramulla (), also known as Varmul () in Kashmiri, is a town and a municipality in the Baramulla district in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It is also the administrative headquarters of the Baramulla district. It is on the b ...

. In 2020, Baig was conferred the

award, the third-highest civilian honor of India. Due to differences between him and

Mehbooba Mufti Mehbooba may refer to *Mehbooba (1976 film), ''Mehbooba'' (1976 film), a Hindi-language film *Mehbooba (2008 film), ''Mehbooba'' (2008 film), a Hindi-language romance film *Mehbooba (2018 film), ''Mehbooba'' (2018 film), a Telugu-language film *Mehb ...

, that grew after the abrogation of

Article 370 Article 370 of the Indian constitution gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, a region located in the northern part of Indian subcontinent and part of the larger region of Kashmir which has been the subject of a dispute between India, Pak ...

, It was being allegedly said that Baig joined Sajjad Lone's

, Peoples Conference disowns senior leader Muzaffar Baig. Party general secretary Imran Ansari said Baig never joined JKPC.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baig, Muzaffar Hussain Deputy chief ministers of Jammu and Kashmir Harvard Law School alumni Living people 20th-century Indian lawyers Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party politicians 21st-century Indian Muslims People from Baramulla India MPs 2014–2019 Lok Sabha members from Jammu and Kashmir State cabinet ministers of Jammu and Kashmir Kashmiri people 1946 births Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in public affairs Jammu and Kashmir People's Conference politicians