Tag Archives: Asaduddin Owaisi – President – AIMIM

Naseem Arifi, the Veteran Journalist Who Reinvented Hyderabad’s Urdu Press

Bhongir aka Bhuvanagiri (Hyderabad Metropolitan Region), TELANGANA:

Naseem Arifi, the Veteran Journalist Who Reinvented ...

Arifi came from a village near Hyderabad, Bhongir. Somewhere in 1970, he joined Bharat News, a news agency started by Ejaz Quraishi. After hopping around for some time he joined Siasat Urdu where he worked for several years and gave the newspaper a new dynamic.

A TRAGIC dimension has tagged along to Hyderabad this year. Two stalwarts in the field of Urdu journalism — Zaheeruddin Ali Khan and Naseem Arifi — have passed away within a span of two weeks.  

Zaheeruddin Ali Khan reportedly died of cardiac arrest during the funeral of poet and political activist Gaddar on 7th August.

On the other hand, Naseem Arifi succumbed to a long battle with dementia that was followed by several other ailments. He passed away on Saturday, 19 August. He was 81.  

Arifi was a thoroughbred journalist who successfully explored new vistas in Urdu journalism in India.

On the other hand, Zaheer who was about two decades junior to Arifi, had a multi-faceted personality. He left an indelible mark in the field of journalism, marketing and above all philanthropy, social and political work.

I will write about Zaheer some other time. There is a lot to tell about him —his childhood, his growing up under the guardianship of veteran journalist Abid Ali Khan and his family, his commitment to the memory of Abid Ali Khan, his legacy as the Managing Editor of Siasat Urdu, and his own initiatives as a dynamic conscientious citizen committed to the causes of the deprived sections of the society. He also tried his hands with online journalism by launching Siasat.com in English a few years ago. Surprisingly, Siasat.com is rising like a meteor.

Now, I would like to focus on Arifi.

Arifi came from a village near Hyderabad, Bhongir. Somewhere in 1970, he joined Bharat News, a news agency started by Ejaz Quraishi. After hopping around for some time he joined Siasat Urdu where he worked for several years and gave the newspaper a new dynamic. But over the years, he developed differences with the management of Siasat and quit it.  

In the meantime, there were reports that Khan Lateef Khan has bought Munsif Urdu daily and was trying to re-launch it with new vigour. Khan was very ambitious and said to have mounds of money to spend on the newspaper project.

His eyes were fixed on Arifi to lead the Munsif editorial team. He had sent the word around but was still undecided. One day, Arifi told me and Jamal Uddin Ali Khan, Bureau Chief of PTI, to join Lateef Khan over dinner at his residence in Banjara Hills. It was 1996. I was working with Saudi Gazette, Jeddah then. Over the dinner Lateef Khan asked several questions about the state of Urdu journalism in Hyderabad and what should be the face of Munsif. We gave him our understanding. A few days later it was announced that Arifi has been selected to head the editorial team that would start Munsif soon.

The launch of Munsif was theatrical. It was aiming to cut into the readership of Siasat which did not happen. But over the years, Munsif created its own niche and readership.

In the meantime, Munsif became stridently anti-Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen. It went to the level of carrying the caricatures of Asaduddin Owaisi, as Bhaijaan, and Akbaruddin Owaisi as Bi Pasha. That, of course, did not go well with a lot of people. The followers of the two brothers and their party Majlis became angry. The rivalry turned bitter and ugly.  

One of those people who did not agree with the abusive policy of Munsif against the Majlis was Naseem Arifi. He took up the matter with Khan who said he would continue his anti-Majlis policy.

In the meantime, MIM fed up with the policies of Munsif, decided to begin its own Urdu newspaper. Arifi was roped in to introduce Etemad. That was somewhere in 2002. However, Burhan Uddin Owaisi, the youngest of the three Owaisi brothers, was named the Editor-in-Chief of the newspaper.

Again, Arifi and his team demonstrated that there is more to show to the world what Urdu journalism can offer. He and his team did what they could but there was a limit. The newspaper had to follow the MIM political agenda. Arifi demonstrated that, despite some restrictions, Urdu journalism could stand on its own against all odds.

Meanwhile, there were reports that Eenadu proprietor Ramoji Rao was launching multiple TV channels. Among his initiatives was ETV Urdu. Arifi became an advisor to the group and helped in selecting the team and themes for the new channel. But for unknown reasons, he did not stay for long with the ETV Urdu.  

Besides meeting him occasionally and discussing various issues, I met Arifi with Omar Farooque, a senior bilingual journalist, and Arifi’s son Muneeb at Banjara Hills. There he told us that he was not comfortable with the Etemad anymore and would like to quit and try his hands at other things. I realised that Arifi’s memory was lapsing. I advised him to take it easy. Omar supported me. After the meeting, I told his son to take more care of his father and also revealed my suspicion that he was suffering from irreversible dementia. That unfortunately turned out to be true.

The young man agreed and remained devoted to his father along with his two younger brothers till his father turned into a new person who had no past, no future, only a blurred view of the present. The present was represented by his breath and a few gestures which only the family could understand.

Following this phase which was accompanied by a few regular age-related ailments, he breathed his last at the nearby Owaisi Hospital on Saturday afternoon.

Inna lillahi wa Inna ilaihi rajioon (We surely belong to Allah and to Him we shall return).

_________

The obituary is taken from Mir Ayoob Ali Khan’s Facebook page. He is a veteran and highly credible Indian journalist and editor. He is based in Hyderabad. 

Photo: Zaheeruddin Ali Khan and Naseem Arifi

source: http://wwwclarionindia.net / Clarion India / Home / by Mir Ayoob Ali Khan / August 22nd, 2023

Meet Imtiaz Jalil, MP from Aurangabad, recipient of the News makers achievers award 2023

Aurangabad, MAHARASHTRA:

Receiving the award ( Source: FB)

Imtiaz Jalil,MP, Aurangabad was honoured with the ‘15th News makers Achievers Awards 2023’ in the ‘Best Working Politician’ category on May 1st 2023 at Yashwant Rao Chavan Auditorium, Mumbai. Jalil was conferred with the award at the hands of Afternoon Voice’s founder and Editor in Chief Vaidehi Taman.

The award was bestowed to Imtiaz Jalil in recognition of his significant contribution to Indian politics. He is known for his zealous participation and discussions on development issues of various sectors and is praised for raising issues of the common man in the Parliament.

After receiving this recognition, Twocircles.net had a candid conversation with the Lone MP of AIMIM and found out the reasons behind his successful political journey.

TCN:- Tell us a little about your Background and your journey during journalism.Any takeaway from this field?

IJ: I started my career in journalism in 1991 with Lokmat newspaper in Aurangabad.In 2003 I joined NDTV and worked with them for nearly 12 years in Pune. I quit journalism and came back to my home town Aurangabad In 2014.

I have learnt a lot from journalism – working on ground, interacting with people, understanding their problems etc. Furthermore, there was no pressure from NDTV to submit stories. We had the liberty to report and give our 100%. Communal angles were never highlighted by the Channel. NDTV’s selection of news stories were common-man-friendly.  A farmer’s suicide story was the main highlight of the day which is difficult to find in today’s era of journalism. Now a days journalists aren’t doing journalism; they have their own political ideologies and commercial interests. Unfortunately, it is the marketing sector that is controlling news organisations today.

TCN: –What encouraged you to join politics?

IJ: When I came back to my city, assembly polls were around the corner, and everyone was discussing politics. NCP (Nationalist Congress Party) was keen to field a Muslim candidate from my constituency. And I was thinking, why not?

With the Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde ( Image source: FB of Imtiaz Jalil)

TCN:-What made you choose AIMIM?

IJ:-Muslim representation in the Assembly and Muslim political leadership is a highly debated topic. Congress and NCP were the big political parties that were famous among Muslims but  Muslims started realising gradually that they are being taken for granted. After assessing the situation I decided to choose AIMIM and jumped in the ring with the aim to uplift the Muslim community and Alhamdulillah (thanks to god) I’ve been doing well.

TCN:-What do you attribute your success and popularity to?

IJ:- Allah. I always have had a strong faith and connection with Allah. I used to offer Istakhara too. Allah has been very kind to me because I reached this position without money or muscle power. Alhamdulillah.I am also grateful to people of Aurangabad.

TCN:-What does the award of Best MP of the year mean to you?

IJ:-I was elected as a MLA in 2014 by the people of Aurangabad. I was committed to work for them and give my best. Once again in 2019 my people have sent me to Lok sabha.It was fascinating to see the love and the trust my people had in me. I just had to reciprocate that love.

This is the Best award that I have ever got. It definitely makes me happy more so because an organisation from a different region took note of my contribution and felicitated me.

TCN:-Where do you get inspiration from to do public service?

IJ:– My mother, Mrs. Zakiya. She helped me and inspired me to work for others.

TCN: –Any Specific schemes or projects you initiated for your constituency?

IJ:- There are many. We run an NGO to empower women and youth under the banner of “Yuva Foundation”. We train women in sewing for free so that they can be self reliant. Till date around 3400 women have completed their training and successfully earning their livelihood. We provided training to the youth who wish to get into police forces. We have ambulance services free of cost.

Image from FB

TCN: – A Hospital project was initiated by you some years back, is it becoming a reality?

IJ: – Yes, within a year, a 200 bedded hospital will be functioning, In sha Allah.

I am against constructing statues, because common man is more in need of health facilities than staring at a statue. Govt was considering a statue project in my city but I opposed this and approached High court and filed a PIL (Public interest litigation) and stopped it.

TCN:-On the scale of 1 to 5, how do you rate your contribution to the development of your constituency and in maintaining peace and brotherhood?

IJ:-You need to ask this question to the people of Aurangabad. I must say that people who don’t like my party’s ideology appreciate my work as well. They praise me openly. Besides this development work, maintaining brotherhood is my topmost priority. Despite all odds, I managed to ensure zero communal incidents, unity and harmony between people of all religions. You can observe or read comments of my Hindu brothers and sisters on social media about me and my work.

I strongly believe that 98% of the people are peace lovers. Feeding his family is the priority of a common man. Troublemakers exists in every community. We must ignore fake social media posts.

With Barrister Asaduddin Owaisi, AIMIM president ( Image source: FB of Imtiaz Jalil)

TCN:-What are your plans for the further development of your constituency?

IJ:– Promoting tourism in my historical city Aurangabad and providing employment to the youth. I have contacted a US based IT company on my own and have completed all the formalities. Very soon we are going to have nearly a thousand youth employed in this IT company.

TCN 9: What is your main learning from Barrister Asaduddin Owaisi, the president of your party? 

IJ:– I have learnt a lot from him! Working positively without expectations is a remarkable thing. Asad Sahab moves round the clock tirelessly,continuously establishes contacts with people all over the country. He understands their issues and empowers them on appropriate platforms.

TCN :- Apart from politics, what else interests you? How do you rejuvenate yourself when you are overcome by the workload? 

IJ:– I hardly get time for my self. But when I have the time, I listen to music and spend time with my family.

source: http://www.twocircles.net / TwoCircles.net / Home> India News / by Imran Inamdar, TwoCircles.net / May 20th, 2023

AIMIM opens account in Vijayapura Municipal Corporation, wins two seats

Hyderabad, TELANGANA / Vijayapura (formerly Bijapur), KARNATAKA:

 AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi (file photo)

Party has fielded its candidates in four out of 35 wards of the corporation

Vijayapura (formerly Bijapur):

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) on Monday opened its account in Vijayapura (Bijapur) Municipal Corporation by winning two seats. The party candidates Sufiya Abdul Rehaman Vatti and Rizwana Kaisar Hussain Inamdar won from ward numbers 25 and 28 respectively.

In the elections, the party has fielded its candidates in four out of 35 wards of the corporation.

AIMIM to contest alone in Karnataka Assembly polls

Earlier, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi ruled out any possible alliance with the Janata Dal (Secular) for the upcoming Karnataka Assembly elections scheduled to be held next year.

Speaking to reporters, Owaisi said that last time at the request of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) supremo K Chandrashekar Rao, the AIMIM did not contest the elections and campaigned for the Janata Dal (S). However, this time it won’t happen like that, Owaisi said.

Impact of AIMIM entry into Karnataka politics

Though AIMIM entry is not likely to have a major impact on Karanataka’s politics, it may divide the vote bank of Congress and JD(S).

As in the Hubbali-Dharwad areas, there are a sizable number of Muslim voters, a few leaders from Congress and JD(S) believe that AIMIM candidates may split the votes.

source: http://www.siasat.com / The Siasat Daily / Home> News> India / posted by Sameer Khan / October 31st, 2022

Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM Wins 7 Seats In Madhya Pradesh Local Body Polls

Hyderabad, TELANGANA / MADHYA PRADESH :

Madhya Pradesh local body elections: In the first phase of the local polls held on July 6, Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM won four seats.

Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM Wins 7 Seats In Madhya Pradesh Local Body Polls
Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM contested civic body polls in BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh for the first time

Bhopal: 

The All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) on Wednesday won three seats in the civic body elections in Madhya Pradesh, taking its overall tally in the local polls held earlier this month in the state to seven.

In the first phase of the local polls held on July 6, the Asaduddin Owaisi-led party had won four seats, while in the second phase conducted on July 13, the counting of votes for which is currently underway, it won three seats so far, officials said.

The Hyderabad-headquartered party won these three seats in the Khargone Municipal Council (KMC).

This is for the first time AIMIM contested civic body polls in BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh.

AIMIM’s Aruna Bai won from ward number 2 of KMC by defeating her nearest rival and BJP candidate Sunita Devi by a margin of 31 votes.

Aruna Bai, who belongs to the Scheduled Castes (SC) community, said she joined AIMIM as she was influenced by Mr Owaisi’s views on Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar.

Two other winners from the AIMIM are Shakeel Khan from ward 15 and Shabnam from ward 27 in KMC.

The BJP won 18 seats in the KMC, the Congress three and independent candidates eight.

In the first phase results on Sunday, the AIMIM won four seats – two in Jabalpur and one each in Burhanpur and Khandwa.

Mr Owaisi had addressed public meetings in Khandwa, Bhopal and Jabalpur to campaign for his party’s candidates for the polls held earlier this month.

The local body elections in Madhya Pradesh for 413 municipal bodies, including 16 municipal corporations, 99 municipal councils and 298 Nagar Parishads, were held in two phases – on July 6 and 13.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

source: http://www.ndtv.com / NDTV / Home> All Indian / by Press Trust of India / July 20th, 2022

AIMIM wins Local Polls in Khandwa, plays spoiler for Cong in Burhanpur

Hyderabad, TELANGANA / MADHYA PRADESH :

Making entry in Madhya Pradesh (MP) politics, Asauddin Owaisi’s AIMIM won local elections in Khandwa and played a spoiler for Congress in Burhanpur Mayor Elections 2022

Bhopal

Making entry in Madhya Pradesh (MP) politics, Asauddin Owaisi’s AIMIM won local elections in Khandwa and played a spoiler for Congress in Burhanpur Mayor Elections 2022, results of which were announced Sunday.

Khandwa and Burhanpur both have considerable population of Muslims. Khandwa was recently in news for the exodus of migrant labourers for lack of jobs.

The AIMIM candidate, Shakira Bilal, won the election from ward number 14 of the Khandwa Municipal Corporation by defeating her nearest Congress rival Noorjahan Begum by a margin of 285 votes.

Besides fielding its nominee Kaniz Fatima for Khandwa Mayor Election 2022, the AIMIM had fielded candidates in 10 wards of the Khandwa Civic Body that has a total of 50 seats.

Burhanpur Mayor Election Result

In Burhanpur Mayor Elections, AIMIM candidate polled a total of 10,274 votes – a huge number if compared with the margin of 542 votes by which the BJP Mayoral candidate defeated her nearest rival of Congress.

Madhuri Patel got a total of 52,823 whereas Shahnaaz Bano of Congress got 52, 281 votes in Burhanpur Mayor elections 2022.

AAP Debut in MP

Meanwhile, the debutant Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) also made its entry in Madhya Pradesh politics after winning mayoral post of Singrauli Municipal Corporation, the district which is filled with coal mining and also called – ‘energy capital of India’.

AAP candidate Rani Agrawal has won the election for mayoral post against BJP’s Chandra Prakash Vishwakarma.

Polling was held for mayoral posts in 11 municipal corporations, including Bhopal, Indore, Gwalior, Jabalpur, Sagar, Satna, Singrauli, Chhindwara, Khandwa, Burhanpur and Ujjain. A total of 101 candidates are fighting for the mayoral posts.

The counting of votes for the second phase of the MP municipal elections will be held on July 20.

source: http://www.ummid.com / Ummid.com / Home> India / by Ummid.com with input from Agencies / Jujly 17th, 2022

AIMIM wins 7 seats in Ahmedabad civic body on Gujarat poll debut

GUJARAT :

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) President Asaduddin Owaisi

Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi’s All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) marked its debut in Gujarat polls by winning seven seats in the civic body of Ahmedabad.

Results of polls to six municipal corporations were declared on Tuesday, and AIMIM, which fielded 22 candidates in six wards, ended up with seven wins in two wards.

In Gujarat, each ward of a municipal corporation has four seats.

While a panel of four candidates won in Jamalpur ward, three out of its four contestants won in Maktampura ward in Juhapura area of the city.

Those who won in Jamalpur included former Congress corporators Mohammad Rafiq Shaikh and Mushtaq Khadiwala, while the third victor, Bina Parmar, was a new face.

The AIMIM did not field candidates in Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot, Bhavnagar and Jamnagar, which also witnessed civic polls on February 21 along with Ahmedabad.

Owaisi had addressed a large gathering here as part of AIMIM’s campaign.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

source: http://www.business-standard.com / Business Standard / Home> Elections> News / by Press Trust of India, Ahmedabad / February 24th, 2021

The BJP does not want Owaisi, the BJP does not need Owaisi

Hyderabad, TELANGANA :

The BJP’s aim is to invisibilise Muslims. Owaisi is a challenge to that project.

File photo | AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi | Facebook/Asaduddinowaisi

The Bharatiya Janata Party will do anything it needs to win elections, we are often told.

Yet, there is one thing the BJP does not do, particularly the BJP of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah. It rarely ever gives tickets to Muslims . That costs it a few Muslim-dominated seats. If the BJP’s single-minded purpose was to win seats, it would happily give tickets to Muslims.

By giving some representation to Muslims in their ticket distribution, the BJP could, perhaps, have won state elections in Rajasthan, Delhi, Karnataka, and Madhya Pradesh. You can find Muslims who are all too willing to engage with the BJP at a time when the party has a monopoly over winning elections. Like most communities, Muslims don’t mind being on the right side of power.

It is the BJP that does not respond to Muslim aspirations, because there are things the BJP values more than winning elections, such as ideology. In its post-2014 phase, it has been clearer than ever that the BJP’s ideological purpose is to marginalise Muslims to the point of making them invisible. The Muslim must shut up and stay at home. The Muslim must not be MLA, MP, minister or leader. Muslims must not speak or be heard.

What was such a big deal about blocking traffic on a road or two over the anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act protests that it caused riots in Delhi? Was the blocking of a road in east Delhi that nobody was really noticing that big a problem for commuters? That is how unacceptable the Muslim political voice is to the BJP.

The BJP doesn’t want Owaisi

It is facetious to say that the BJP wants Asaduddin Owaisi around in politics. The BJP doesn’t want the Muslim beard or cap. My understanding is that it doesn’t want a Muslim standing up in Parliament — because why should Muslims be present in Parliament of a ‘Hindu Rashtra’ in the first place?

For the first time in the history of Bihar politics, the treasury benches do not have a single Muslim MLA. The BJP did not give a single ticket to a community that is nearly 17 per cent of Bihar’s population — every sixth citizen. It is the only party that seeks to actively exclude an entire community from the corridors of power. Do you think they enjoy the sight of five MLAs from the All-India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) in the assembly?

The five seats won by the AIMIM have led to the usual hand-wringing about how Owaisi’s rise is just what the BJP wants. The BJP wants Muslims to vote for a Muslim party just as it wants Hindus to vote for a Hindu party. This is a misreading of the BJP’s agenda. The BJP-RSS have gone out of their way to make secular parties apologetic about seeking Muslim votes. This has been done to silence the voice of the Muslim community in Indian politics and public life. If Indian Muslims now get a voice through Owaisi and the AIMIM, no, that doesn’t serve the BJP’s purpose.

The BJP would rather that Muslims don’t have a vote at all— which is what might be eventually achieved by the ‘chronology’ laws of NPR-NRC-CAA, which could strip many Muslims of citizenship. One look at the attempts in Assam to repeat the National Register of Citizens (NRC) exercise again and again, flogging a dead horse until it comes alive, shows you how the BJP wants to reduce the number of Muslim voters from the electoral rolls. That’s how the absence of Muslim representation from not just the treasury benches but even the opposition benches might be achieved.

The BJP doesn’t need Owaisi

The BJP does not need Owaisi for polarisation because the BJP has anyway maxed the polarisation game. All that fake news against Muslims — like the Palghar lynching of sadhus immediately blamed on Muslims even though there was no communal angle whatsoever — doesn’t need Owaisi. If anything, Owaisi’s nuanced assertion of constitutional nationalism comes in the way of the BJP leaders and supporters’ efforts to portray the Muslim as the Hindu-hating, Pakistan-loving, cow-slaughtering devil.

The larger misreading here is that the Hindu voter votes only on account of religion. If religious identity was enough, Prime Minister Modi wouldn’t need to sell ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ or whatever the latest hollow slogan is. The sort of voter who would vote for the BJP because they are repulsed by Owaisi’s face will anyway vote for the BJP. Owaisi’s presence or absence isn’t going to affect the Hindutva-minded voter’s affinity for the BJP.

Who needs Owaisi? 

If anyone needs Owaisi, it is the Indian Muslim. The Indian Muslims who are being deprived of a voice in public discourse because the ‘secular’ parties who claim to uphold their interests have also gone silent. In fact, they’re going beyond silence to active collaboration with Hindu fundamentalism, if you see the recent actions of Priyanka Gandhi, Kamal Nath, and Arvind Kejriwal.

At such a time, Owaisi is a force for good in Indian politics. He’s not going to become chief minister or prime minister and he knows it. What he will achieve is the creation of some competition for Muslim votes, which will force the ‘secular’ parties to acknowledge that, yes, India has Muslims and they must be treated with the same dignity by all political parties as any other voter.

The author is contributing editor to ThePrint. Views are personal.

source: http://www.theprint.in / The Print / Home> Opinion / by Shivam Vij / November 20th, 2020

Asaddudin Owaisi | The champion of identity politics

Hyderabad, TELANGANA :

All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) leader and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi. File   | Photo Credit: Sandeep Saxena

The young Owaisi, who wanted to be a lawyer, had to file his nomination papers to contest the 1994 Andhra Pradesh Assembly election

The year was 1994. Two years after the demolition of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, there was turmoil in the All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM), a party established by Abdul Wahed Owaisi. Members were deserting the AIMIM for not being vocal enough on the demolition of the masjid and there was an outcry that educated Muslims were not coming to join politics.

All eyes were on the 25-year-old Asaddudin Owaisi, Abdul Wahed’s grandson, who had just returned from London after completing a degree in law. “If in the early 1990s, you had told me that I would be contesting elections, I would have said you have gone bonkers,” Mr. Owaisi later said. It was a time when he worked at a denim store on Oxford Street, London, and served meals at McDonald’s to cover the tuition fee.

The young Owaisi, who wanted to be a lawyer, had to file his nomination papers to contest the 1994 Andhra Pradesh Assembly election.

Almost a lifetime since, he had been elected an MLA twice and an MP four times from Hyderabad, a seat that his father Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi represented six times. He has recast the archetype for Muslim leadership. Does he regret giving up law to be a lawmaker? “Regret…? I don’t know… It is a very subjective thing. I don’t regret things in life, you look at the good side of it and go ahead,” Mr. Owaisi said.

Rebirth of the party

The AIMIM is the reincarnation of Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen that opposed Hyderabad’s accession into the Indian union. Once the Hyderabad State was integrated into India, the party was banned and fell into disarray, many of its leaders migrating to Pakistan. Prefixing ‘All India’ to the MIM, Mr. Owaisi’s grandfather resurrected the party. Mr Owaisi doesn’t fail to remind frequently that the AIMIM is a party of those who did not go to Pakistan.

Years later, the same reason that led to Mr. Owaisi’s entry into politics is also a reason for his party’s expansion. The Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), who were wary of engaging with Seemanchal voters on the question of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC), left a vacuum into which Mr. Owaisi walked in, winning five seats in the Bihar Assembly election.

In his speeches across Seemanchal, he repeatedly asserted that he was the only one to tear off a copy of the “unconstitutional” CAA inside Parliament. He spoke of the “betrayal” by the RJD and the Congress. He delivers his speech in chaste Urdu, a language that is not exactly alien to his Bihari audience but definitely not conversational. His speeches were peppered with invocations of ‘Allah’. The Muslim identity is firmly in place, with a long sherwani, a skullcap and a moustache-less beard. The speech was delivered at a pace and pitch, similar to the Friday sermons by the clergy.

Broader alliance

However, Mr. Owaisi insists that he is not a “Muslim leader”. In a recent interview to The Hindu, he said: “We are not an exclusive Muslim party. I, Asaddudin Owaisi, am not a Muslim leader. I don’t want to be a Muslim leader, that is not my ambition or objective of my political journey.” The AIMIM has been working on forging an alliance between the Muslims, the Dalits and other backward groups.

Nor does he want his politics to be limited to Hyderabad. The AIMIM expanded in Maharashtra in 2012, winning in the Nanded Municipal Corporation election. The party’s success earned him the moniker of being a “BJP agent”, a long leap from supporting the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance during the 2018 no-confidence motion. Mr. Owaisi’s persistent indictment of mainstream parties for taking the ‘Muslim vote’ granted, coupled with the other parties’ attempt to look far more Hindu, has had political dividends for the AIMIM.

“They can call me all they want. It is like water off the duck’s back. During my childhood, RSS workers used to come to our home often, abuse us in an attempt to intimidate me. So, it is part of my growing up years,” he said.

Years ago, Mr. Owaisi may have joined politics unenthusiastically. But on November 10, when the Bihar results came, his 10-year-old son, wearing a similar long sherwani, sat on a chair next to him when he addressed his victory press conference. “He is a child. He wanted to sit with me, so how could I deny him,” Mr. Owaisi said.

He claims he was always an average student. He tries to read, but says that he is a very slow reader and its takes long preparations for him before speaking in Parliament. Despite Hyderabad being his base, Mr. Owaisi doesn’t speak Telugu. He says he has tried many times to study the language with a tutor who used to come to his home in Hyderabad. But politics always overtakes his plans.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Telangana / by Sobhana K Nair / November 15th, 2020

Asaduddin Owaisi’s dream is coming true

Hyderabad, TELANGANA / MAHARASHTRA / BIHAR :

AIMIM is now more than a symbol, challenging the Muslim blackmail of secular parties in polling booths, from west to east.

AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi at a party outreach programme in Aurangabad | Photo: Twitter | @aimim_national
AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi at a party outreach programme in Aurangabad | Photo: Twitter | @aimim_national

I met Asaduddin Owaisi for the first time in Kishanganj, in Bihar’s north-eastern Seemanchal region. I asked him point-blank the question everyone wants to ask him: Are you a BJP agent? He had a logical reply: “Why would I be contesting only a few seats if I was a BJP agent? Wouldn’t the BJP like to cut Muslim votes everywhere?”

Since then, I have paid closer attention to the pattern of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen’s (AIMIM) electoral attempts. They take a handful of seats, where Muslim voters are in large enough numbers to play a decisive role. They fight these elections to win, and not to help the BJP win. For instance, the AIMIM did not put up a single candidate in Uttar Pradesh in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections since the SP and the BSP were putting up a joint fight and the AIMIM candidates would only have helped the BJP.

The idea that the AIMIM is a BJP agent, I was convinced, is a Congress conspiracy theory. For the Congress party and its sycophants, anyone who’s not with them is communal.

But this still didn’t tell me what Owaisi wanted. What was his goal? What was he trying to achieve? If he wasn’t even contesting elections on each seat, or joining any big coalitions, what could he achieve through electoral politics anyway? Muslims in his home state, Telangana, don’t care for the AIMIM outside Hyderabad .  Even in his home state, Owaisi can never dream of becoming the chief minister. The AIMIM won’t be a party of governance any time soon. I wanted the answer to the big question: What does Asaduddin Owaisi want?

What does Owaisi want?

“What I want,” he replied, “is an MLA in every state assembly. Just one is enough. And I want him to stand up in the assembly and ask the secular parties, you took Muslim votes using the BJP to blackmail them. Now how about building roads and schools in Muslim-dominated areas?”

That, I thought, was a laudable goal. Muslim voters often feel they have no choice in elections. They have to vote for a crook from a secular party because the BJP doesn’t even want their votes. The BJP-RSS worker takes a 180-degree turn when s/he reaches a Muslim neighbourhood. In such a scenario, the presence of a Muslim party that threatens the idea of Muslims as a fixed vote-bank of secular parties is a noble one.

This also means Owaisi is not trying to be the “sole spokesperson” for the Indian Muslims, a mischievous term used to describe Mohammed Ali Jinnah. Owaisi is, before anything else, a constitutionalist. Islam is his faith, the Constitution is his ideology. The point he wants to drive home is that the two can go together.

Youth icon

In Kishanganj in 2015, I saw young voters go crazy over Owaisi, like people are about their heroes. It was akin to how great sportspersons inspire hero worship. The phenomenon was explained to me by a Muslim journalist in Aligarh, who said that Owaisi was a product of post-Babri Muslim politics. The fall of the Babri Masjid in 1992 silenced vocal Muslim politicians who used to speak at mainstream public debates as Muslims. It also deepened the idea, almost to finality, that Partition had left no space for a “Muslim party” in Indian politics.

Owaisi challenges all these notions, and finds willing supporters in Muslim youth who were born after 1992. There is thus a generation divide among Muslims in Owaisi’s popularity: the pre-92 generation thinks he’s a bad idea, and the millennials think he’s just what they need. The young feel they don’t have to be apologetic about being Muslims and don’t need to accept second-class status. They think they must assert their rights as equal citizens as per the Indian Constitution, just like any other Indian, and that’s what Owaisi does on their behalf.

Obviously, Muslim votes alone are not going to help the AIMIM win seats. And why would Hindu voters want to vote for a Muslim party?

That’s why this constitutionalism is also part of the AIMIM’s appeal to Ambedkarite Dalits. The AIMIM has thus been trying, with some success, to build a coalition of the marginalised along with Dalits. A Muslim vote-bank gives the AIMIM the ability to transfer votes to a Dalit candidate, for instance. It was such an idea that led to the AIMIM’s alliance  with Prakash Ambedkar in Maharashtra.

And yet, the AIMIM lost the 2015 election in Kishanganj. I saw young voters go up to Owaisi and say – they loved him but they’ll vote for him next time. After all, the Nitish-Lalu-Congress alliance had to be supported to defeat the BJP.

Account opened

The AIMIM had stood a strong third in the Kishanganj Lok Sabha election in 2019. The Congress won the seat  and the JD(U) stood second. Had it not been for the AIMIM, the JD(U), the BJP’s ally, would have won this seat. The only seat that the UPA won and the NDA lost in Bihar was Kishanganj, thanks to the votes cut by the AIMIM.

The Congress candidate was also the sitting MLA, therefore necessitating a bypoll for the Vidhan Sabha seat. Thursday, the AIMIM won that seat . The party has opened its account in Bihar. What’s even better  is that the BJP stood second and the Congress stood third. In the Bihar assembly election in November 2020, Owaisi will be able to say that in Kishanganj it’s AIMIM versus BJP. The impact will be felt in the entire Seemanchal region.

New frontiers

The AIMIM had won two seats in the Maharashtra assembly in 2014, but lost them this time. But it picked up two new seats : Malegaon Central and Dhule City. In other words, the AIMIM has become a regular electoral party, and people are getting used to pressing the AIMIM’s kite symbol on the EVMs. The AIMIM used to be called a one-MP party, but now it has two MPs in the Lok Sabha: Imtiyaz Jaleel won the Aurangabad seat in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

In Uttar Pradesh, AIMIM has 30 seats in various municipal corporations – its party member was elected chairperson of the Dasna municipal council in Ghaziabad. Thursday, the AIMIM candidate in the Pratapgarh assembly bypoll stood third . Owaisi’s dream is coming true: he now has an MLA in Bihar and Maharashtra assemblies and the most important state in Indian politics, Uttar Pradesh, is within striking distance too.

The growing electoral success of the AIMIM is a reminder to secular parties that they cannot take Muslim voters for granted. If apathy or the fear of losing Hindu votes is going to make “secular” parties look away from Muslims, why blame Owaisi?

source: http://www.theprint.in / The Print / Home> Opinion / by Shivam Vij / October 25th, 2019