After being appointed as governor of Kerala, Arif Mohammad Khan on Sunday said that he was fortunate to be born in a country like India. “It’s an opportunity to serve. Fortunate to be born in a country like India which is so vast and rich in diversity. It’s a great opportunity for me to know this part (Kerala) of India, which forms the boundary of India and is called god’s own country,” ANI quoted him as saying.
 
Moments after his appointment, Khan also put out a tweet saying, “Great opportunity to serve Gods own land to the vastness of India, Thanks and Lots of Love to everyone who love to me and support. Jai Hind Jai Bharat !!” Khan was among those who saw Triple Talaq as evil and wanted it to be banned. He supported the central government’s move to criminalise instant Triple Talaq and said that the new law should be implemented without delay.
 
A minister in former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi’s cabinet, Khan had resigned from his post over the differences with the government which overturned the Supreme Court verdict on Shah Bano case. After leaving Congress, he joined the Janata Dal and was re-elected to the Lok Sabha in 1989. He later left the Janata Dal to join the Bahujan Samaj Party and became MP in 1998 from Bahraich.
 
In 2004, Khan joined the BJP and contested Lok Sabha polls on its ticket from Kaisarganj constituency but lost. He also resigned from the BJP in 2007. In the recent past, he was seen very often defending the saffron party on issues such as intolerance, triple talaq or alleged rise in violence against a minority.