Tag Archives: Syed Shahabuddin – Indian Diplomat

Syed Sagheer Ahmed: Last of Committed, Principled Socialists

UTTAR PRADESH :

Syed Sagheer Ahmad was not much of a public figure but he always had access to the highest echelons of power and politics.

OBITUARY

In spite of his close associations with some of the giants of Indian politics, he never became an MLC, MLA or MP. He was, in a true sense, a compassionate and dignified face of Indian politics.

IT was 10:45 in the morning yesterday when my friend and class fellow at AMU Mr Najam uz Naqvi called me to inform that Sagheer Mama had passed away at a hospital in Bareilly. The news was so unexpected that it had me shivering, too numb for any reaction. For quite some time I was stunned beyond words still trying to fully grasp the heart wrenching information perhaps very much in denial.

This was not any news of a relative’s death. It is not that unusual for us to hear about the death of someone close, but the passing away of Syed Sagheer Ahmad (Najam’s Mama) was not the death of an ordinary person. It was as if I was witnessing right before my eyes the end of an era.

Syed Sagheer Ahmad was born on the 4th of December, 1934, in the Tahseel/ Qasba Sehsawan in Badaun district. He received his education from Aligarh Muslim University, the same place from where he picked up interest in socialist politics and remained a lifetime loyalist. Janab Syed Sagheer Ahmad was not much of a public figure but he always had access to the highest echelons of power and politics. He was one of those rare young turks in Congress who had dared to revolt against the dictatorial regime of Mrs. Indira Gandhi along with Chandershekharji and Mohan Dharia.

He was an avowed socialist, a well-known and respected face among the notable socialist leaders and movements. Mrs. Gandhi personally knew him well. He was a close friend and confidant of Chandershekharji. Chandershekharji mentions him fondly in his Jail Diary.  V.P. Singh knew him personally too. The two great leaders of Congress party in Uttar Pradesh, Mr. Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna and Mr. Narayan Datt Tiwari kept him close to their hearts always consulting him on critical minority issues. He often played an important role in removing misgivings between Mrs. Gandhi and her party satraps in Uttar Pradesh. He worked under patronage of giant leaders like Jai Parkash Narayan, Acharya Kripalani, Ram Manohar Lohia. He was closely associated with renowned socialist leaders like Babu Tarloki Singh, Dr. Abdul Jalil Faridi and Narayan Datt Tiwari.

In spite of his close associations with some of the giants of Indian politics, he never became an MLC, MLA or MP. He was, in a true sense, a compassionate and dignified face of Indian politics. He belonged to Muslim aristocracy in UP. However, he never used politics for personal favours. Throughout his life, he depended on his family or personal resources for his political activities and finances. He would never speak or ask for himself but for the populace, he was a firm and assertive advocate.

There are numerous persons in UP who reached Assembly and Parliament only because of his consistent backing. He neither sought nor was he rewarded for his unfaltering selflessness, sacrifice, honesty and self-esteem. Those who know Janab Syed Sagheer Ahmad would definitely agree with me that he was the greatest victim of political injustice of his time. He was not an ordinary politician or a socialist thinker. He had closely watched all the important political developments, especially in North India. He was aware of the ins and outs of political circuits.

It wouldn’t be wrong of me to say that he was a mini encyclopedia of Indian politics in the post independent era. He new most of the ins and outs of political upheavals during sixties, seventies, eighties and nineties. He was a close watcher of Muslim politics and observed with disdain the discriminatory policies of the government against Muslim minorities.

With his advent in Indian politics, Syed Shahabuddin created many controversies around him. He was nominated as the general secretary of Janata party and Rajya Sabha member in 1979. Many a stalwarts in Janata party and later Janata Dal turned against him. This still didn’t deter Janab Syed Sagheer Ahmad sahib to stand like a rock in support of late Syed Shahabuddin. In 1991, Janata Dal had completely ignored Syed Shahabuddin in parliamentary election and denied him the party ticket from his favored constituency Kishanganj. Yet it was only the magnanimity, political stewardship and endless backstage efforts of Sagheer sahib that at the last moment Janata Dal had to concede and accommodate Syed Shahabuddin for a ticket from Kishanganj.

Sagheer sahab was an ardent admirer of Chandershekharji and considered him the bravest leader of his time. He was considered a close confidant of Chandershekharji, yet on occasions he would take a stand contrary to the wishes of his leader. One incident, I remember well. In 1986, when organisational elections for UP Janata Party was going on, Manager Singh an MLA from Ballia was candidate for district Presidentship. Chandershekharji somehow didn’t want Manager Singh to become the party president of his home constituency. But Sagheer Saheb openly went against the wishes of Chandershekharji and played an instrumental role in getting his friend Manager Singh elected as the Ballia Distict president.

I am personally aware of it that during his 60 years long political career, he helped many people achieve their political aims without seeking any return. I am sure nobody in the world of politics could ever claim that he accepted even a penny from anybody during his extensive political tenure. He used to travel much but he would never travel alone. He would usually stay in a middle class hotel. There were few exceptions who were fortunate enough to host Syed sahib. He would always strain his own pocket for all the expenses, not only for himself but for all those who accompanied him. He was a very caring person. If you were travelling with him, he would make sure to take care of every little thing – your ticket, your accommodation, your food and even your laundry.

Today even his political adversaries would agree with me that he was the gentlest and most honest politician of his time with an unmatched sense of self respect — something he never compromised upon.

I have no qualms in saying that India politics ill-treated its two great sons – Captain Abbas Ali khan who was a freedom fighter, a captain in Netaji’s Indian National Army and consequently got arrested and was awarded a death sentence but luckily India won independence before he could be executed.

After Independence, Captain Abbas Ali Khan spent his whole life in opposition and socialist politics. He was the president of UP Janata party when it was in power there. But all his sacrifices in the freedom movement and his contribution in the socialist movement was ignored. He was favoured only once with a single tenure of MLC. Second one is of course, Sagheer sahab. He shall be recorded as the most unfortunate and prejudiced victims of the discriminatory Indian political mindset.

In fact both Captain Abbas Ali Khan and Syed Sagheer Ahmad deserved a seat in Rajya Sabha or a provincial governorship.

Few days back he had penned down his autobiography named as “abhi ummeed baqi hai” “hope still remains” in Hindi and it was inaugurated in the Constitution Club of India. The event was joined by top socialist and intellectuals from across the country. The book received much appreciation and acknowledgement.

Today he is no more leaving behind a void which can never be filled for where can we find again this level of honesty, integrity, philanthropy and discipline. Those who know him must have plunged into deep sorrow and darkness. With Sagheer sahab a beacon of gentle light of Indian Politics has extinguished. May Allah rest his soul in peace.

____________

The author is ex-President of AMU Students Union. 

source: http://www.clarionindia.net / Clarion / Home> Culture> India> Indian Muslim / by S.M. Anwar Hussain / September 28th, 2020

Syed Shahabuddin’s Grandson Tops Advocates-on-Record Exam

BIHAR :

Chief Justice of India SA Bobde conferred Gold medal and other title to Azmat Hayat Amanullah

Chief Justice of India SA Bobde honouring Azmat Hayat Amanullah as topper of the Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record examination 2018.
Chief Justice of India SA Bobde honouring Azmat Hayat Amanullah as topper of the Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record examination 2018.

New Delhi :

Chief Justice of India SA Bobde on Tuesday conferred gold medal and other title to Azmat Hayat Amanullah as topper of the Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record examination 2018.

Azmat is grandson of late IFS, parliamentarian and author Syed Shahabuddin. He is son of former IAS officer Afzal Amanullah and Parveen Amanullah, former minister of Bihar.

At a program held on the occasion of Constitution Day on Nov 26, Azmat received the award from CJI.

“With the infinite grace of God, my son Azmat got the first place in the examination of advocates-on-record, from Chief Justice of India, on the occasion of Constitution Day,” Parveen Amanullah posted on Facebook.

Azmat has obtained his law degree from Indian Law School, Pune. He has expertise in laws related to land, service matters, consumer, property, labour, employment, industrial disputes and workmen compensation.

The Advocates-on-Record exam is conducted by the Supreme Court.

source: http://www.caravandaily.com / Caravan / Home> India> Indian Muslims / by Caravan News / November 28th, 2019

Remembering Syed Shahabuddin – Muslim Heart, Indian Mind

Ranchi (JHARKHAND) formerly BIHAR /  NEW DELHI :

His arrival on the political scene as an articulate Muslim leader was no ordinary event in the journey of the Indian republic.

Syed Shahabuddin, 1935-2017. Credit: Youtube
Syed Shahabuddin, 1935-2017. Credit: Youtube

Writing an obituary of the writer, diplomat and politician Syed Shahabuddin is actually an exercise in writing of the journey of Muslims in the Indian republic. The much maligned gentleman was somebody who could never be ignored. As a very bright student of physics in the academically brighter phase of Patna University in the first decade of India’s independence, he drew the attention of his teachers. The memoirs of his professors, Mohsin and Kalimuddin Ahmad, describe Shahabuddin’s promise in glowing terms. Soon thereafter, he became known for the leadership he provided to a student movement in 1955, including leading a 20,000-person march to wave black flags against Jawaharlal Nehru when he visited Patna – in protest against police firing on students.

He managed to get a job as a lecturer at the same time as qualifying for the civil services in 1957. He ranked second among all the aspirants, with a particularly high score in the interview section, and joined the Indian Foreign Service. Many delicious legends were fabricated around the kind of questions he was asked and his witty responses. His success not only inspired many students, but also helped overcome the trepidation among Muslims about their place in India after Partition.

While a section of Hindus looked upon Muslims as potential fifth columnists, a section of Muslims was also not very confident of the inclusionary-pluralist democracy that was being built up under Nehru. Notably, even as a student, Shahabuddin too was contributing towards this task of nation-building. With some ‘socialist’ leanings, though not formally with any party, his activism allowed certain critiques of the Nehruvian consensus to be heard.

He paid a price for this activism, though a minor one. Owing to Shahabuddin’s involvement in the student agitation of 1955, he had to wait for police/intelligence clearance and therefore could join the services a little later than his other batchmates. Legend has it that Nehru himself finally cleared the file.

In the late 1970s, the hegemony of the ruling Congress came be challenged by the socialists, Shahabuddin became restless within the confines of bureaucracy. He decided to quit government service and join politics.

Until then, Indian politics lacked a pan-Indian Muslim leader with well informed and articulate views. Although Maulana Azad had occupied an important position, he was part of the Nehruvian consensus and did not challenge it. Nor were academics looking at the worrying economic and educational locations of Muslim communities and their disproportionately inadequate share in the structures and processes of power. A few exceptions existed, such as the volume on castes among Muslims edited by Imtiaz Ahmad in the late 1960s and the works of Uma Kaura and Mushirul Hasan looking at the marginalisation of Muslims by the Congress under majoritarian pressures in 1970s, but these were rare.

None of the important dissenting voices in Indian democracy, whether Ram Manohar Lohia (1910-67), the defender of the lower castes, Jai Prakash Narayan (1902-79) nor the Left were paying attention to this issue.

Shahabuddin saw this vacuum in Indian politics and adventurously jumped in to fill it. His arrival on the scene as an articulate Muslim politician was no ordinary event in the journey of the Indian republic. As he stormed in, with his enviable articulation and abilities invoking constitutional values and spirit, he was almost matchless. He could not be dismissed, but he could be maligned as a sectarian, conservative and even communal reactionary. Often, he gave his critics grounds to do so. His stand on the gender issue in the Shah Bano case, where he stood on the side of the clerics, and on free speech, by asking for Salman Rushdie’s Satanic Verses to be banned are particularly problematic as the repercussions continue to play out today. On the issue of caste among India’s Muslims too, he was dismissive of pasmanda activists, although unlike many ‘reactionary’ Ashraaf, he never denied the reality of caste-based oppression and discrimination in Indian Islam.

His critics had little time for complexities and he was frequently clubbed with people like Maulana Bukhari, the Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid in Delhi, despite there being little to compare the two in either democratic legitimacy or point of view.

Throughout the 1980s and ’90s, Shahabuddin, through his English monthly, Muslim India, a journal of “Research, Reference and Documentation”, kept articulating and disseminating the concrete (as well as emotive) issues of concern to Indian Muslims, besides contributing  extremely powerful, informed and passionate editorials. Putting together news reports and views from across periodicals, the magazine also carried parliamentary speeches, interventions, government reports, book reviews, personality profiles and statistical data demonstrating the under-representation of Muslims in various sectors of the economy and employment, and many other crucial areas. This was done with candid, coherent, persuasive prose, laced with facts and figures, and at times beautified with apt Urdu couplets.

The title of the monthly he had chosen turned out to be provocative, as this expression is said to have been used in certain documents of the Muslim League in late colonial India. But the sharp (and cunning, if I may say) mind of Shahabuddin had a very strong defence in the English grammar. He explained that in the expression ‘Muslim India’, the former is  an adjective and the latter a noun. Thus, ‘Muslim India’ would grammatically put emphasis on the Indian identity of someone just happening to be Muslim. It was more patriotic than the expression ‘Indian Muslims’, wherein more emphasis was on Muslim (who happened to be Indian). Hence, he preferred ‘Muslim Indian’ to ‘Indian Muslim’.

Besides making interventions in a range of journalistic and academic periodicals, including even the ‘provocative’ English monthly, Debonair, Shahabuddin’s Muslim India carried very powerful editorials on almost every issue which touched the Muslim segment of Indian democracy. Nobody before and after him could muster that much of courage, conviction, energy and determination to do all these, that too all alone. Yet, he found enough time to reply to all the letters he received. He religiously wrote and dispatched letters.

The editorials that had particular impact are worth recalling. In July 1994, he wrote on Lalu Prasad Yadav’s brazen Yadavisation in Bihar at the expense of his core and unflinching support base – Muslims. The argument was well made, even by the standards of Shahabuddin’s characteristic articulation, with so much data damning the Lalu regime on almost every aspect of governance. Predictably, soon after, he left the Janata Dal. In July 2000, he published another editorial on the problems of governance at the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) and their possible remedies. This was meant as advice from a senior IFS officer to a junior one, Hamid Ansari, who had joined as the vice chancellor of AMU. Yet another important editorial was on the 1988 Act making Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) a central university. He called the Act a “swansong” for JMI. He later expanded this editorial and wrote a long essay,  ‘How to revive the spirit of Jamia Millia ‘,  in the Milli Gazette in 2010. Focussing on the AMU Act 1981, the lawyer in him kept arguing that the legislated Act did not provide AMU with minority status, though it did have minority character.

In the final years of his life, many of his projects remained unfinished. The tragic and mysterious murder of his only son Parwez (an IIT alumnus and a promising scientist) in the US in 2005 had perhaps broken him from within, even though he did carry on with his life as bravely as ever. He never got around to finishing it but the title he chose for his autobiography was Muslim Heart, Indian Mind. Perhaps that is the best way to remember him by.

Mohammad Sajjad is an associate professor at the Centre of Advanced Study in History at Aligarh Muslim University and the author of Muslim Politics in Bihar: Changing Contours.

source:  http://www.thewire.in / The Wire / Home> Politics / by Mohammad Sajjad / March 09th, 2017