Srinagar: Girish Chandra Murmu took oath of office as the first Lieutenant Governor for Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir in Srinagar on Thursday, as the erstwhile state of J&K was formally bifurcated and downgraded into a union territory.
Murmu, an IAS officer of 1987 batch was administered oath of office and secrecy by Chief Justice of J&K High Court Gita Mittal at the Raj Bhavan.
Murmu, 59 is one of the youngest governors has no previous experience of Jammu and Kashmir, however, an expenditure secretary is considered as a close aide of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
While taking the oath, Murmu said that he will serve the UT to the best of his “capacity and capability.”
Chief Secretary, BVR Subrahmanyam, read the Warrant of Appointment in presence of some selected dignitaries, which included Dr. Nirmal Kumar Singh, Speaker, J&K Legislative Assembly; K Vijay Kumar, K.K. Sharma, Khurshid Ganai, K. Skandan, Farooq Khan- Advisors to Governor.
BJP senior leader and Member of Parliament, Jugal Kishore Sharma; Lt. Gen. KJS Dhillon, GoC 15 Corps; Judges of High Court were among the guests present at the ceremony.
Senior officials of civil administration, police, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Border Security Force (BSF), Army, family members and friends of Murmu were also present on the occasion.
The transition of J&K to a union territory comes even as several political leaders remain detained for nearly three months since the announcement of bifurcation and abrogation of special constitutional provisions.
The government had detained several political leaders including three former chief ministers, suspended tele-communications initially, and placed heavy restrictions on movement and ban of public gatherings hours before the abrogation of Article 370.
Article 370 of India’s constitution gave Jammu and Kashmir the power to have its own constitution, flag and special status over most of the matters.
Meanwhile, a complete shutdown was observed in Kashmir to protest the revocation of special status to J&K.
The streets wore deserted looks with public transport off the roads and deployment of additional government forces in parts of Srinagar and other towns.
A similar function was earlier held at Leh, where Radha Krishen Mathur took oath as the head of Ladakh union territory, where all officials from Ladakh administration were present.

Mir Iqbal