Following the resignation of Farooq Khan, the only adviser of Jammu and Kashmir lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha hailing from the union territory, speculation is rife that assembly elections may be announced here very soon.
Shortly after reports that his resignation had been accepted by the union home ministry, Khan announced that he quit as he wanted to make a comeback in active politics “to make my contribution” towards the welfare of the people.
Farooq Khan, a prominent Muslim face of the BJP from the Jammu region, joined the party in 2014 and was made a national general secretary in less than a year.
Sources within the Bharatiya Janata Party say that Khan will be given a “very important assignment” within the outfit as the leadership of the party in Jammu and Kashmir has already started preparations for assembly elections.
“If you observe, our leadership in Jammu and Kashmir has already started holding rallies across the union territory as we are hopeful to form the government in the UT on our own. The comeback of Farooq sahab into active politics in Jammu and Kashmir would further boost the party’s prospects, especially in the Muslim-dominated areas of Poonch, Rajouri, and the erstwhile Doda district,” a senior BJP leader told News18, requesting anonymity.
Though it would be premature to say what responsibility Farooq Khan would be assigned, there is a buzz within the local unit of the party that he could be given a “significant role” as being a Muslim he will be acceptable to the voters of Kashmir, and being from Jammu region would also make him equally acceptable to the voters from Jammu.
A recipient of the President’s medal for gallantry, bravery, and distinguished service, Farooq Khan is credited for the creation of the Jammu and Kashmir Police’s elite Special Task Force (SFT) that was later rechristened Special Operations Group (SOG).
The force formed on the lines of the elite commando forces has since been responsible for crushing the backbone of Pakistan-sponsored terrorism in the Kashmir valley, eliminating many hardcore and most-wanted terrorists.
The former Indian Police Service (IPS) officer who following his retirement in 2013 joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was in 2015 made national general secretary, in 2016 was appointed as administrator of Lakshadweep, returned to Jammu and Kashmir in 2019 where he was appointed as the adviser of the then governor SP Malik, the position on which he was reappointed during the tenure of Lt Governor GC Murmu and his successor Manoj Sinha.
Khan belongs to a Dogri-speaking Punjabi Muslim family. His father was also a police officer, while his grandfather Colonel Peer Mohammed was one of the founding members of the Bharatiya Jan Sangh and was the first state president of the party in Jammu and Kashmir.
Khan was also part of many major anti-terror operations including the 1996 exercise to clear the Hazratbal shrine of the terrorists hiding inside. He was also part of the operation against terrorists who had attacked the Raghunath temple and Panjbaktar temple in Jammu in 2002.
Khan also had his share of controversies when in 2003 he was suspended for two years for his role in the Pathribal fake encounter case, in which five people were killed and termed as terrorists responsible for the killing of 36 Sikhs in Chattisingpora in the year 2000.
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