The Khan of Barah Basti

Syed Nooruzzaman

Arif Mohammad Khan " It's an opportunity to serve people. I am fortunate to be born in a country like India which is so vast and rich in diversity. It is a great opportunity for me to know this part of India, which forms the boundary of India and is called God's own country.
This is how Arif Mohammad Khan, a well-known Muslim politician, responded when he got the new responsibility of serving the nation as the Governor of Kerala. His selection for the gubernatorial position by the Narendra Modi government at the Centre surprised many who thought that someone with an RSS background might be sent to the southern state ruled by the Left Democratic Front where the BJP has very little following.
Arif Khan's suitability for the job he has got can be understood from the fact that Kerala has a substantial (26.56 per cent) Muslim population with most of its residents having a more progressive outlook than that of people in the rest of the country. He is considered an ideal person to project unconventional views relating to the Muslim community and its religion. And Khan and the BJP are on the same page on how to ensure the welfare of the second largest community of the country.

Arif Bhai came into national limelight when he spoke forcefully in Parliament in 1985 in support of the Supreme Court verdict in the famous Shah Bano case, granting maintenance allowance to a divorced Muslim woman from her former husband till she got remarried. This led to a nation-wide furore among the Muslim community as the court verdict was interpreted to have upset the scheme of things in the Islamic Shariat.

Arif Bhai, as his friends, admirers and acquaintances call him, entered politics via Aligarh Muslim University, where he worked tirelessly for safeguarding the interests of students as well as for protecting the minority character of his alma mater. During those days, he was the darling of secular leaders, irrespective of the denominational factor.

His understanding of contemporary issues and dogged pursuit for the ideals dear to him had endeared him to non-Congress secular leaders and those fighting for protecting the interests of the Muslims.

I remember the days when he would lead the boys from AMU to hold demonstrations in Delhi to force the then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, to restore the minority character of AMU, taken away under the Congress regime by arguing that the Central university was established by an Act of Parliament. Mrs Gandhi used a former teacher of AMU, Prof Nurul Hasan, a Cabinet minister, to implement the controversial decision.

Arif Bhai as the AMU Students Union president (1972-73), along with other student leaders, would stay overnight at a newspaper's building in Old Delhi's Ballimaran area and move to Lutyens' Delhi to hold demonstrations to express the students' resentment against the Congress government's decision.

Born in the Barah Basti area in UP's Bulandshahar district, Khan first joined the Bharatiya Kranti Dal and contested the Assembly elections from the Siyana constituency but got defeated. However, the defeat did not affect his morale and he continued to be politically relevant and became a member of the UP Assembly in 1977.

He came into national limelight when he spoke forcefully in Parliament in 1985 in support of the Supreme Court verdict in the famous Shah Bano case, granting maintenance allowance to a divorced Muslim woman from her former husband till she got remarried. This led to a nation-wide furore among the Muslim community as the court verdict was interpreted to have upset the scheme of things in the Islamic Shariat.

Rajiv Gandhi as the then Prime Minister feared a serious threat to his Muslim vote bank. He, therefore, got a new law enacted by Parliament --- the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act 1986 --- nullifying the apex court verdict. Arif Khan refused to accept Rajiv Gandhi's stand on the issue and resigned in protest as a minister as well as a member of the Congress.

He must have known it fully well that his stand was not in accordance with the Muslim majority opinion, but that was not his problem. He fearlessly continued to speak in favour of the Supreme Court judgement as it was believed by many, including Arif Khan, that the rights of Muslim women had not been fully taken care of.

Arif Khan, a well-read politician, has never hesitated in courting controversies. But now that he has been given gubernatorial responsibilities, it would be better if he devotes his energies to promoting the cause of education and other such tasks in Kerala to help transform it into a model state for the rest of the country.

When VP Singh launched his Jan Morcha followed by a powerful campaign against the Bofors gun scandal, Khan was with Singh and became a minister when the latter formed his coalition government. Khan was first associated with the Jan Morcha and then with the Janata Dal and won the Lok Sabha elections in 1989 on the Janata Dal ticket. He served as the Civil Aviation and Energy Minister in the short-lived VP Singh government.

After some time Arif Khan shifted his loyalty to the BSP and successfully contested the 1998 Lok Sabha polls from Bahraich on the Mayawati-led party's ticket. He, however, could not adjust with the style of functioning of Mayawati for a long time. There came a situation when he had no alternative but to leave the party to look for a new pasture.

In 2014, he accepted the BJP's membership and successfully fought the the parliamentary elections that year on the saffron party's ticket from Bahraich. But he could not stay in the BJP for long. He said "alvida" to the party despite having similar views on many issues, including that of bringing about reforms in the Muslim Personal Law.

He, however, had no difficulty in appreciating the BJP's decision to make triple talaqi> illegal and a punishable offence. The new law banning triple talaq instantly has a provision for sending an offender to jail which Khan had been advocating for a long time.

Before his appointment as Kerala Governor, Khan had also expressed his support for the abrogation of Article 370, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

The southern state, which was recently hit by devastating floods, requires liberal financial assistance from the Centre. The affected people will appreciate Khan's role if the new Governor succeeds in bringing about the required help from the BJP government at the Centre. The Pinarayi Vijayan government is already busy implementing the "Rebuild Kerala" project it has launched.



		EDITOR'S MAIL EDITOR'S COMMENT HOUSTON’S MEGA SHOW TACKLING SAGGING ECONOMY FEARS OF RECESSION SAGA OF CHANDRAYAAN-2 REALPOLITIK FRANKLY SPEAKING GUBERNATORIAL CHALLENGE LEFT IN KERALA KARNATAKA EDUCATION WINDOW ON PUNJAB CHANDIGARH DIARY PUJA BOAT TRAGEDY REMEMBERING RAM JETHMALANI HITS & MISSES INDIA-CHINA SUMMIT AFGHAN WAR THEATRE HONG KONG & CHINA BOOK BAZAAR BOOK BAZAAR SIGNS OF THE TIMES DISCOVERY IN DERMATOLOGY NATIONAL AWARDS ART OF LIVING Issue:June' 2019 Subscribe Now	GUBERNATORIAL CHALLENGE The Khan of Barah Basti Syed Nooruzzaman Arif Mohammad Khan " It's an opportunity to serve people. I am fortunate to be born in a country like India which is so vast and rich in diversity. It is a great opportunity for me to know this part of India, which forms the boundary of India and is called God's own country. This is how Arif Mohammad Khan, a well-known Muslim politician, responded when he got the new responsibility of serving the nation as the Governor of Kerala. His selection for the gubernatorial position by the Narendra Modi government at the Centre surprised many who thought that someone with an RSS background might be sent to the southern state ruled by the Left Democratic Front where the BJP has very little following. Arif Khan's suitability for the job he has got can be understood from the fact that Kerala has a substantial (26.56 per cent) Muslim population with most of its residents having a more progressive outlook than that of people in the rest of the country. He is considered an ideal person to project unconventional views relating to the Muslim community and its religion. And Khan and the BJP are on the same page on how to ensure the welfare of the second largest community of the country. Arif Bhai came into national limelight when he spoke forcefully in Parliament in 1985 in support of the Supreme Court verdict in the famous Shah Bano case, granting maintenance allowance to a divorced Muslim woman from her former husband till she got remarried. This led to a nation-wide furore among the Muslim community as the court verdict was interpreted to have upset the scheme of things in the Islamic Shariat. Arif Bhai, as his friends, admirers and acquaintances call him, entered politics via Aligarh Muslim University, where he worked tirelessly for safeguarding the interests of students as well as for protecting the minority character of his alma mater. During those days, he was the darling of secular leaders, irrespective of the denominational factor. His understanding of contemporary issues and dogged pursuit for the ideals dear to him had endeared him to non-Congress secular leaders and those fighting for protecting the interests of the Muslims. I remember the days when he would lead the boys from AMU to hold demonstrations in Delhi to force the then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, to restore the minority character of AMU, taken away under the Congress regime by arguing that the Central university was established by an Act of Parliament. Mrs Gandhi used a former teacher of AMU, Prof Nurul Hasan, a Cabinet minister, to implement the controversial decision. Arif Bhai as the AMU Students Union president (1972-73), along with other student leaders, would stay overnight at a newspaper's building in Old Delhi's Ballimaran area and move to Lutyens' Delhi to hold demonstrations to express the students' resentment against the Congress government's decision. Born in the Barah Basti area in UP's Bulandshahar district, Khan first joined the Bharatiya Kranti Dal and contested the Assembly elections from the Siyana constituency but got defeated. However, the defeat did not affect his morale and he continued to be politically relevant and became a member of the UP Assembly in 1977. He came into national limelight when he spoke forcefully in Parliament in 1985 in support of the Supreme Court verdict in the famous Shah Bano case, granting maintenance allowance to a divorced Muslim woman from her former husband till she got remarried. This led to a nation-wide furore among the Muslim community as the court verdict was interpreted to have upset the scheme of things in the Islamic Shariat. Rajiv Gandhi as the then Prime Minister feared a serious threat to his Muslim vote bank. He, therefore, got a new law enacted by Parliament --- the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act 1986 --- nullifying the apex court verdict. Arif Khan refused to accept Rajiv Gandhi's stand on the issue and resigned in protest as a minister as well as a member of the Congress. He must have known it fully well that his stand was not in accordance with the Muslim majority opinion, but that was not his problem. He fearlessly continued to speak in favour of the Supreme Court judgement as it was believed by many, including Arif Khan, that the rights of Muslim women had not been fully taken care of. Arif Khan, a well-read politician, has never hesitated in courting controversies. But now that he has been given gubernatorial responsibilities, it would be better if he devotes his energies to promoting the cause of education and other such tasks in Kerala to help transform it into a model state for the rest of the country. When VP Singh launched his Jan Morcha followed by a powerful campaign against the Bofors gun scandal, Khan was with Singh and became a minister when the latter formed his coalition government. Khan was first associated with the Jan Morcha and then with the Janata Dal and won the Lok Sabha elections in 1989 on the Janata Dal ticket. He served as the Civil Aviation and Energy Minister in the short-lived VP Singh government. After some time Arif Khan shifted his loyalty to the BSP and successfully contested the 1998 Lok Sabha polls from Bahraich on the Mayawati-led party's ticket. He, however, could not adjust with the style of functioning of Mayawati for a long time. There came a situation when he had no alternative but to leave the party to look for a new pasture. In 2014, he accepted the BJP's membership and successfully fought the the parliamentary elections that year on the saffron party's ticket from Bahraich. But he could not stay in the BJP for long. He said "alvida" to the party despite having similar views on many issues, including that of bringing about reforms in the Muslim Personal Law. He, however, had no difficulty in appreciating the BJP's decision to make triple talaqi> illegal and a punishable offence. The new law banning triple talaq instantly has a provision for sending an offender to jail which Khan had been advocating for a long time. Before his appointment as Kerala Governor, Khan had also expressed his support for the abrogation of Article 370, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir. Arif Khan, a well-read politician, has never hesitated in courting controversies. But now that he has been given gubernatorial responsibilities, it would be better if he devotes his energies to promoting the cause of education and other such tasks in Kerala to help transform it into a model state for the rest of the country. The southern state, which was recently hit by devastating floods, requires liberal financial assistance from the Centre. The affected people will appreciate Khan's role if the new Governor succeeds in bringing about the required help from the BJP government at the Centre. The Pinarayi Vijayan government is already busy implementing the "Rebuild Kerala" project it has launched.