Farooq Khan

Sardar Farooq Khan (born 1955) is an Indian politician and former police officer who served with the Indian Police Service (IPS). He retired in 2013 as Inspector General of Police (IGP), Jammu and head of the Sher-I-Kashmir Police Academy at Udhampur. Khan is known for the creation of the Jammu and Kashmir Police (JKP) Special Task Force (STF) as well as being its first head in 1995; STF would later go on to be renamed as the Special Operations Group (SOG).

Background Farooq Khan is a Dogri-speaking Muslim of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. Farooq comes from a police background, his father, Sardar Mohammed Sarwar Khan, was also a police officer, who retired as a Superintendent of Police. His mother is Khalida Begum; and he has one brother and two sisters. As part of Hari Singh's Dogra army, Colonel Peer Mohammad also had a major role in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947–1948. The first time the STF tasted success was in a joint operation with the 26 Punjab Regiment in which three Al-Fatah militants were killed in October 1994.

In 1994, Khan had shifted to the Indian Police Service. Some time later, Indian security forces went on to kill 22 militants who were holed up in the shrine. Under Farooq Khan's STF, with the support of other security agencies including the Army, the counter-insurgent pro-government militia Ikhwanul Muslimoon (Ikhwan), started by Kuka Parray, was strengthened and together they killed more than 2000 militants.

Chattisinghpora, Pathribal, and Barakpora case When Farooq Khan was a Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Anantnag, he was suspended for two years in 2003 for his alleged role in Pathribal fake encounter on 25 March 2000. Farooq Abdullah set up a commission to look into the incidents. The Kuchai Commission, under retired Justice GA Kuchai of Jammu and Kashmir High Court, Khan had also approached the Central Administrative Tribunal as well as the Jammu and Kashmir High Court for justice, after which the Ministry of Home Affairs cleared his name. In June 2015 he was appointed national secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Farooq, apart from being a BJP spokesperson, has also been in-charge of BJP Minority Morcha and BJP's affairs in farthest North-Eastern state of Nagaland. Khan has also commented on the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), calling RSS "leaders disciplined and dedicated" and justifies his support by saying "What’s wrong in standing for Hindutva? Are there not organisations that stand for Islam, Christianity? Just because Hindus are majority, you cannot say standing for them is a crime." He arrived in Lakshadweep on 12 September 2016. As Lakshadweep Administrator, he was in-charge of relief work after cyclones hit the islands in 2017. He inaugurated the "Lakshadweep District Panchayat Bhavan" as well as the "Annual Academic Conference of Principal and Headmasters." As part of other routine functions of the Administrator, he also hurled the flag on the formation day of Lakshadweep on 1 November. The foundation stone of the "world’s first ever Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) Powered Desalination Project" was laid in Kavaratti by Union Minister Harsh Vardhan in the presence of Farooq Khan.

Advisor to JK Governor/ Lieutenant Governor On 13 July 2019, Farooq Khan was appointed as the fifth advisor to the then Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Satya Pal Malik. Farooq Khan was the first advisor to Governor Satya Pal Malik to request withdrawal of his security convoy. Following this he was adviser to Lieutenant Governor G. C. Murmu, and then Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha. As advisor, his official role is related to "food civil supplies and consumer affairs, social welfare, tribal affairs, labour and employment, youth services and sports, election and Haj and Auqaf" among other things.

Recognition Khan is a recipient of the President's medals for gallantry, bravery and distinguished service. He has also been given commendations by the Indian Army and other agencies.