Abdullah, Sheikh Muhammad
(d. 1982 )
Kashmiri political leader, twice chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir State in India ( 1948 – 53 , 1975 – 82 ) after persuading the Hindu maharaja to opt for belonging to India, not Pakistan, at partition ( 1947 ). Deposed and imprisoned by Indian prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru ( 1953 – 64 ) under suspicion of secessionism; restored in 1975 by Indira Gandhi .