Former J&K governor Gary Saxena is dead

April 15, 2017 08:31

Former Jammu and Kashmir governor Girish Chandra Saxena, whose tenure saw a significant decline of militancy in the Valley, died in New Delhi on Friday after a brief illness. He was 90.

Saxena breathed his last after he was rushed to a hospital following breathlessness, his brother and former cabinet secretary Naresh Chandra said.

The funeral pyre of Saxena, who served as the governor of the troubled state twice, was lit by his grandson Varun in the presence of political leaders and senior bureaucrats, including National Security Advisor A K Doval.

Former Jammu and Kashmir chief ministers Farooq Abdullah and Ghulam Nabi Azad, former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit, BJP leader Yashwant Sinha and serving and retired officers from RAW and Intelligence Bureau also gathered at the crematorium to pay their last respects to Saxena.

Born in Agra in 1928, Saxena, an IPS officer of the 1950 batch of Uttar Pradesh cadre, who also headed the country's external intelligence agency RAW from 1983 to 1986, is survived by his wife and two daughters.

He first took charge as the Jammu and Kashmir governor on May 26, 1990, barely a few days after the religious head of Muslims in Srinagar Mirwaiz Farooq was gunned down by the Hizbul Mujahideen..

He was credited with the revival of intelligence gathering mechanism of the state police. His experience at RAW came in handy in discharging his duties from Raj Bhavan.

After his first stint as governor, Saxena was again brought to the state in 1998. He was lauded for his efforts which turned the state police into an effective counter-insurgency force.

"No militancy can be fought without the local police," he had once said during his second stint as governor.

Former J&K chief ministers, the father-son duo Farooq and Omar Abdullah, while condoling his demise, said a visionary has been lost.

"I recall my association with Governor Saxena. He was very cool in extreme situations and always had a humane approach to any problem," Farooq said.

Omar said, "It's a sad news for me. He (Saxena) had always guided me during my initial days in politics."

Image: A file photo from Rediff Archives of J&K governor G C Saxena in 2002.

« Back to LIVE

TOP STORIES

GT Vs DC: Who Bowled The Best Spell? Vote!

The Delhi Capitals bowlers have come under the scanner for their poor death over bowling, but on Wednesday, they silenced critics with a sizzling display to bowl Gujarat Titans out for a paltry 89.

I wanted to come in a better way: Pant

'Lots of things to be pleased about. We spoke about champion mindset and our team spoke about it'

IPL PIX: Delhi Capitals bowlers humble GT

Images from the IPL 2024 match between Gujarat Titans and Delhi Capitals at the Eden Gardens in Ahmedabad on Wednesday.

Breaking the vault: Will MSCI grant HDFC Bank access?

HDFC Bank's latest shareholding data showed that the room for foreign investment has fallen just 5 basis points short of the threshold set by Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) to fully include the stock in its indices....

Campaigning ends for first phase of Lok Sabha polls

Campaigning ended on Wednesday evening for 102 Lok Sabha seats across 21 states and Union territories which will go to polls in the first phase on April 19 with top leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance...