India, July 16 -- Senior Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (NC) leader and former Cabinet Minister Sheikh Mustafa Kamal passed away on Tuesday after a prolonged illness, bringing to an end a decades-long career in public life and politics.

Kamal was serving as the Additional General Secretary of the National Conference and was among the party's senior-most leaders. He was the son of National Conference founder Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, younger brother of NC president and former chief minister Farooq Abdullah, and uncle of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.

A medical doctor by training, Kamal entered active politics in 1983 when he was elected to the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Council. The same year, he was inducted into the Cabinet he...