By Najiya O., TwoCircles.net,
Cochi: What would have been in the mind of Gulam Mahmood Banathwala, had he been living now, in these times when the US President Barak Obama has stretched a friendly hand to the Muslim world; when the UPA government has promised to look into the matters of minorities seriously?
A year without Banathwala was indeed a different experience for Indian Muslims. One year has passed since the demise of GM Banathwala, former President of Indian Union Muslim League and Member of Parliament. Banathwala was a great warrior of minorities in their struggle to achieve justice and a good place in the society. He was the flag bearer of the Indian Union Muslim League in the Parliament for more than two decades.
Banathwala entered politics with his speeches in Urdu and English. He soon became the leader of the Muslim League in Maharashtra. He became the first member of the Muslim League in the Maharashtra Assembly in 1967 when he was elected from the Umer Qazi constituency.
Banathwala had pioneering knowledge in various subjects like religion, politics, Constitution, law, Parliament history etc. He used to quote from the Holy Qur’an and the Indian Constitution alike in his talks. He was a man of the society and community, and more than everything, he was a man of the people. This can be understood very clearly from the fact that the man who didn’t speak Malayalam represented Ponnani constituency in Kerala in seven stints – for more than two decades. (It may also be noted that the Parliamentarians from the Malappuram district from 1977 to 1991 were not Keralites – GM Banathwala of Mumbai and Ebrahim Sulaiman Sait of Bangalore.)
A staunch advocate of minority rights, Banathwala has introduced several personal bills in his long innings in the Parliament. And many have become laws of the country, including the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act of 1986, which became an act after the controversy raised by the Shah Bano case.
Banathwala was always in the fore front when attempts were made to introduce the Unified Civil Code. He even introduced a private bill in 1985 demanding the scrapping of the Article 44 which supports the unified civil code. He spoke for an hour explaining why the code was against the celebrated ideals of the constitution which provide for religious freedom for all.
He served as the national President and General Secretary of the IUML for about three decades. He was a member of the Muslim Majlis-e Mushawara and the Muslim Personal Law Board, among several other bodies.
He was elected to the Lok Sabha first in 1977 and continued to represent the constituency till 2004, with a short break from 1991 to 1996.
However, it is widely believed that the great leader fell prey to the in-party politics of the Muslim League. He was not made a candidate in the general elections of 2004. It was expected that he would be given another stint in the Parliament by a Rajya Sabha seat, but that too didn’t come his way. The great orator was not in the Parliament in the last five years of his life to be the voice of the oppressed and suffering.
Banathwala was born in Mumbai on 15th August, 1933, as the son of Haji Noor Muhammed and Ayesha. They were one of the Memon families that had shifted from the Kutch region of Gujarat to Mumbai. He completed his education from the Sydenham College of Commerce and Economics and the ST College, both in Mumbai. He was a teacher by career. His wife Dr. Ayisha, a lecturer in English, died in 1998. The couple had no children.