Farooq Abdullah

Farooq Abdullah (1937- ), the son of Shaikh Abdullah, has served as chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir on several occasions.

Farooq Abdullah has been for autonomy to Jammu and Kashmir within the constitution of India and formalising the Line of Control (LoC) as the international border.

Farooq Abdullah was a novice in the political arena of Jammu and Kashmir when he was appointed president of National Conference in Srinagar on August 21, 1981. His prime qualification was that he was the son and heir of the nationalist Kashmiri leader Sheikh Abdullah.

Power came easily to him but he had been handed over a state where deep dissatisfaction was brewing. Anti-India feelings were running high.

But he was hardly a chief minister who could be seen to be solving the complex issues rife in the state. He was famous more for speeding around Srinagar on his motorbike and had acquired somewhat of a playboy image

Yet, the one lesson he knew astutely was the importance of being on the right side of the power at the Centre. These were policies, which further alienated the people who already harboured the feeling that the Centre held the key in the state and was turning it for vested political ends.

In 1984 Farooq Abdullah was dismissed and replaced with a pro-Congress government under GM Shah. But Farooq was never the one to give up.

Though charges of corruption were rampant against him, he returned to power in 1987 in the elections which were believed to be massively rigged. He forged an intricate alliance with the Congress and returned as interim chief minister in 1987. 1989 saw a massive Muslim uprising in the state against the leadership and paramilitary forces were deployed to control the dangerously escalating violence.

Farooq Abdullah resigned and President's Rule was imposed on the state. In September 1996, Farooq returned to power when fresh assembly elections were held. He allied with the BJP led government in the centre and his son and political heir, Omar Abdullah held a position in the union cabinet.

In 2003, Farooq's government was trounced in the polls by a INC-PDP alliance led by Mufti Mohammed Sayeed .