Another side of Shahabuddin’s untold story

The name of Mohammad Shahabuddin, two-time MLA from Jiradei constituency and four-time MP from Siwan, is a synonym to terror and crime in media. But he has another facet to his personality, hardly known to the world.

In the capacity of an MP, he stood unmatched. He was among rare MPs who spent the whole of MP LAD (Local Area Development) fund in his constituency. His development agenda covered many areas, with prime focus on Education and Health.

He established Islamia Educational and Social Welfare Trust.  The trust took up major projects for educational and social welfare development. It got registered 300 acres of land for a minority character university. He dreamed of having all the major faculties and departments in the campus such as Law, Engineering, Medicine, and Mass Communication and so on. Presently, Engineering College along with other colleges and courses are running smoothly. To raise fund for the cause, he traveled to different states of India and abroad. He had managed enough of the fund to establish the university, on a personal level.

He had targeted 2006 for the university to come in full swing, but unfortunately, his long-term journey of jail started in 2005, and since then, the larger project came to a halt.

To ensure that the schools and colleges have proper infrastructure and an academic environment, he used his MP LAD fund to good effect. I remember the dilapidated building of Vidya Bhavan Women College, which the MP transformed into a huge building. He ensured that the teachers were present regularly at the schools and tried to improve the educational standards. Irregular and irresponsible staffs either mended ways or got transferred out of Siwan. It was a time when using unfair means in exams in Bihar were common practices. It was only in Siwan that no malpractice was allowed in exams, therefore, non-serious students moved to other districts to get good marks. In exam days, the MP used to visit exam centers on regular basis to ensure fair means practiced.

  

The health sector was given equal importance. ‘HAMARA PRAYAS’, an NGO, funded by the trust worked effectively in the district in the area such as cultural development and healthcare.  The MP then fixed the upper limit of doctors' consultancy fees at Rs. 50 and 70 respectively. The move was widely welcomed and it benefitted the poor immensely.  Besides, the doctors treated the poor on all important festivals for free. With the help of local businessmen, the health committee managed generators and provided regular power supply to the hospitals, which was needed much due to huge electricity crisis across Bihar.

To the surprise of many, Mohammad Shahabuddin is a voracious reader too. He loves to read books on different issues, especially history books. He was awarded the doctorate degree on his thesis ‘First Coalition Government’ from Muzaffarpur University, Bihar. To launch a newspaper was also in pipeline.

This is one of the aspects Mohammad Shahabuddin will be ever remembered and cherished by people of Siwan.

Strengthening Owaisi in UP will give Muslims capacity to bargain

http://twocircles.net/2017feb11/404550.html
During the seven decades of independence, we have seen many parties very closely, and hopefully, have understood well the meaning of secularism. Without going into the detail of their precepts and practices in the decades-long history, let’s have a look at the recent incident in Assam to understand the political game under the garb of secularism.

In Assam, BJP+ AGP+ BPF alliance got 41.9 % of vote share while Congress got 31% and AIUDF 13% of the total vote. Congress and AIUDF put together amount to 43%. Congress didn’t form an alliance with AIUDF and was reduced from 79 to 26 seats. So-called secular party like Congress could afford to see BJP in power and lived through its humiliating defeat, but couldn’t afford to see Badruddin Ajmal in power. In Indian political context, secularism urges to get the vote of Muslims, but refuses an alliance with them, even if it costs dear.

In recent Bihar election, Muslims so vigorously voted for the grand alliance that all six candidates fielded by AIMIM, including the veteran Akhtarul Iman, two-term MLA and very popular candidate, lost to grand alliance candidates from Seemanchal, a thickly Muslim populated area. Soon after, Nitish government reduced the minority budget from 309 to 294 crores. The fact is that in politics, there is no friend or foe, but the truth is that power recognizes power. Our crisis remains because we are a vote bank without a leader.

Any community deprived of its leader is a pushover. Why shouldn’t Muslims, as a marginalized community and not as a religious minority, have the custodian of their votes? Some argue this will lead to polarization, which is not true. Vote pattern in India is now deeply on caste line and not on religious line. Therefore, Muslims voting in unification for their leader and party will be simply a pattern followed by other communities of India.

In this caste based political system in India, each political party is supported primarily by a sizeable section of particular community and caste. Their caste votes bring them electoral strength and real political power with a capacity to rule and bargain.

Following the own leader and the party headed by own leaders will reduce chances of being blackmailed. Such a party will definitely be part of alliance and governance as well. The mass following will strengthen the leader and place him in a position to bargain, which is a must for the community.

In Uttar Pradesh, in 73 of 403 assembly constituencies, Muslims form more than 30% of the electorate. AIMIM is contesting around three dozen seats. Muslims must vote unanimously across Uttar Pradesh to defeat communal force but shouldn’t they throw their weight behind Owaisi contesting few seats and give him a chance to lead and represent the community?

Asif Moazzam Jamai

Dept. of English

University of Bisha

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia