Vohra: Just the man for Kashmir

That Narinder Nath Vohra would be appointed the next Governor of Jammu and Kashmir was one of the worst kept secrets of the past few weeks.

That Narinder Nath Vohra would be appointed the next Governor of Jammu and Kashmir was one of the worst kept secrets of the past few weeks. Many would say it is also one of the best decisions taken by the Centre in recent times in furtherance of its Kashmir policy.

There are very few people at the Centre, politicians included, with the kind of knowledge and expertise of the situation in Kashmir that Vohra has. A retired bureaucrat who has occupied the topmost posts in the government, Vohra is the first civilian governor for the troubled state in the last 18 years, the previous one being Jagmohan. And he seems to have all the right qualifications for the job.

Vohra has been the Central government8217;s pointsman for Kashmir for more than five years now8212;his negotiating skills being recognised both by the Congress and the BJP. Appointed by the NDA government in February 2003 in place of the then Planning Commission deputy chairman K.C. Pant, Vohra was retained in the job when the Manmohan Singh government took charge in May 2004.

As the Centre8217;s interlocuter in Kashmir, Vohra has been holding wide-ranging discussions with both the elected representatives in the state and also the separatists in a bid to forge a common ground for the all-round development of the state.

He is known to enjoy a great degree of respect and acceptability in Kashmir. An IAS officer of 1959 batch, Vohra retired from government service in 1994 after handling such important assignments as those of the Defence Secretary and Home Secretary.

But he has never been out of job. In fact, he has been given even greater responsibilities by almost every political combination that came to power at the Centre.

He served as Principal Secretary to Prime Minister I.K. Gujral in 1997-98 and was a member of the National Security Advisory Board from 1998 to 2001 when the NDA government was in power. He also headed the National Task Force on internal security and co-chaired the India-European Union Round Table in 2001. In between, he also served as director of the India International Centre and was chairman of the IDSA review committee.

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Another committee headed by him way back in 1993 had produced the famous report that exposed the nexus between criminals, politicians and bureaucrats. For his service to the nation, Vohra was also awarded the Padma Vibhushan last year.

His appointment as the Jammu and Kashmir governor just goes on to show that he still has a lot left in him.

An avid follower of mountaineering8212;he has headed the Indian Mountaineering Foundation for two years8212;Vohra might be on his way to scaling the highest peak of his career as he takes on the daunting and delicate challenge.