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HomeIndiaGovernanceAt the helm in Kashmir again — N.N. Vohra, the man who...

At the helm in Kashmir again — N.N. Vohra, the man who could bring peace in the Valley

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The 81-year-old, known for his administrative acumen, understands state politics and aspirations of the youth. This will be his fourth stint.

New Delhi: Jammu and Kashmir Governor Narinder Nath Vohra, 81, is set to run the state for the fourth time. Those who have tracked his previous tenures say that despite apprehensions of the security situation worsening, the state can expect a peaceful term under Vohra.

“Vohra’s term as governor will be good for the state because he has a thorough understanding of the state’s politics and aspirations of the Kashmiri youth. He knows almost all leaders across party lines and can easily establish a dialogue with them,” said M.M. Ansari, a former UGC member, CIC and interlocutor on J&K.

Unlike the PDP-BJP rule, where two parties with “contradictory ideologies” came together, Ansari said, Vohra’s term “is likely to be peaceful”.

“He will also make sure that Amarnath Yatra is carried out in a smooth manner because this is what people in the valley also want,” he said.

Wajahat Habibullah, former chairman of the National Minorities Commission, and a one-time J&K cadre IAS officer too believes that the state will benefit with Vohra at the helm.

“One can expect a positive outcome from his term as a governor,” he said.

In his last stint at the helm of affairs in 2016, when Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Syed passed away, there was a perceptible difference in the state’s administration.

Around 100 doctors who were on unauthorised leave of absence for two decades were terminated and advertisements were issued for fresh recruitments in their place. During that time, Vohra also came up with rules for the appointment of government advocates, laying down guidelines based on experience and merit.

The Centre’s flood relief distribution was also implemented successfully. Money went directly into the bank accounts of people after he gave directions in this regard on 31 March, 2016. No function was organised to claim credit for the disbursals.

Lecturer-turned-bureaucrat

Vohra, the first civilian J&K governor in 18 years, after Jagmohan Malhotra, has served as the principal secretary to then Prime Minister I.K. Gujral, was the union home secretary between 1993 and 1994, served as the defence secretary between 1990 and 1993, and was the defence production secretary from 1989 to 1990.

An interlocutor for peace in J&K, he was awarded the second highest civilian honour — the Padma Vibhushan — in 2007. He has been in charge of the state in 2015, after the 2014 assembly elections threw up a hung House and in 2008, when the PDP withdrew support to the Congress-led coalition government.

A lecturer at Panjab University before he became a bureaucrat, Vohra has also been a part of various committees — one of the important ones being the 1993 Vohra committee that looked into links between organised crime and politicians. It was for the first time that political, mafia links came to the public knowledge through this report.

The committee was constituted in the aftermath of the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts when Vohra was the union home secretary.

The report contained several observations made by official agencies on the criminal network that was virtually running a parallel government. It also discussed criminal gangs that allegedly enjoyed the patronage of politicians of all parties.

The unpublished annexures to the Vohra report were believed to contain highly explosive material and have never been made public. The Supreme Court had 1997 ordered that action be taken on findings of the committee report but no action has been taken so far.

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2 COMMENTS

  1. Prof PK Sharma,Freelance Journalist,Barnala(Punjab)
    There is no denying the fact this BJP decision to impose President’s rule in Jammu and Kashmir like the decision to enter into an alliance with PDP to form a coalition government after the J&K Assembly Polls is guided by playing-promoting politics considerations !
    Power, Pelf , Self Politics are ironically the top-most priorities nowadays !
    The Indian Polity running short of ideas and judicious decision making capabilities believes in frittering away national time, energies and resources in futility !
    The valley had been facing the music owing to dreadful,terrible and chaotic state of affairs for the past more than three years ! Those at the helm of affairs could not assess the plight of the state gauging the sentiments of the masses in perspective !
    When trauma,turbulence and insurgent conditions in the valley had assumed monstrous proportions why did this thought did not cross their minds ?
    Why decision to impose President’s Rule in J&K was not taken then when normalcy and peace alluded the valley even after the famous
    “Surgical Strikes” operation in the valley ?
    Now when BJP is bereft of any worthwhile agenda to push in the run upto the MARATHON EVENT-May,2019 Lok Sabha Polls-now
    this stop gap agenda !
    This abrupt decision without serious consultations with opposition parties, experts and defence strategists on this sensitive and burning problem is indeed startling ! More such like astonishing decisions in the offing just to score brownie points !
    Is it “democracy “or “real democracy” ?

    Prof PK Sharma,Freelance Journalist
    Pom Anm Nest, Barnala(Punjab)

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