Mohammad Sharief Niaz

Mohammad Sharief Niaz (24 April 1944 12 October 2020) was an Indian politician from Jammu and Kashmir who served as member of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly and cabinet minister. He was a veteran leader of the Indian National Congress. He represented constituencies in the Chenab Valley region, particularly Inderwal and Bhaderwah. He is noted as one of the most prominent political figures to emerge from the Doda-Kishtwar region of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Early life and education

Niaz was born on 24 April 1944 in Doda district, of Jammu and Kashmir. He began his career as a teacher before entering into social activism and politics.

Career

Niaz joined the Indian National Congress in 1976 and became active as a trade union leader. His organisational work in the Chenab Valley brought him recognition within the party, and in 1979 he was nominated district president of the Congress Committee, Doda.

Niaz contested the 1983 assembly election from the Inderwal constituency on a Congress ticket. He was unsuccessful in this attempt, losing the seat.

In the 1987 mid-term elections, Niaz contested once again from Inderwal and this time won a seat in the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly. Following the formation of a National Conference-Congress coalition government, he was inducted into the cabinet. He served as a minister (variously described across sources as minister of State and Law minister) until 1989, when the government's term came to an end.

From 1992 to 1996, Niaz served as a member of the USERS Consultative Committee of the Northern Railway zone, a non-elected advisory role that kept him engaged in public affairs during a period when he was not a sitting legislator.

Niaz was offered a Congress ticket from Inderwal for the 1996 assembly elections, but declined to contest.

In the 2002 elections, Niaz successfully contested from the Bhaderwah constituency. Following the formation of the Congress-PDP coalition government under chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, Niaz was inducted as minister for Power Development (PDD) from 2002 to 2005. He served in this role during the coalition government's tenure. However, as a member of assembly, he resigned and by-election were held on 24 April 2006 in which Ghulam Nabi Azad was elected.

In February 2007, Niaz was elected as a member of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Council (MLC), representing the Doda seat, the upper house of the bicameral state legislature.

Niaz returned to the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly by winning the 2009 by-election from Bhaderwah. The seat was vacant when Ghulam Nabi Azad was elected as member of parliament, Rajya Sabha in the same year.

In the 2014 assembly election, Niaz contested from Bhaderwah but was unsuccessful, marking the end of his political career. Niaz died at the Government Medical College, Jammu on 12 October 2020.