The Hindu : National : "Happy to see my son back"

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Nov 03, 2005

National

National

"Happy to see my son back"

Luv Puri

— Photo: Luv Puri

Basa Begum.

Jammu: "We hoped that our son would become a bureaucrat or a doctor as he was a good student but we never thought that he would head the State," says 84-year-old Basa Begum, mother of Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad.

People from various parts of the State are thronging her residence. While some come to congratulate her others are curious about Mr. Azad's younger days. Basa Begum lives with her younger sons at Gujjar Nagar Colony.After Mr. Azad was sworn in she said: "Everyone in the State has hopes for my son, I hope God gives him the strength to rise to their expectations. He is a hard worker and I know that he will give his best. The biggest satisfaction for me is that he will come to live with me. He left us in the early 1980s and since then had been living mostly outside the State. I hope to spend more time with him. He was keenly interested in the activities of his uncle and grandfather who were social workers. There have been ups and downs in his life but he has taken all in his stride and never looked back."

Mr. Azad was born on March 7, 1949 at Soti village in Doda district where his clan had settled in 1875 during the reign of Dogra ruler Gulab Singh.

Nisar Azad, younger cousin of Mr. Azad says, "We are an extended and strongly-knit family. Nabi bhai has made it a point to join each one of us in our joys and sorrows."

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National

News Update

Stories in this Section