On paper, the UPA-Left candidate for the post of vice president, Hamid Ansari, has all the right credentials. A distinguished diplomatic career, a former vice-chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University, a professor at Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University, chairman of the National Minorities Commission, a regular at think-tanks and seminars, a man of letters. But in an age when America calls all the shots in the world, the Indian establishment jettisons old friends to shift closer to the US, and foreign policy experts increasingly toe the American line in the Indian media, Ansari stands apart. He has consistently opposed the American policy in West Asia and has been a trenchant critic of India's decision to vote against Iran at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). A more cautious and less courageous man would have tempered his position and softened his stance towards the US during an election campaign. But in the course of an extended interaction with Outlook, it became clear that Ansari will carry his beliefs to his new office. Excerpts from an interview with Saba Naqvi Bhaumik:
You have been critical of US policies...
'I Believe India Acted With Great Haste On The Iran Vote'
The UPA-Left's vice-presidential candidate has consistently opposed the American policy in West Asia and will carry his beliefs to his new office
You never believed Iraq had wmds (weapons of mass destruction). Do you believe the world was told a lie?
You had publicly opposed the Indian position regarding the IAEA vote on Iran. Why do you think India toed the US line to sacrifice its traditional friendship with Iran?
You were an ambassador during the years of nda rule. India had almost agreed to send troops to Iraq to help the Americans.
You have served as ambassador to Saudi Arabia. Is there any truth in the belief that the Salafi school of Islam or Wahabi Islam is the inspiration behind radical Islam that promotes terrorism?
You don't think there is a problem with a certain interpretation of Islam?
There are many critics of India's growing proximity to the US and Israel. Once India had moral authority in the world and was the spokesman for countries emerging from colonialism. Have we lost that position?
As VC of Aligarh
Muslim University, and from your experience in the Minorities Commission, do you believe the Muslim community is also influenced by international trends and the so-called war on Islam?
But do you think there is a growing tendency towards conservatism, to stress Islamic identity?
Within the foreign service and among the educated class in India do you now find a difference between the issues that Muslims think are important and the concerns of mainstream Hindu society? In other words Muslims care about Iraq, Palestine, Iran. But the rest of India does not want to get bogged down by taking positions on such conflicts and is only concerned with economic progress...
The Left is believed to have been keen on a Muslim candidate for vice president because the Jamiat-Ulama-i-Hind has been agitating against the policies of the Buddhadeb government in West Bengal...
Published At:
Tags