By Manzar Imam Qasmi
“See when I talk of secularism, I do not mean that only Muslims are secular. In fact 90 percent of Indians are secular”, this is how Maulana Asrarul Haque Qasmi defines the secular Iindia during an interview with CNEB news channel on 21 May 2009.
The newly-elect Member of Parliament from Kishanganj constituency of Bihar, Maulana Qasmi may be a little less known figure in Indian politics. But for the people of Kishanganj he has always been the man who has stood for their cause.
The victory hasn’t come overnight. The Maulana contested four elections before and was defeated in all. In the 1989 Lok Sabha elections he succeeded in securing 1,66,000 votes and lost only by 4000 votes to M J Akbar who got 1,70,00 votes. But he never lost hope. This born fighter and an indefatigable man sounds as young as he was 4 decades ago when he set foot in active politics. He was well described by a journalist as a “loner, winner, loser and bounce-back John”. Though he did not succeed in securing a win till 16th May 2009, he never looked back in anger and served the community through his selfless services. As an educationist, he has been advocating educational uplift through All India Talimi Wa Milli Foundation which runs 178 primary educational institutions in four states.
A Deoband graduate, Maulana Qasmi has been actively involved in the socio-political uplift of Muslims. He has spent a major part of his life in the service of Muslims and also stood for the rights of other deprived and oppressed sections of society.
He is an uncontroversial Muslim scholar who has raised his voice in support of Muslims and other minorities. Through regular columns in leading Urdu dailies, Maulana Qasmi has raised issues of social reforms and public welfare and development of backward communities. He has been a great advocate of social harmony and national integrity. He has been far away from sectarian designs.
His victory has come as a surprise to many. He defeated the JDU’s Syed Mahmood Ashraf and RJD’s Mohammad Taslimuddin with a big margin. He won the seat with a lead of 81,125 votes. The credit for this remarkable victory goes to the people of Kishanganj who gave him the emotional support.
Kishanganj has always been an interesting Parliamentary constituency and some of the best brains of India were elected MPs from there. But unfortunately, none of them kept their promises. Many of them did not even bother to look back to their constituency after they were elected. This time the people of Kishanganj, to which Maulana Qasmi belongs, has sent him to the Parliament and they have high expectations from him.
Maulana describes his victory as a victory of the people of Kishanganj and says he would work for their welfare and get them what they deserve. Deceived and deserted by their own elected public representatives in the past, the people of Kishanganj expect a lot from him. Although he has won the battle, the real war is yet to start.
Born in a small village in Kishangnaj, Bihar, Maulana Asrarul Haque Qasmi completed his education from the famed religious seminary Darul Uloom in Deoband. Being a madrasa graduate he would either teach in a traditional madrasa or serve as Imam in some mosque as he did for some time. But the leader in him was always in the making. Even during his days as teacher he would go to neighbouring villages and ask parents and guardians of poor children to admit their wards in schools and madrasas.
He is grieved at heart at the educational plight of the daughters of Kishanganj, which records the lowest female literacy in India. It is in this backdrop that Maulana Qasmi set up Milli Girls School in Kishanganj district which now has more than 500 students.
The Maualana believes that education is the backbone of a society. When journalists asked him what agenda he had for the people of his Constituency, he replied that there were many issues and things to be done but “education and unemployment” were two of his priorities. He says development cannot come without education and employment. He says education and employment are like the double helix of the DNA, never complete separately but complete together.
Maulana Qasmi chose his way prudently and initiated the educational renaissance to uplift his community. He served Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind as General Secretary twice and visited thousands of Indian villages. His leadership ability has been recognized since then. Be it a communal riot or a natural calamity he has been the first person on most occasions to come to the rescue of the victims irrespective of their religious identity. For the septuagenarian Maulana humanity stands as the prime objective of his service.
He became restless when the flood swept the northern parts of Bihar and did whatever he could to collect relief materials and money. He personally visited many flood-hit areas, met the affected families, distributed money, clothes and food packages among the people. He wants permanent solution to this problem and plans to get enough amounts to build houses and rehabilitation centres.
A fine orator, he considers lack of political awareness as a reason for Muslims’ low share in politics and finds Congress as the secular party which has the power to keep the nation united.
The area of his activities is not confined to social work alone, his moistened eyes and paining heart have found powerful expression in writing. For four decades he has been contributing to different newspapers and journals of great repute. The issues he has covered in his regular columns range from religion, society, and politics to social reform and debatable national and international topics. His articles which are estimated to have been over 10,000 have been published in all Urdu dailies published from India. Many of his write-ups were reproduced in other language newspapers and foreign journals as well.
Though age has made him old by the count of years, months and days, but his spirits is as young as ever. He has won what money cannot buy: the respect of both Muslims and non-Muslims. He has been a great advocate of religious harmony and national integrity. He says the beauty of India’s composite culture lies in the unity of religious diversity which always needs to be protected from those seeking power at the cost of politics of division.
His entry to the Parliament has given Muslims a new hope, spirit and courage as Muslims view him as an aalim with a clean image and high moral character. Combining practically with the profound knowledge of Islam, Maulana Qasmi at the same time has devoted his whole life in deep and serious study of socio-political problems of Muslims in India. One can expect a lot from his long experience that would benefit the country and countrymen.
His victory will not only benefit the people of Kishanganj, the chances of Congress getting stronger in Bihar seem bright.
(A Delhi-based journalist, Manzar Imam is a Deoband graduate. He can be contacted at [email protected])