When Hamid Ansari became Vice President of India in August 2007, Narendra Modi, the then Chief Minister of Gujarat called on him.
In his memoir ‘By Many a Happy Accident’ [Rupa Publications], Hamid Ansari recalled asking Narendra Modi about the post-Godhra events in Gujarat.
Narendra Modi said to have responded that people look at only one aspect of the matter and pay no attention to the good work he initiated, particularly for the education of Muslim girls.
“I sought its details and suggested that he should publicise it; ‘that does not suit me politically’ was the revealingly candid response,” recalls Hamid Ansari in his soon to be released autobiography.
About 2002 Gujarat violence, the career diplomat observes that the killings caused an intense public outcry in various sections of society. “I was part of a group of concerned citizens who called on PM Vajpayee to remonstrate and urge the government to take action. The Editors Guild of India [EGI] sent a fact-finding team to the state to report on the role of the media,” Ansari remembers while quoting distinguished editor BG Verghese, a member of the EGI team recording, “When we met Narendra Modi, he had no explanation to offer and showed no contrition.”
‘YOU ARE NOT HELPING ME’: WHY PM MODI SAID THIS TO HAMID ANSARI
Between 2014 and 2017, Hamid Ansari continued as the Vice President when Narendra Modi became Prime Minister. Careful with his words, Hamid Ansari narrates his experience as the chairman of Rajya Sabha where the non-NDA opposition had numerical strength.
The NDA government, in Hamid Ansari’s assessment felt that its majority in the Lok Sabha gave PM Modi regime a ‘moral’ right to prevail over procedural impediments in the Rajya Sabha.
“An expression of this was conveyed to me authoritatively, and somewhat unusually, when one day PM Modi walked into my Rajya Sabha office unscheduled.”
Hamid Ansari quotes Prime Minister Modi as saying, “There are expectations of higher responsibilities for you but you are not helping me.”
Hamid Ansari responded saying his work in the Rajya Sabha, and outside, was in public knowledge.
Ansari then quotes PM Modi, “Why are bills not being passed in the din?’ Ansari replied that the Leader of the House [Arun Jaitley] and other BJP leaders [when in Opposition during the 2007-2014 period when the UPA was in power] had appreciated Ansari’s ruling that no bills will be passed in the din and that normal procedures of obtaining consent will be observed.
Hamid Ansari remembers PM Modi complaining about Rajya Sabha TV channel saying that RSTV was not favourable to the government.
“My response was that while I had a role in the establishment of the channel, I had no control over the editorial content and that a committee of Rajya Sabha members, in which the BJP was represented, provided broad guidance to the channel, adding that from all accounts, the channel’s programmes and discussions were appreciated by the viewers.
AN UNSCRIPTED TV INTERVIEW
While in office, Hamid Ansari had more skirmishes. Hamid Ansari’s address to the 25th Convocation of the National Law School, Bengaluru, focused on the urgency of going beyond tolerance, to acceptance, through continuous dialogue for promoting harmony since the need for it is ‘highlighted by enhanced apprehensions of insecurity among segments of our citizen body, particularly Dalits, Muslims and Christians’.
The second was an unscripted interview to Karan Thapar on Rajya Sabha TV on 9 August 2017, which covered all aspects of the work of the Vice President. It also included questions about ‘illiberal nationalism’ and perceptions of Muslims in Indian society and polity.
In answer to these questions, Hamid Ansari had remarked, ‘a feeling of unease, a sense of insecurity is creeping in’ among Muslims. The outgoing Vice President had said that affirmative action where needed should be taken and opined that Indian Muslims are sui generis and are not attracted to extremist ideologies.
YOU WILL HAVE A FEELING OF FREEDOM TALK ACCORDING TO YOUR IDEOLOGY’: THE FAREWELL
Hamid Ansari was given a farewell in the Rajya Sabha on 10 August 2017. PM Modi was generous in his compliments even though Hamid Ansari felt that the Prime Minister was somewhat selective in his reference to his work and period as the chairman of Rajya Sabha.
“My professional career as a diplomat was alluded to and lauded, it was sought to be pigeonholed in the ‘atmosphere, thought process, debates amidst such people’ (meaning Muslim countries) where I was assigned, supplemented by work in Muslim surroundings as V-C of AMU and as Chairman of NMC.”
Ansari quoted Narendra Modi as saying, “There may have been some struggle within (all these years) but from now onwards you won’t have to face this dilemma. You will have a feeling of freedom and you will get an opportunity to work, think and talk according to your ideology.’
Reflecting back, Hamid Ansari felt Prime Minister Modi’s reference to ‘your ideology’ was due to ‘poor staff work’ as his assignments as Indian Foreign Service officer were as a representative of India in various countries and particularly in the UN where Ansari had served as a permanent representative of India.
“A Representative of India, anywhere and at any level including the highest, works on the articulation of Indian views and promotion of Indian national interests uninfluenced by personal preferences or prejudices of host countries.”
For a nationalist Muslim, it was perhaps painful to hear how the intended message of the seemingly laudatory remarks was picked up by the BJP party functionaries and sections of the media, as also by the ‘faithful’ in the social media, and by the listening public at large.
For Hamid Ansari, its rationale was perhaps summed up in poet Iqbal’s couplet:
Bhari bazm main raaz ki baat keh di
Bara be-adab hoon saza chahta hoon
(I have divulged in public what was hidden I am very insolent, chastisement I desire.)
Ansari responded with a reply in his farewell speech in the Rajya Sabha with a Urdu sher:
Mujh pe ilzaam itne lagaaye gaye
Begunahi ke andaaz jaate rahe
(So much have I been accused of That proving my innocence has deserted me)
Hamid Ansari, however, tries to set some records straight on his ties with Narendra Modi recalling how at another function to mark his farewell from the parliament, Prime Minister Modi spoke about him, his family background and experience in public life.
PM Modi made a specific mention of Hamid Ansari’s illustrious cousin Brig Mohammad Usman who attained martyrdom in the 1948 conflict and said nothing adverse had come to his notice about Ansari’s long spell in office. “This speech, different in content and tone, was not picked up by the media,” laments the former Vice President of India.