By Khalid M. Ansari
It is with great sadness that I express my heartfelt condolences to Basheeruddin Babu Khan Sahab’s family and his well-wishers. Mr. Babukhan’s death has left a huge void in the Muslim leadership, a person of integrity, devotion and high intellect who worked overtime to uplift the deprived sections of the society especially the minorities with valour.
Bashiruddin Babu Khan had made a great sacrifice by resigning as cabinet minister in the wake of Chandrababu led Telugu Desam Party extending support to the BJP government at the Centre in 1998. Babu Khan had specified the reason for his resignation. “ On a matter of Principle and Policy, I differed with the TDP leadership, when they extended support to the NDA Government at the centre, led by the Bharatiya Janata Party, which is widely regarded as stark communal, fascist and anti-minorities, and therefore an ant-inational force. A major policy plank of that party is to annihilate the minorities.” This has been amply demonstrated by the State patronised 2002 Muslim genocide in Gujarat.” I had the opportunity to hear his resignation speech given in the assembly, a recorded version of the speech was given to me personally by Babu Khan Saheb wherein he highlighted the ongoing discrimination of minorities in private and public sectors and the police bias.
I also had the opportunity to attend many of his public and private meetings in Bodhan, Nizamabad proper and Hyderabad. I always found him to be concerned about the well-being of the minorities and the downtrodden. He always looked for ways and means to uplift them, whether in or out of government. He was very much concerned about the ignorance among the minorities about welfare schemes of the government and tried his best to bring awareness in this regard and wanted others too to do the needful.
Mr. Babukhan had left behind numerous traits that the young Muslim leadership can emulate to serve the Muslim cause with sincerity, dedication and personal dignity which are a rarity today.
I sincerely pray to Almighty Allah(swt) to accept all his good deeds, forgive his sins and grant him Jannat-al-firdouse and give patience to his family –aameen.
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Khalid Ansari is the vice-president of Indian American Muslim Council(IAMC).