Mirza Afzal Beg

Mirza Afzal Beg widely known as Fakhr-e-Kashmir (Pride of Kashmir) (1908–1982) was a Kashmiri politician and the founding member of Jammu & Kashmir National Conference. He was the first Deputy Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir. He was member of the Constituent Assembly of India. He served as a minister in the pre-independence period in the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, and as the revenue minister in the post-independence government headed by Sheikh Abdullah. In this post he led the land reforms in Jammu and Kashmir, recognised as the most successful land reforms in India.

After the dismissal of Sheikh Abdullah government in 1953, Beg was incarcerated along with Abdullah and charged in the Kashmir Conspiracy Case. Beg founded a new party called the Plebiscite Front, demanding that Kashmir's accession to India should be decided by a plebiscite. In 1974, he paved the way for Abdullah's rehabilitation by negotiating with the Indian government, leading to the 1974 Indira-Sheikh accord.

Plebiscite Front was then transformed into the present day National Conference. In 1975 he became the President of All Jammu and Kashmir National Conference.

Beg served as the Deputy Chief Minister in the next government headed by Sheikh Abdullah.

Early life
Mirza Afzal Beg hailed from Anantnag and was the son of Mirza Jalaluddin Beg, brother of Mirza Ghulam Kadir Beg and nephew of the landlord, Mirza Ghulam Muhammad Beg, of Anantnag. He graduated from Sri Pratap College, Srinagar and studied law at Aligarh Muslim University.

Princely state
Beg joined Sheikh Abdullah's Muslim Conference from its inception. In 1934 elections, he was elected to the Praja Sabha and served as the deputy leader of the parliamentary party. In 1937–38, after Gopalaswami Ayyangar became the prime minister of the state, Afzal Beg and Girdhari Lal Dogra were appointed cabinet ministers.

Soon after the 1938 election, Sheikh Abdullah, along with other members, launched an initiative to transform the Muslim Conference into an inclusive nationalist party, to be called the National Conference. The Muslim nationalist members, including Choudhry Ghulam Abbas, opposed the move. Afzal Beg is said to have counselled caution, fearing a vertical division of the party. Despite the apprehensions, the special session of the party convened in June 1939, overwhelmingly passed a resolution transforming itself into National Conference.

In 1944, Beg was appointed a cabinet minister again and given the charge of Public Works and Municipalities. In March 1946, after Pandit Ram Chandra Kak was appointed the prime minister, the National Conference pulled out of the government and launched its Quit Kashmir movement. Beg stepped down from his ministerial post for this development. He was arrested for taking part in the movement.

Indian state
He was part of the Constituent Assembly of India and Jammu and Kashmir.

Return to government
He also served as the President of JKNC. In 1977, he became the deputy Chief Minister of J&K. In 1978, Beg was expelled from the National Conference party by Sheikh Abdullah, on allegations of causing party defections. Abdullah then groomed his own son Farooq Abdullah as his successor.

Death
Mirza Afzal Beg died on 11 June 1982. He is survived by three sons and three daughters. His son Mirza Mehboob Beg is also a politician in the state.