VICE PRESIDENT Hamid Ansari: Exemplary diplomat, scholar, gentleman iplomat, scholar extraordinaire and the quintessential gentleman, Hamid D Ansari is the new Vice President of . He is all of these but, above everything else, is a warm and engaging humanist who brings to his new position a rare blend of intellectual gravitas, sincerity and tact. The nomination of the 70-year-old sea- soned diplomat, who had earlier served as India’s envoy in Afghanistan, as the unani- mous choice of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) and Left parties for the vice presidential post was hailed across the coun- try and came as proof to many that ability, and not mere patronage, does get its rightful reward. This approval of Ansari's choice brought to the fore something essential about this person — his ability to inspire respect cut- ting across the political spectrum that enabled him to notch up key jobs even after retirement from the President administering the oath of office of Vice President to Hamid Ansari at Rashtrapati Bhavan (IFS). in New Delhi on August 11. If he became vice chancellor of Aligarh his family belongs to in Uttar Muslim University (AMU) during the Pradesh — Ansari studied at the St. Xavier’s National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Ansari is 13th VP in and AMU. He later became the regime, he was chosen to become chairper- ohammad Hamid Ansari, a former AMU vice chancellor. son of the National Commission for Mdiplomat and accomplished intellec- Having joined the IFS in 1961, Ansari was Minorities in the UPA dispensation. tual, was on August 11 sworn in as India’s India’s envoy to the United Arab Emirates, Ansari, known as India’s voice in the 13th Vice President in a simple but well- , Saudi Arabia and Australia, apart from Middle East, was appointed as ambassador attended ceremony at the Rashtrapati Afghanistan. He won the admiration of many to Saudi Arabia by the P.V. Narasimha gov- Bhavan in New Delhi. with his charm, grace and sophistication ernment and got repeated extensions from Ansari, who had stepped down as chair- when he was the Chief of Protocol during the the governments of I.K. Gujral and H.D. person of the National Commission for Non-Aligned Summit in New Delhi in 1983. Deve Gowda. Minorities (NCM), succeeded Bhairon He was also New Delhi’s Permanent Although the news of his nomination for Singh Shekhawat, who had lost the presi- Representative to the U.N. at a time when the vice presidential post came as a surprise dential election to Pratibha Patil. Pakistan launched a diplomatic offensive at to many who had a chance to rub shoulders Ansari, 70, was administered the oath of the end of the Cold War in the U.N. on with this low-profile, suave and soft-spoken office by President Pratibha Patil in the Kashmir. diplomat and scholar, not many know that he function held at the Ashoka Hall of the “Pakistan did not succeed in getting any is no stranger to the world of politics. presidential palace. resolution in any forum at the end of two Ansari comes from a prominent political Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, years of desperate struggle. India had won family with socialist leanings. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA the battle under Ansari’s leadership,” “I come from a family of freedom fighters. chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Leader of recalled T.P. Sreenivisan, who was his deputy My father was in the forefront of the inde- Opposition Lal Krishna Advani and a host in New York at that time. pendence struggle. My uncle, Farid-ul-Haq, of other political leaders attended the func- A Padma Shri winner, Ansari has been a was secretary general of the Praja Socialist tion. visiting professor at the Centre for West Party (PSP) and was elected to the second Shekhawat too attended the ceremony Asian and African Studies in New Delhi’s Lok Sabha,” Ansari said after he was nomi- that lasted barely three minutes. Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and at the nated for the vice president’s post. A candidate of the ruling UPA and the Academy for Third World Studies in Jamia The PSP, which was in existence from 1952 Left parties, Ansari bagged 455 of the 762 Millia Islamia. to 1972, was founded when the Socialist votes polled in a triangular contest for the Before he was appointed chairman of the Party merged with the Kisan Mazdoor Praja post of vice president on August 10. Minorities Commission in March last year, Party. He won by a margin of 233 votes against Ansari was co-chairman of the India-U.K. Ansari also happens to be the grand- National Democratic Alliance’s Najma Round Table, a member of the National nephew of Mukhtar Ahmad Ansari, who was Heptulla, pushing Rasheed Masood of the Security Advisory Board and convener (and president of the in United National Progressive Alliance to a later chairperson) of the Petroleum Ministry’s the 1927 Madras session. distant third spot. advisory committee on Oil Diplomacy for Born in Kolkata on April 1, 1937 — though Energy Security. ! h t t p : / / m e a k a b u l . n i c . i n I N D I A R E V I E W S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 7 5