The assassination attempt on Farooq Abdullah on the evening of 11 March in Jammu is a deeply disturbing development in the already fragile political climate of Jammu and Kashmir. Farooq Abdullah, president of the Jammu & Kashmir National Conference, remains one of the tallest and most enduring political figures in the region. For decades he has represented a political ethos rooted in secularism, democratic engagement, and constitutional loyalty. An attempt on his life therefore cannot be viewed merely as an attack on an individual; it symbolically strikes at the very ideals he has consistently represented.

Farooq Abdullah’s political journey has unfolded alongside some of the most turbulent phases in the modern history of Jammu and Kashmir. As the son of the legendary leader Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, he inherited not only a powerful political legacy but also the difficult responsibility of navigating a region often caught between competing political visions and deep societal tensions. After the death of Sheikh Abdullah in 1982, Farooq Abdullah rose to power with support........

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