Editing Mufti Mohammad Sayeed (section)

===Chief Minister: First tenure (2002–2005)===
[[File:The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh being seen off by the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Shri Mufti Mohammad Sayeed at the Leh Airport, in Jammu & Kashmir on June 12, 2005.jpg|thumb|The prime minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh being seen off by the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed at the Leh Airport, in Jammu & Kashmir on 12 June 2005]]
[[File:Chief Minister of Jammu & Kashmir Shri Mufti Mohammed Sayeed calls on the Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee in New Delhi on December 12, 2003.jpg|thumb|Chief minister of Jammu & Kashmir Mufti Mohammed Sayeed calls on the prime minister [[Atal Bihari Vajpayee]] in [[New Delhi]] on 12 December 2003]]
Sayeed participated in the 2002 assembly election and won 18 assembly seats for his Peoples Democratic Party. He went on to form a [[coalition government]] with the Indian National Congress, and was sworn in as the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir for a term of three years.<ref name = "bbc_">{{cite news | title = New leader promises Kashmir 'healing' |work=BBC News   |publisher=BBC   | date = 3 November 2002 | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2394023.stm | access-date = 5 March 2009}}</ref>

In 2003, he merged the autonomous [[Special Operations Group (Jammu and Kashmir)|Special Operations Group]] with the [[Jammu and Kashmir Police]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Mufti disbands SOG, merges force with police|url=http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2003-02-25/news/27516040_1_anti-militancy-sog-special-operations-group|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160205022045/http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2003-02-25/news/27516040_1_anti-militancy-sog-special-operations-group|url-status=dead|archive-date=5 February 2016|website=Economic Times|access-date=7 January 2016|date=25 February 2003}}</ref> It was under his tenure which coincided with the [[India-Pakistan relations|peace process]] led by [[Prime Ministers of India|Indian prime ministers]] [[Atal Bihari Vajpayee]] and [[Manmohan Singh]] and Pakistani president [[Pervez Musharraf]], with [[Line of Control|LOC]] opened for trade and bus service.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-mufti-mohammad-sayeed-a-master-politician-who-tried-to-nurture-true-indian-constituency-in-kashmir-2163383 |title=Mufti Mohammad Sayeed: A master politician who tried to nurture true Indian constituency in Kashmir|newspaper=[[Daily News and Analysis]]|date=8 January 2016}}</ref>