PUDUCHERRY: Veteran leader and Governor of KeralaM O H Farook Maricar (74) passed away in Chennai on Thursday, following a brief illness. Born on September 6, 1937 at Karikal to M O Hasan Kuthoos Maricar and Seyed Sultangani, he began his political career as a student and participated in the struggle for the liberation of Pondicherry (now Puducherry) from French rule. He made his maiden entry into Legislative Assembly in 1964 and continued upto 1991. During this period, he served as Speaker of the Pondicherry Legislative Assembly from 1964 to 1967 and 1980 to 1985 and leader of the Opposition in 1990.A three-time chief minister of the Union Territory of Puducherry, he headed two Congress governments from 1967 to 1968 and 1985 to 1990; and a DMK government from 1969 to 1974. He was elected thrice (in 1991, 1996 and 1999) to the Lok Sabha from Puducherry and also served as Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation and Tourism between June 1991 and December 1992, during which he played an instrumental role in the establishment of Puducherry Airport at Lawspet as well as Pondicherry University. M O H Farooq also occupied several positions like member of consultative committee in the ministry of science & technology, standing committee member on home affairs, deputy chief whip, Congress Parliamentary Party in Lok Sabha and committee member of members of Parliament local area development scheme. In September 2004, he was appointed as the wIndian ambassador to Saudi Arabia and in 2010 as Governor of Jharkhand. Farook was appointed as Governor of Kerala on August 25, 2011 and took office on September 8, 2011.He is survived by a son, MOHF Shajahan, a former minister for higher education; and two daughters.
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