Kerala Governor M.O.H. Farook passes away in Chennai

Chennai, Jan 27 (ANI): Kerala Governor M.O.H. Farook passed away at a hospital in Chennai on Thursday night after battling with cancer.

The veteran Puducherry politician was admitted to the Apollo Hospital in Chennai on December 4 last year and was undergoing treatment for cancer.

Expressing grief over his death, a legislator from Theni, Tamil Nadu, J. M. Haroon, described it as a big loss to the Muslim community and to the people of Puducherry.

"His Excellency, the Kerala Governor and former honourable Chief Minister of Pondicherry for three times, has passed away today. It is a great loss to the minorities, particularly Muslims, as well as the people of Pondicherry. It is an irreparable loss to the community as a whole," said Haroon.

"He was nationalist minded man, he was a hardcore Congress leader and has always worked for the upliftment of the poor people, so one and all everybody remembers his name even today in Pondicherry and it is a great loss to the community as well to the people of Pondicherry," he added.

Farook, who hailed from Karaikal, held several important posts in his long career.e became Speaker of the Puducherry Assembly at the age of 27. He was Chief Minister of Puducherry thrice.

Elected to the Lok Sabha in 1991, 1996 and 1999, he served as Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation and Tourism in 1991-92 in the P.V. Narasimha Rao Government.

In September 2004, he was appointed Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, and in 2010 Jharkhand Governor.

Farook is survived by his son M.O.H.F. Shahjahan and daughters F. Malika and F. Yasmin. (ANI)