PANAJI
The Governor of Kerala Arif Mohammad Khan will deliver a talkon ‘Bhartiyata: Discourse and Practice’ on April 6 at 5.30 pm at International Centre Goa. The talk is organised by ICG in association with Bika Utsav.
Khan has been deeply involved in writing since his student days. He is the author of the best-selling book of the year 2010 Text and Context: Quran and Contemporary Challenges, published by Rupa & Co. Now Arif Mohammad Khan is actively involved in writing articles and columns related to Islam and Sufism.
Appointed the Governor of Kerala on September 1, 2019, by the order of the President of India, Ram Nath Kovind, Khan took charge as Governor on September 6 from P Sathasivam. The latest political controversy regarding the appointment of Vice chancellors of universities of Kerala has put him in the spotlight.
A politician and a former minister who hailed various portfolios ranging from energy to civil aviation, Khan is an alumnus of Jamia Milia School Delhi, Aligarh Muslim University and Shia College, Lucknow University. Starting his political career as a student leader, he was the president of Aligarh Muslim University Student’s Union in 1972-73. He contested the first legislative assembly election from Siyana constituency of Bulandshahar but was defeated. Later in 1977, at the age of 26 he became a member of legislative assembly of UP. His political career travelled through various parties, and in 2004, he joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha election as a BJP candidate that year from Kaiserganj constituency. Khan has advocated abolishing of All India Muslim Personal Law Board. Arif Mohammad Khan also supported the Supreme Court of India's judgment in Shah Bano case to make the right to maintenance of a divorced Muslim wife absolute.
