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Farook sworn in as 18th Governor of Kerala
A
veteran former politician, M.O.H. Farook was Thursday sworn in as
the 18th governor of Kerala.
Kerala High Court Chief Justice J. Chelmeswar administered the
oath of office and secrecy to the three-time chief minister of the
union territory of Puducherry as Kerala's governor.
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Chennai/Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Governor M.O.H. Farook Thursday died in a private
hospital in Chennai due to multiple myeloma - a cancer of plasma
cells - at the age of 75, officials said. A seven-day state
mourning has been declared in Kerala.
Farook was recently granted leave to go for medical treatment to
Chennai.
"He was admitted for multiple myeloma at Apollo Hospital in
Teynampet (cancer speciality hospital). The end came today
(Thursday) at 9.20 p.m.," an Apollo official told IANS.
Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, who was on an official trip
to Thrissur, cancelled his programme and would leave for Chennai
Friday morning to pay his respects.
The Kerala government has declared a holiday for all state
government offices and the central government offices in the state
capital will not function as well.
Farook, a three-time chief minister of Puducherry and also a
former union minister, was sworn in as Kerala governor Sep 8 last
year.
A graduate in economics, Farook was born in Karaikal, Puducherry,
and was a Member of Puducherry Legislative Assembly between
1964-1991. He was twice the speaker of the assembly.
Between March-December 1990, he was the leader of the opposition.
Thrice elected to the Lok Sabha from Puducherry in 1991, 1996 and
1999, he served as a minister of state for civil aviation and
tourism from June 1991 to December 1992 in the P.V. Narasimha Rao
government.
In 2004, he was appointed as the Indian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia
and held that post till December 2009.
Between January 2010 and September 2011, he was governor of
Jharkhand.
In his younger days, Farook had participated in the struggle for
the liberation of Puducherry when it was a French colony.
He also took part in the struggle for the maintenance of an
independent Puducherry when the late Morarji Desai was the prime
minister. Farook was arrested and lodged in jails in Puducherry
and Cuddaore, Tamil Nadu.
A widower at the time of his death, Farook was married to S.A.
Kadhija Nachiyal in 1960 and they had one son and two daughters.
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