Mohammad Hamid Ansari

Hamid Ansari
12th Vice President of India
In office
11 August 2007 – 11 August 2017
President Pratibha Patil
Pranab Mukherjee
Ram Nath Kovind
Preceded by Bhairon Singh Shekhawat
Succeeded by Venkaiah Naidu
Personal details
Born (1937-04-01) 1 April 1937
Calcutta, Bengal Presidency, India (now Kolkata, West Bengal)
Political party Indian National Congress
Other political
affiliations		 United Progressive Alliance
Spouse(s) Salma Ansari
Relations Mukhtar Ansari, Sibakatullah Ansari and Afzal Ansari
Children 2 sons and 1 daughter
Mother Aasiya Begum
Father Mohammad Abdul Aziz Ansari
Alma mater University of Calcutta
Aligarh Muslim University

Mohammad Hamid Ansari ( pronunciation ) (born 1 April 1937) is an Indian Politician who served as Vice president of India from 2007 to 2017. He was also served as an Indian ambassador and is ex-chairman of Rajya Sabha. Ansari was the first person to be re-elected as Indian VP after Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan in 1957.[1] He also presently serves as President of the Indian Institute of Public Administration, Chancellor of Pondicherry University and the President of the Indian Council of World Affairs.

Ansari worked as an ambassador and served as the Vice-Chancellor of the Aligarh Muslim University from 2000 to 2002.[2] Later he was Chairman of the National Commission for Minorities[2] from 2006 to 2007. He was elected as the Vice-President of India on 10 August 2007 and took office on 11 August 2007. He was reelected on 7 August 2012 and was sworn-in by Pranab Mukherjee, the President of India. The oath taking ceremony was conducted at Rashtrapati Bhavan on 11 August 2012.[3] His second term ended in August 2017 since he decided not to run for a third term in the 2017 vice-presidential election. Upon the inauguration of Ram Nath Kovind as President of India in 2017, Ansari became the first Indian Vice-President to serve during the terms of three presidents. Longest served indian vice president

Early life and career

Hamid Ansari was born to Mohammad Abdul Aziz Ansari and Aasiya Begum, in Calcutta (now Kolkata), West Bengal, India on 1 April 1937 [4] though his family belongs to Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh. Ansari is the grandson of a brother[5] of former Congress President Mukhtar Ahmad Ansari, a leader of the Indian independence movement.

Ansari studied at St. Edward's School, Shimla, St. Xavier's College, Kolkata and Aligarh Muslim University.

He started his career as Officer in the Indian Foreign Service in 1961. He was Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations, Indian High Commissioner to Australia and Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan, Iran and Saudi Arabia. He was awarded the Padma Shree in 1984.[6] He was also Professor & Vice-Chancellor of the Aligarh Muslim University from May 2000 to March 2002. He is known for his role in ensuring compensation to the victims of the Gujarat riots and pushing for a complete re-look into the relief and rehabilitation for riot victims since 1984.[7]

Ansari became the chairman of India's National Commission for Minorities (NCM) on 6 March 2006.[8] In June 2007, Ansari, in his capacity as NCM chairman, upheld the decision of St. Stephens College to earmark a small percentage of seats for Dalit Christians.[9] He resigned as NCM chairman soon after his nomination for the post of India's Vice-President.

Vice-President

Ansari along with the Prime Minister of India, Governor of Gujarat, and other Supreme Court of India Judges at the Gujarat National Law University

On 20 July 2007, Ansari was named by the UPA-Left, the ruling coalition in India, as its candidate for the post of Vice-President for the upcoming election. When asked, Ansari said he felt "humbled" over the UPA-Left decision naming him as their candidate. "I am humbled by the confidence reposed in me". Ansari refused to say more when asked about his prospects in the August 2007 Vice-Presidential election.[10] Ansari secured 455 votes, and won the election by a margin of 233 votes against his nearest rival Najma Heptullah.

In 2012 VP election, the Congress-led UPA re-appointed Ansari as their candidate for the post of VP. The NDA nominated Jaswant Singh, former Finance, External Affairs and Defence minister as well as former Leader of Opposition.[11] The NDA cited Ansari's conduct in the Rajya Sabha during The Lokpal Bill, 2011 debate when he had abruptly adjourned the House sine die.[12] Hamid Ansari was re-elected for the second term on 7 August 2012, defeating the NDA's nominee Jaswant Singh by a margin of 252 votes.[13]

According to the Constitution of India, Ansari, as Vice-President of the Republic, also serves ex officio as Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.

Views and quotes

Ansari is a West Asia scholar and has written on the Palestinian issue and taken positions inconvenient to the Indian official line on Iraq and Iran. He questioned India’s vote in the International Atomic Energy Agency on Iran’s nuclear programme where India voted against Iran. He said that though the Indian Government claimed to have acted on "its own judgement," this was not borne out by facts.[14] He was the chairman of a working group on "Confidence building measures across segments of society in the State," established by the Second round Table Conference of the Prime Minister on Jammu and Kashmir in 2006. The report of the working group was adopted by the Third round Table in April 2007. Among other things, the report advocates recognizing the right of Kashmiri Pandits to return to "places of their original residence". This right, it argued, should be recognized without any ambiguity and made a part of state policy.[14] Ansari feels that there is a sense of unease among Indian Muslims. He said this on the last day of his tenure as the Vice President of India, one of the highest constitutional posts in the country. [15]  Ansari quoted, "The language used by the Pope sounds like that of his 12th-Century counterpart who ordered the crusades... It surprises me because the Vatican has a very comprehensive relationship with the Muslim world." – 15 September 2006, as Chairman of the Minorities Commission of India, on the Pope Benedict XVI Islam controversy.[16] "No citizen is apolitical; as a citizen, by definition, has to take interest in public affairs.” – 10 August 2007, after being elected Vice-President, on being asked whether he is apolitical.[17][18] "There is no shame in acknowledging the faults and the lacunae that exist in the policies and institutions pertaining to Human Rights." -26 September 2013, addressing the First Convocation of Central University of Bihar.[19]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ "Mohammad Hamid Ansari Biography - Vice President of India". Britannica.com. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  2. 1 2 "Ansari almost missed V-C post in AMU". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  3. ↑ Business Standard (11 August 2012). "Hamid Ansari sworn-in as Vice President for second term.". Business Standard. Retrieved 20 August 2012.
  4. ↑ http://www.ndtv.com/people/who-is-mohammed-hamid-ansari-495977
  5. ↑ http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-metroplus/The-Ansari-connection/article15373664.ece
  6. ↑ "Hamid Ansari is UPA-Left nominee for VP polls". zeenews.com.
  7. ↑ "Hamid Ansari is UPA-Left choice". dailypioneer.com.
  8. ↑ "NCM website – current commission".
  9. ↑ "St Stephens reservation row". newspostindia.com.
  10. ↑ "Ansari named UPA-Left candidate for Vice President Poll". ibnlive.com.
  11. ↑ "VP Poll: Jaswant Singh Vs Hamid Ansari". Outlook India. 16 July 2012. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
  12. ↑ Andrew MacAskill and Bibhudatta Pradhan (30 December 2011). "Singh Caps 'Annus Horribilis' With Anti-Graft Law Stymied by Upper House". Bloomberg. Retrieved 3 June 2012.
  13. ↑ "Hamid Ansari retained seat as Vice President". 7 August 2012.
  14. 1 2 "Hamid Ansari: versatile scholar, statesman". The Hindu.
  15. ↑ "Asserting Your Nationalism Day In, Day Out Is Unnecessary: Hamid Ansari – The Wire (full transcript)". The Wire. Retrieved 2017-08-10.
  16. ↑ "In quotes: Muslim reaction to Pope". BBC News. Retrieved 13 August 2007.
  17. ↑ "Anticipation, trepidation, says Ansari". The Hindu. Retrieved 13 August 2007.
  18. ↑ "Hamid Ansari defeats Jaswant Singh, re-elected as the Vice President". bengalnewz.com. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
  19. ↑ "Full Text of Vice President Hamid Ansari's Speech at Convocation of Central University of Bihar". Retrieved 26 September 2013.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mohammad Hamid Ansari.
Academic offices
Preceded by
Mahmoodur Rahman		 Vice Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University
2000–2002 		Succeeded by
Naseem Ahmad
Political offices
Preceded by
Bhairon Singh Shekhawat		 Vice President of India
2007–2017 		Succeeded by
Venkaiah Naidu
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