HARYANA / RAJASTHAN :
It was perhaps for the first time that a lady of the Meo Muslim community from here was elected to Rajasthan assembly.
Gurgaon :
It was perhaps for the first time that a lady of the Meo Muslim community from here was elected to Rajasthan assembly.
Zahida (40) from Gurgaon who contested the assembly polls on a Congress ticket from Kaman constituency is the sole representative of her community to win in the recent Rajasthan elections.
She defeated her nearest rival by 8000 votes.
Kaman constituency was won twice by her father Tayyab Hussain in 1993 and 1998. Zahida was fielded by Congress from this seat as Hussain died before the polls in October.
Popular as “choudhry” in the Meo Muslim community, Hussain was also an elected Member of Parliament for two times, Zahida said while narrating her background.
She said her entire family was active in politics.
Her father was the only person in the country to become a minister in three states of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan, she said proudly adding that once celebrity Amitabh Bachchan in his famous programme `Kaun Banega Crorepati` asked a question
about her father.
She said her grandfather Mohd Yasin Khan became an MLA in the first elections held in British-India in 1926 and remained a member of Punjab Assembly till 1946 and then from 1952 to 1962.
One of her brothers Fazal Hussain also contested the Rajasthan assembly elections on BSP ticket but he lost it.
Another brother Zakir Hussian, a former minister in Haryana has been the district president of Congress party in Mewat. He recently joined BSP and has been announced BSP`s candidate for Lok Sabha from Gurgaon constituency.
Zahida said that her family has been spreading awareness about education as it is the only means for the development of Meos, who are considered most backward in the Muslim
community.
The family also established educational institutions and fought against communal forces in Mewat region, which is spread across six districts of Haryana and Rajasthan, Zahida
said adding that she was proud and lucky to be born in such a progressive family.
In the wake of country`s partition, Mahatma Gandhi also visited Mewat in 1947 and persuaded the Meo community not to leave India. Zahida claims that her family`s role was critical at that time in convincing the Meos to stay back.
She asserted that she would continue to motivate her community and educate their girls so that they rise in the society.
After her schooling from prestigious institutions, Zahida studied LLB from Delhi University and married an engineer Jalish Khan.
Zahida was not new to Kaman constituency as she was elected a Chairman of Panchayat Samiti Kaman for 2000-2005 period.
Bureau Report
source: http://www.zeenews.india.com / Zee News / Home> News> States / December 16th, 2008