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Prime concern: HEALTH
Last word:
Mohammed Hamid Ansari |
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Last word:
Mohammed Hamid Ansari
Mohammed
Hamid Ansari, a career-diplomat who made a transition to the world of academia and politics appear seamless, is a man of many parts. He is an avid reader of books and literature, with published works on international affairs, and an engaging conversationalist who is equally at home on the golf course. Born 76 years ago in Kolkata, Ansari’s family hails from Ghazipur in Eastern UP. He is the grand-nephew of the illustrious Dr Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari, a freedom fighter and former president of the Indian National Congress. Steeped in the tradition of cultured members of the community, Ansari does everything to maintain the dignity of the high office he holds. Suave and sober best describe Ansari, whose strict sense of personal discipline reflects in his personality and conduct. Not known to lose temper, he is dignified even under the most trying circumstances that he faces as Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.
Gentle but firm Even when the House proceedings reflect chaos, Ansari is at his persuasive best, requesting members to “please sit down”, or says with inimitable tehzeeb, “baith jaiye”— a gentle but firm rebuke, delivered with a smile. To conduct the proceedings of the House that represents an increasingly fractious polity of the country is no mean task. Yet, over the past five years that he has been Rajya Sabha Chairman, Ansari persistently attempted to bring about discipline in making members effectively employ the parliamentary tools. Streamlining procedures of Zero Hour submissions to a three-minute limit, encouraging debate and seeking to shift the Question Hour to avoid the prime forum, meant for members to hold the government accountable, from being disrupted in the Rajya Sabha show his constant effort to maintain and strengthen parliamentary oversight of the executive. The sophisticated aspect notwithstanding, Ansari has been bold when needed, and taken criticism in his stride after controversies erupted over the passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill, when marshals were allowed to physically remove protesting members, or the sudden sine die adjournment at the stroke of midnight last year amid procedural wrangling between the ruling coalition and Opposition
Benches over the contentious Lokpal Bill. Ansari refrained from joining the issue publicly, and his office avoided the temptation of seeking to correct the impression through background briefings. He conducted himself with dignity in the run-up to the candidature for the office of the President or the Vice-President election later. Ansari and his office kept a healthy distance from the campaign, even as a rash of speculative reports kept swirling through the corridors of power in Delhi on both occasions.
Presiding, and more The Vice-President is an ex-officio member of the Rajya Sabha, and there is more to the office than presiding over the House. Bringing to the office his experience in the field of diplomacy, Ansari carries on with work representing India in bilateral and international fora, both at home and abroad. He shares the unique distinction of being the first person after Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan to become the Vice-President for a second consecutive term. There are two other facets that both share in the field of education and diplomacy. Dr Radhakrishnan was the Vice-Chancellor of Andhra and Banaras Hindu University and served as India’s envoy to the erstwhile United Socialist Soviet Republic. Ansari served as the head of Indian missions in Afghanistan, Australia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and was also the UN Permanent Representative. He held the office of the Vice-Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University, an institution he had attended as a student of political science. If his illustrious predecessor was a philosopher-statesman, Ansari is a scholar-statesman. His area of expertise is West Asia and he authored a book Politics of West Asia, besides editing Iran Today: Twenty Five Years After the Islamic Revolution. He has published several academic papers and newspaper articles on West Asian politics. And he’s been well accepted in all shades of politics. The BJP-led NDA government appointed him Vice-Chancellor, the Congress-led UPA made him Chairman of the National Minorities Commission and the Left parties suggested his name for the vice-presidential election in 2007. One may call it destiny, but Ansari stayed at 6 Maulana Azad Road, the official bungalow of the Vice-President, some six decades ago when it was allotted to Rafi Ahmed Kidwai in the post-Partition turmoil days. That the septuagenarian Ansari’s vital health parameters are within normal limits, unaided by any medicine, comes as no surprise. Ansari goes for regular morning walks in the lush green lawns of the bungalow, before updating himself on what is happening around the world. Besides the inexpensive walks that every neighbourhood doctor recommends, his lifestyle management mantra includes periodic practice of a set of yogasanas and a frugal eating habit.
Daily diligence An early riser, Ansari often sends messages to his staff to check out an article or write-up that has appeared in a morning daily, much before they would have collected the newspapers from their doorstep. Occasionally, he drops by to hear an expert speak to the Saturday Club at the India International Centre. For someone who has no dearth of staff for official work, Ansari prefers to do his own work — be it editing speeches, searching for books in library stacks or browsing the Net for the latest on his subjects of interest. He is at ease using modern gadgets like the iPad or the ubiquitous Blackberry, which he uses to communicate with friends and others. Little wonder, he pushed the Rajya Sabha Secretariat to go paperless, and now every MP can access parliamentary documents inside the chamber on an official tablet.
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