Omar Abdullah

Omar Abdullah عمر عبدالله
Abdullah in 2012
Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir
Incumbent
Assumed office 5 January 2009
Preceded by	President's Rule
Minister of State for External Affairs
In office 23 July 2001 – 23 December 2002
Prime Minister	Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Preceded by	Krishnam Raju
Succeeded by	Digvijay Singh
Personal details
Born	(1970-03-10) 10 March 1970 Rochford, Essex, United Kingdom
Political party	Jammu and Kashmir National Conference
Spouse(s)	Payal
Children	Zahir and Zamir (sons)
Residence	Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India

Omar Abdullah (born 10 March 1970) is an Indian Kashmiri politician and the scion of one of the state's most prominent political family, the Abdullah family who became the 11th and the youngest Chief Minister of the northern Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir, after forming a government in coalition with the Congress party, on 5 January 2009.

He was a member of 14th Lok Sabha, representing Srinagar constituency of Jammu and Kashmir, India. He was a Union Minister of State for External affairs in Atal Bihari Vajpayee's NDA government, from 23 July 2001 to 23 December 2002. He resigned from NDA government in October 2002 to concentrate on party work.

Omar joined politics in 1998, as a Lok Sabha member, a feat he repeated in subsequent three elections and also remained a Union minister; he took on the mantle of National Conference from his father in 2002, though he lost his own seat of Ganderbal during the 2002 state assembly elections, and so did his party, the political mandate; four years later, he contested once again from the same seat and won in the 2008 Kashmir Elections.

Early life and education

Omar Abdullah was born 10 March 1970 in Rochford, Essex, United Kingdom. He is the son of Farooq Abdullah, a qualified surgeon and grandson of Sheikh Abdullah, all three of whom have been List of Prime and Chief Ministers of Jammu and Kashmir. His mother Mollie, an Englishwoman and a nurse by profession, was not in favor of him joining politics. He studied at the Burn Hall School, Srinagar and then at Lawrence School, Sanawar. He is an alumnus of Sydenham College, Mumbai (where he did his B.Com.). After that he joined the University of Strathclyde, Scotland, for an MBA, although he did not complete it.

He married Payal Nath, daughter of an Army officer, Major General Ram Nath from Delhi on 1 September 1994, and the couple have two sons, Zahir and Zamir. They are currently separated. His younger sister, Sara Abdullah is married to Sachin Pilot, son of Rajesh Pilot.

Political career

Before joining politics, Omar Abdullah was posted in Hyderabad and Mumbai. In 1998, at the age of 29, Omar Abdullah was elected to 12th Lok Sabha, becoming the youngest minister. In 1998-99, he was a member of both the Committee on Transport and Tourism and the Ministry of Tourism's Consultative Committee. In 1999, he was elected to 13th Lok Sabha (2nd term as a Member of Parliament). On 13 October 1999 he took oath as Union Minister of State, Commerce and Industry. On 22 July 2001, he became the youngest Union Minister, when he was made Union Minister of State for External affairs. He resigned from the post on 23 December 2002, to concentrate on party work.

On 23 June 2002, he became the President of the National Conference party, replacing his father, Farooq Abdullah.

He lost his Ganderbal seat in the Kashmir assembly elections held in September–October 2002.

Abdullah was re-elected as the National Conference party's president in 2006.

In March 2006, much to the disapproval of the centre^{[citation needed]}, Omar Abdullah had a one-on-one meeting with Pakistan's president, Pervez Musharaf, in Islamabad. This was the first meeting of its kind between a mainstream politician from Jammu & Kashmir and the Pakistani government, thereby re-enforcing Omar's growing commitment to the solution of the Jammu & Kashmir cause. Omar received a rousing reception by thousands of Kashmiris upon his return.^{[citation needed]}

On 9 July 2007, Omar escaped a bid on his life when suspected militants threw two rifle grenades targeted at him. The incident happened when Omar was interacting with party workers at a party leader's house.

“	“I am a Muslim and I am an Indian, and I see no distinction between the two. I don't know why should I fear the nuclear deal. It is a deal between two countries which, I hope, will become two equals in the future. The enemies of Indian Muslims are not America or deals like these. The enemies are the same as the enemies of all those who are poor—poverty, hunger, lack of development and the absence of a voice....” - Omar Abdullah, 22 July 2008, Lok Sabha.	”

On 22 July 2008, Omar gave a passionate speech during the 2008 Lok Sabha vote of confidence, which was praised by almost all quarters, and even won him fans on the internet. He was also seen briefly, playing himself, in director Apoorva Lakhia’s film, Mission Istanbul (2008), based on international terrorism.

After the 2008 Kashmir Elections, the National Conference won the maximum number of seats, and formed a coalition government with the Congress party, and Omar was sworn in as the 11th Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir on 5 January 2009 at the General Zoravar Singh Auditorium in the University of Jammu, Jammu, raising hope amongst the people of Jammu and Kashmir who had been reeling under insurgency and violence since 1989.

Criticism

In 2009, Omar Abdullah was accused of covering up the rape and murder of two young women in Shopian, which was allegedly perpetrated by Indian Paramilitary Forces. Many regarded this as Abdullah's first failure, as even moderates felt Abdullah had bowed to pressure from New Delhi.

External links

• Official biographical sketch in Parliament of India website

Political offices
Preceded by President's Rule	Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir 5 January 2009 -	Succeeded by Incumbent