Former BBC journalist appointed Chief of Jammu Kashmir Women’s Commission

Jammu and Kashmir government today appointed former BBC broadcaster Nayeema Ahmad Mehjoor as chairperson of the State Commission for Women (SCW).

The order to this effect was issued by the state’s General Administration Department today.

Mehjoor, who worked in London with BBC’s Urdu Service for many years before returning to Kashmir, will replace National Conference MLA from Habba Kadal, Shamima Firdous.

Upon her return from the UK, she joined PDP last year and was appointed as media advisor of the party.

Mehjoor, who is married to the son of famous Kashmiri poet Peerzada Ghulam Ahmad Mehjoor, was booked in June, 2011 by police under the now-repealed Section 66(A) IT Act for allegedly inciting violence in Kashmir through a Facebook post. The case was, however, not admitted by the court concerned.