JEDDAH, 13 August 2007 — Hamid Ansari, a successful diplomat, versatile scholar and acclaimed writer brings with him a wealth of experience to the second highest office in India.
Generous to a fault and gracious to the hilt, Ansari brings to the vice presidency a new stature. His credibility and wisdom are marked by his success in his earlier stints in high office.
He has a deep interest in West Asian affairs and has written extensively on the subject. He has also edited a book, Iran Today: Twenty Five Years After the Islamic Revolution. Ansari wrote trenchantly on the Palestinian issue and took positions inconvenient to the Indian official line on Iraq and Iran. He always emphasized the need for progress in Palestine, and now in Iraq and Iran.
He and former Foreign Secretary J.N. Dixit were in the forefront in opposing sending Indian troops to Iraq, despite the fact that the then Deputy Prime Minister L. K. Advani had already made such a commitment to the United States. But Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee heeded the diplomats’ call and stayed clear of the mess created by the Americans there. This showed vision and courage, and it is these characteristics that he brings to the vice presidency.
When Arab News asked him to comment on his nomination by the ruling United Progressive Alliance and left parties for vice president of India, Ansari replied, “I am humbled by the confidence reposed in me. I think it as an honor to be chosen as vice presidential candidate.”
Many feel that Ansari was the left parties’ choice because he opposed the India-US nuclear deal while being steadfastly against US policies in Iraq, Iran and Palestine. But nobody can deny that his ability and probity have been rewarded and he has been chosen more for his intellectual honesty, efficiency and commitment.
Though Ansari’s family belongs to Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh, he was born in Kolkata on April 1, 1937, in a distinguished political family with socialist leanings, which participated in the country’s freedom movement. He is the grand nephew of Dr. Mukhtar Ahmad Ansari who was the Indian National Congress’ president in 1927 at the Madras session. His father worked very closely with him as his political secretary in the noncooperation movement and was in the forefront of the independence struggle. His uncle, Farid-ul-Haq, was secretary-general of the Praja Socialist Party and was elected to the second Lok Sabha (lower house of Parliament).
After studying at Shimla’s St. Edwards High School and St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata, and doing M.A. in political science from Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), Ansari joined the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) in 1961 and served the country in different capacities.
He had a distinguished career as a diplomat spanning over 45 years. He served as Indian ambassador to Saudi Arabia, UAE, Afghanistan, Iran, as high commissioner to Australia and India’s permanent representative to the United Nations.
Asked how his experience as a diplomat will help in his new assignment, Ansari said that after all diplomacy was the art of bridging the gap between two different, rather two contradictory, points of views. “It (diplomacy) helps in evolving a consensus, adding that in the deliberation of committees, the art of diplomacy helps in reconciling different positions.”
He is a distinguished fellow at the Observer Research Foundation and also a visiting professor at the Center for West Asian and African Studies in Jawaharlal Nehru University and at the Academy for Third World Studies in Jamia Millia Islamia.
Ansari returned to his alma mater AMU in May 2000 as vice chancellor and brought with him the experience of a skilled administrator and an astute diplomat, the qualities required to run a university prone to frequent spells of student unrest.
He got the prestigious civilian honor Padma Shree in 1984. He was appointed chairman of the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) in March 2006, and held this position till his candidacy for the vice-president was announced.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh lauded Ansari when he took over at the NCM, saying he contributed to the government’s several initiatives to improve the lot of the minority community.
As the NCM chairman, he attended to the complaints of riot-affected Muslims from Gujarat with utmost care and sympathy and dispatched a three-member team to Ahmedabad to take stock of the situation.
He came down heavily on the Gujarat government’s reluctance to help 5,703 riot-affected Muslim families resume normal lives in their original homes and through his intervention, things started moving. He pushed for a comprehensive inquiry into the relief and rehabilitation for riot victims since 1984.
Talking to reporters after his candidacy was announced, Ansari said the debate whether a politician should occupy the top post was irrelevant as every citizen was an integral part of the country’s politics.
In a democracy, everyone is part of politics as he votes and plays a political role. Every citizen participates in political debate and this helps in strengthening the democratic psyche and makes India the biggest democracy of the world, he said.
In his capacity as the chairman of the working group on confidence-building measures in Jammu and Kashmir, Ansari suggested many steps that helped in strengthening the confidence in the political system. He is a member of the executive council of the Banaras Hindu University and of the executive committee of the India International Center, New Delhi.
