Table of Contents
- Jagmohan first gained notoriety during his stint as vice-chairman of the Delhi Development Authority in the mid 1970s.
- Jagmohan, already a Padma Shri since 1971, was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1977.
- In 1982, as Delhi hosted the Asian Games, Jagmohan served his second term as the city’s Lieutenant Governor.
KASHMIR
- Jagmohan, a former civil servant, held several key posts in his career, including the lieutenant governorship of Delhi and Goa. But his most contentious spell was in the governor’s house in Kashmir.
- Jagmohan served two terms as governor in Kashmir – from 1984 to 89, and then from January to May 1990. His first stint was largely considered peaceful, even popular by some accounts. As a senior editor of one of valley’s leading newspapers said, on condition of anonymity, Jagmohan’s image as an able administrator was received well by Kashmiris
KASHMIR
- At the time, VP Singh was prime minister, and violence was steadily erupting in Kashmir.
- In December of 1989, the daughter of Union Home Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed was abducted, and the Centre had decided to harden its position in the valley.
- Despite opposition from the state government, New Delhi appointed Jagmohan as governor, and in protest, the state government, led by Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah, resigned. The state went under President’s rule
KASHMIR
- On the night of January 19, 1990 – the day Jagmohan was appointed governor – Kashmiri Pandits left the valley in large numbers for Jammu and other parts of India.
- On January 19 night, security forces conducted house to-house searches in Srinagar, ostensibly to find weapons and hidden militants. Hundreds were arrested in the operation. The next day, when crowds of protesters turned up at Gawkadal bridge in Srinagar, paramilitary troops opened fire. At least 50 people were killed in what is now called the “Gawkadal Massacre”.
LATER
- When the BJP’s Atal Bihari Vajpayee became Prime Minister in 1998, Jagmohan served in his cabinet in a variety of portfolios, including communications, urban development and tourism.
- During the 1990s, Jagmohan had served as nominated MP in the Rajya Sabha in 1990–96, and won a hat-trick of Lok Sabha elections from New Delhi (1996, 1998 and 1999).
LATER
- For a series of innovations of this genre, good management skills, and for “his meritorious services to the country” he was awarded Padma Bhushan in 1977. In 2016, Padma Vibhushan was awarded to him.
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