Sakina Itoo: From tragedy to triumph, a political legacy unshaken

Kulgam, Oct 16: On Wednesday morning, 53-year-old Sakina Itoo was sworn in as cabinet minister alongside Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and four other National Conference (NC) leaders at the Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC), located on the banks of River Jhelum in the environs of Mughal Gardens.

Hailing from Damhal Hanjipora, an outlying village in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district, Sakina was drawn into politics following the killing of her father Wali Muhammad Itoo, a veteran NC leader, who served as Speaker of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly.

Itoo was shot dead by militants on March 18, 1994, in Jammu’s Talab Khatikan area when he was walking out of a Masjid after offering Friday prayers.

The incident had sent shock waves through the administration and security agencies, signalling the growing presence of militants in the Jammu region.

Sakina was then barely 24 years old and in her final year of medical school, pursuing MBBS.

In 1996, she left her studies halfway through to contest the assembly elections, which were held after a six-year hiatus following the outbreak of militancy in Jammu and Kashmir, from the Noorabad assembly constituency.

The constituency has been a traditional stronghold of the NC and had sent her father to the Legislative Assembly from 1972 to 1987.

Sakina won the election and served as minister from 1996 to 2002, holding the portfolios of education and tourism.

In the 2002 assembly elections, she lost to the People’s Democratic Party (PDP)’s Abdul Aziz Zargar.

However, the party sent her to the Upper House, now abolished, where she served as Leader of the Opposition from 2002 to 2008.

In the 2008 assembly elections, Sakina retained the seat and became the social welfare minister in the Omar Abdullah-led government.

She was the only woman minister in the cabinet.

However, she faced defeat again in 2014, losing to PDP’s Abdul Majid Paddar, who later joined the Apni Party.

In the 2024 assembly polls, Sakina defeated PDP leader Gulzar Ahmad Dar by a margin of 17,449 votes from the Damhal Hanjipora assembly segment.

During her tumultuous political career, Sakina survived more than a dozen assassination bids.

However, she remained undeterred and continued to fight for her political beliefs.