Omer Abdullah

, who formed Kashmir's first political party the Muslim Conference in 1932, which was later rechristen as National Conference. He remained the Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir 1948-1953, and also Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir two times, 1975 and 1977. After his death in 1982, his son Farooq Abdullah dominated the political arena for many years and remained the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir thrice in 1982, 1986 and 1996. Farooq’s son 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 fought once again from the very seat and won in the 2008 Kashmir Elections. Omar Abdullah born 10 March 1970, is the son of Farooq Abdullah and grandson of Sheikh Abdullah, both have remained Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir. His mother Mollie, a British Christian, and a Nurse by profession, was not in favor of him joining politics. Early on he studied at the Burn Hall School Srinagar. He later studied at the exclusive institution The Lawrence School,Sanwar. He is an alumnus of prestigious Sydenham College, Mumbai (where he did his B.Com.). After that he joined University of Strathclyde, Scotland, where he did his MBA. He married Payal Singh, daughter of an Army officer, Kran Ram Singh from Delhi on September 1, 1994, and the couple had two sons, Zahir and Zamir hence. His sister Sarah Abdullah is married to Rajesh Pillot's son Sachin Pilot. In 1998, Omar Abdullah was elected to 12th Lok Sabha. In 1998-99, he was Member, Committee on Transport and Tourism and Member, Consultative Committee, Ministry of Tourism. He was the youngest Minister at the age of 29. In 1999, he was re-elected to 13th Lok Sabha. On October 13, 1999 he took oath as Union Minister of state, Commerce and Industry. On July 22, 2001, he became the youngest Union Minister, when he was made Union Minister of State for External affairs, a post he resigned from on December 23, 2002, to concentrate on party work. On June 23, 2002, he became the President of National Conference replacing his father Farooq Abdullah; he was re-elected as party's President for a second term in 2006. In March 2006, much to the disapproval of the centre, Omar Abdullah had a one-on-one meeting with Pakistan President, Pervez Musharaf in Islamabad. This was the first meeting of its kind between a main-stream politician from Jammu & Kashmir and the Pakistani government thereby re-enforcing Omar's growing commitment to the solution of the Jammu & Kashmir cause - no matter what the stakes might be; Omar received a rousing reception by thousands of Kashmiris upon his return from there. On July 9, 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. On July 22, 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 net. 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 Confernce won the maximum number of seats, and formed a coalition government with Congress party, and Omar was sworn in as the 11th Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir on January 5, 2009 at the General Zoravar Singh Stadium in the University of Jammu, Jammu, raising hope amongst the people of Jammu and Kashmir who have been reeling under insurqency and voilence since 1989. Omar Abdullah on 28 July 2009 submitted his resignation to Governor N N Vohra Omar Abdullah resigns over s*x scandal allegations against him by the opposition PDP. His resignation was however rejected by the governor N. After assmuming the office of Chief Minister on 5 january 2009 the human rights situation in Indian-Administered Jammu and Kashmir deteriorated from bad to worse. Within the first six months in the office Indian Armed Forces were accused of killing at least fifteen civilians including three women after being r***d. The first killing took place barely few hundred meters away from the residence of Omar Abdullah only two days after he was sworn in as Chief Minister of the state. The victim, Abdul Rashid Rishi, 45, a deaf and dumb from South Kashmir’s Pahalgam was shot dead by the Army, when he was in Srinagar to meet the Ministers and seek a job for his adopted son Feroz on January 7,2009. The killings at Bomai, khaigam, Baramulla and Shopian r**e and murder of two young women in Shopian invoked a severe public anger and consequently resulted in valley wide protests and reiterated demands for freedom and removal of Indian Armed Forces from Jammu and Kashmir. In the subsequent days hundreds of protesters including the pro-freedom leaders were beaten up and many were arrested or detained under contovertial Public Safety Act. On 8th July 2009 alone PTI reported that "...police has arrested over 320 people..." who according to police were "fomenting trouble". Police slapped minor charges of disturbing peace to serious offences like that under section 307 (attempt of murder) on those arrested. An editorial in Greater Kashmir noted about this situation that "...ever since the new government took over the state administration has not only been handling every situation ineptly but also ridiculously... (administration) has been detaining and slapping Public Safety Acts against the voices of dissent and disagreement on absurd and ludicrous grounds that have made it a laughing stock within and outside the state...". Omar Abdullah was also accused of covering up the r**e and murder of two young women in Shopian allegedly by Indian Armed Forces. The incident seriously challenged the credibility of the chief minister, Omar Abdullah. Many regarded this as his first failure as even moderates felt that the young and inexperienced Omar Abdullah had failed his first test as Chief Minister by bowing to pressure from New Delhi. Noorani, a prominent lawyer and a commentator on regional affairs noted that "He (Omar Abdullah) needed prodding by the Centre even to order registration of an FIR... this testifies the gravity of Omar Abdullah’s lapses... (and) reveals the mindset that he will follow the tradition firmly established by his father, Farooq Abdullah..."