Tag Archives: Book – My Life in Indian Politics – Mohsina Kidwai

Book Review: An Account Of A Life In Indian Politics

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Barabanki District, UTTAR PRADESH :

This is just not another memoir of a politician happily or unhappily bounds to look back; the author, instead, talks like a grandmother narrating a story of post-independent India somewhat interlinked with the Congress.

Mohsina Kidwai, author of the book ‘My Life in Indian Politics’

Book Review: Non-fiction (Memoir)/2022; My Life in Indian Politics by Mohsina Kidwai (As told to Rasheed Kidwai); HarperCollins, 300pp (Hardback)
 
Indian politics is a sort of ‘wonder’ and its unique existential positioning can’t be imagined without people behind its ups and downs. Reading the memoirs, especially of those who served in public life for long, is amongst the rewarding pastimes of a reader. I read Mohsina Kidwai’s memoir as a manuscript, and of course, I reread it even more carefully in its print version. Here is a candid account of a prominent political figure of India who dispels the stereotyped traditional notions that are usually expected to be self-centred and being extra boastful in the first person narrative.

Mohsina Kidwai has been in public life as a member of the Indian National Congress for over six decades. A cabinet minister in several successive central governments and a senior office-holder in the Congress, she has had a ringside view of Indian politics for almost the entire span of independent India’s existence. She has witnessed, and been a participant in, the tenures of prime ministers from Jawaharlal Nehru to Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, and was a member of parliament until 2016, one of only twenty Muslim women to have been elected to the Lok Sabha since 1951. She has had a prolific track record that can’t be compared with her fellow women politicians, more so, from the Muslim community.

My Life in Indian Politics by Mohsina Kidwai

The book reflects well on her long and eventful life in politics and covers quite skilfully her contributions to public life, and also succeeds in providing an honest appraisal of the turn in fortunes of the political party she has remained a loyal member of over the decades. The author along with co-author and senior journalist Rasheed Kidwai, endow the readers with rare glimpses to homes, lives and hurly-burly of election campaigns from bygone era when Congress dominated the political landscape at centre and in the states.
 
One such memorable one was the Azamgarh bypoll in 1978, which Mohsina Kidwai won as Uttar Pradesh Congress Chief, and which signalled a revival of the Congress’s fortune after its spectacular defeat in the post-Emergency general elections of 1977. The book’s cover informs you and inside, the details and rich and beautifully presented. 
 
We get to see little known facts about India’s Prime Ministers Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and P V Narsimha Rao. Similarly, she is forthright in accepting that her move to join the breakaway Tiwari Congress in 1995 was a mistake.
 
Here is a quick recap of a few of them:
 
Mohsina Kidwai talks about an incident which happened when Lal Bahadur Shastri had visited Barabanki sometime in the early 1950s. “A few years after marriage, I saw Shastriji, who had come to meet my father-in-law. Jameel ur Rahman Kidwai Saab had stood for elections and Shastriji was canvassing for him. Shastriji was a simple man. Our domestic help, who did not recognize him, asked him where he was from. Shastriji, by then already a Union minister, replied that he had come in connection with the election and wished to meet Jameel Saab.
 
“He will return home in the evening,” the domestic help told Shastriji and asked him to wait. Shastriji waited. The servant served him tea.
  
In the evening, when my father-in-law returned, he saw Shastriji waiting.
 
A little embarrassed, my father-in-law scolded the servant for not informing him about the guest. After that Shastriji became a member of our extended family.” 
Some rarest accounts on Indira Gandhi: 
 
“Indiraji was extremely caring and attentive. I can go on talking about many instances. Sometime after the 1977 Lok Sabha polls when Indira ji was in opposition, she planned to visit Badrinath for puja. I and Narayan Dutt Tiwari and I accompanied her. It was an October month. We were told that puja starts at 4 am. Asking us to wait, she went to the temple for Puja. We were to start at 6 am on the return journey to New Delhi. At 5 am, Indiraji returned from the temple and checked whether all the vehicles of our convoy were ready. The pundit of the temple offered us breakfast. When we were having breakfast, the drivers were heating the engines of their respective vehicles. I told Indiraji, we had breakfast but poor drivers must be hungry. They have not even had tea as they were busy heating vehicle engines. I suggested we stop at the first tea shop in return for the drivers to have tea. She agreed.
 
Indiraji had the habit of carrying some snacks with her in a basket during travel. After a while I saw her taking out some biscuits from the basket kept beneath her seat. She tore the biscuits in four pieces and asked the driver to pick the pieces one by one from her hand while driving. She extended her hand carrying biscuit pieces and the driver did what he was told to do. Indiraji used to enjoy such affection and spontaneous display of it that it often stunned me and used to fill my heart with admiration and pride for my leader.”
 
“Indiraji could also sense what people around her were feeling. Once we were traveling by an overnight train to Gorakhpur and I suddenly realised I was alone with the Prime Minister in the first-class coupe. She sensed that I was a little uncomfortable and directed me to turn my face towards the wall and go off to sleep,” adds the author.

Undeniably, the book is written with honesty and simplicity, and should be better known as a work to assess an entire era in Indian politics. This is just not another memoir of a politician happily or unhappily bound to look back. She, instead, talks like a grandmother narrating a story of post-independent India somewhat interlinked with the Congress. The book is essential reading for anyone interested in knowing India, its democracy and the foundational stories of a remarkable journey.
 
(The author is a policy professional, columnist and writer with a special focus on South Asia. Views expressed are personal.)

source: http://www.outlook.com / Outlookindia.com / Home> Culture & Society> Book Review / by Atul K Thakur / January 07th, 2023

A life in polity

Community Involvement / Social Issues, Leaders, Uncategorized, Women/Girls(since May26-2021), , , , , ,

Barabanki, UTTAR PRADESH:

My Life in Indian Politics is co-authored by Mohsina and journalist Rasheed Kidwai.

Mohsina Kidwai

Mohsina Kidwai calls herself a reluctant writer. Despite that, the 90-year-old politician, who has been one of the leading figures of the Indian National Congress (INC), felt it was time to pen her memoir after observing certain shifts in the political climate of the country. “Everyone has a book in them and perhaps I am no exception. I was a reluctant writer, often wondering, weighing over a range of political, ethical, and personal issues. But as I became less active in public life and saw various trends and shades in our country’s polity, I firmed up my mind to write my memoir.

This book is a story of my life but in many ways, it is also a journey of our post-Independence beloved country. As a political worker, it is clear to me that challenges have always been multiple and intricate but not unsurmountable,” says the former politician.

My Life in Indian Politics, the book in question, is co-authored by Mohsina and journalist Rasheed Kidwai. Rasheed took up the project to co-write the memoir because he felt Mohsina’s story is an interesting one to share. “Normally there are various ways that books of eminent political personalities are written. I have authored a few independent autobiographies of political figures. This was the first time I was dabbling in a joint venture. Mohsina spoke to me at length about her life and her career. Essentially, the book is the narration of her life carved by a wordsmith, which was my role. She has been a participant in Indian politics for over six decades, I felt this was a fascinating project to be a part of,” says Rasheed, who ensured that Mohsina approved every word in the book.

Throughout her career, she always believed that Muslims can live harmoniously in a multicultural, independent, and secular Indian society. During Rasheed’s days spent in close proximity with Mohsina, he noticed her being disturbed at the present political and social situation our country finds itself in. “She has greatly exercised her critique of the current political identity because this is not the idea of India that she cherishes. In her career in Uttar Pradesh (UP), she won elections from Azamgarh (Eastern UP) and Meerut (Western UP). 

Anyone remotely connected with the socio-economic condition of UP and the caste matrix would vouch that finding acceptability in these two diverse regions is a rather insurmountable task. But today, it is difficult for a Muslim politician to do that. We can see that the number of Muslim candidates has been on a steady decline and you don’t see such examples anymore. Mohsina was never looked at as a Muslim candidate even though she is an ardent practitioner of Islam,” Rasheed says, adding that she had always preferred being judged as an Indian, and her core electoral team always had a mix of people from different communities.

Mohsina is known for her assessment of the INC. Rasheed believes that if at certain times the political leadership had heard her out, then perhaps the history of the party might have been different. “She had opposed former PM PV Narasimha Rao’s politics, not just about his handling of the Babri Masjid case but several other things. She also had a different view on the Shah Bano case. She stood firm with what she thought was right even if her party didn’t agree,” says Rasheed.

Hailing from a conservative, aristocratic Muslim family of Awadh, Mohsina holds the distinction of winning Lok Sabha thrice — in 1978, 1980, and 1984. According to noted French scholar Christophe Jaffrelot, Muslim women face discrimination in a double bind: for their religion as well as their gender.

Data suggests that barely 20 Muslim women have made it to the Lok Sabha among nearly 9,000 MPs voted since 1951. The grounds for discriminating Muslim women are still a prevalent reality. Rasheed feels Mohsina’s memoir can come as a comforting account of hope for fellow Muslim women thinking about venturing into politics.

“The representation of Muslim women in politics is still marginal. Even though some might argue against it, democracy is all about numbers. With the meagre numbers at hand, how can you justify the representation? Her story is about courage, conviction, and integrity. For example, when she retired from politics in 2016, she did not have a house in Delhi. There are so many examples of people with much shorter duration in politics having houses everywhere. She never did despite being the Housing Minister for the country. That’s how a political leader should be,” concludes Rasheed.

source: http://www.indulgexpress.com / The New Indian Express – INDULGE / Home> Society / by Tunir Biswas / November 08th, 2022