Mohammad Hamid Ansari | |
|---|---|
 Ansari in 2016 | |
| Vice President of India | |
| In office 11 August 2007 – 11 August 2017 | |
| President | Pratibha Patil Pranab Mukherjee Ram Nath Kovind |
| Prime Minister | Manmohan Singh Narendra Modi |
| Preceded by | Bhairon Singh Shekhawat |
| Succeeded by | Venkaiah Naidu |
| Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations | |
| In office January 1993 – January 1995 | |
| President | Shankar Dayal Sharma |
| Preceded by | Chinmaya Gharekhan |
| Succeeded by | Prakash Shah |
| Ambassador of India to the United Arab Emirates | |
| In office 6 June 1976 – 24 January 1980 | |
| President | Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed B. D. Jatti (acting) Neelam Sanjiva Reddy |
| Preceded by | S. E. H. Rizvi |
| Succeeded by | Lalit Mansingh |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1937-04-01)1 April 1937 (age 88) |
| Political party | Independent |
| Spouse | Salma Ansari |
| Children | 3 |
| Relatives | Afzal Ansari (nephew) Sibgatullah Ansari (nephew) Mukhtar Ansari (nephew) |
| Alma mater | Aligarh Muslim University |
| Awards | Padma Shri |
| Website | hamidansari |
Mohammad Hamid Ansari (pronunciationⓘ; born 1 April 1937) is an Indian bureaucrat and retired diplomat of theIndian Foreign Service who served as thevice president of India from 2007 to 2017.
Ansari joined the IFS in 1961. In a diplomatic career spanning 38 years, he served as the Indian ambassador to Australia, Afghanistan, Iran, and Saudi Arabia. He also served as thepermanent representative of India to the United Nations between 1993 and 1995. He was appointed thevice-chancellor of theAligarh Muslim University from 2000 to 2002.[1] Later, he was the chairman of theNational Commission for Minorities[1] from 2006 to 2007.
He waselected as the vice-president of India on 10 August 2007 and took office on 11 August 2007. He wasreelected on 7 August 2012 and was sworn in byPranab Mukherjee, thepresident of India. The oath taking ceremony was conducted at Rashtrapati Bhavan on 11 August 2012.[2] He decided not to run for a third term in the2017 vice presidential election. His tenure is tied withSarvepalli Radhakrishnan, for the longest vice presidential tenure in Indian history.
Ansari was born on 1 April 1937 inKolkata, to Mohammad Abdul Aziz Ansari and Aasiya Begum. Though his ancestral home is in the city ofYusufpur, Ghazipur, of theUttar Pradesh state, he spent his formative years in Kolkata. He comes from a family of Ansari sheikhs descended from the Sufi saint of HeratAbdullah Ansari.[3] His ancestors came to India in the year 1526 with theMughal emperorBabur and foundedYusufpur. He is the grand-nephew of formerIndian National Congress president and freedom fighterMukhtar Ahmed Ansari.[4] He is also the second cousin to three Uttar Pradesh politicians, namelyAfzal Ansari,Sibaghatullah Ansari and the mafia-turned politicianMukhtar Ansari.[5]
Ansari received his early education fromSt. Edward's School, Shimla. He completed B.A. and M.A. degrees inpolitical science fromAligarh Muslim University in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh.[6][7] He is married to Salma Ansari, fathering two sons and one daughter.[8]
Joining theIndian Foreign Service in 1961, Ansari subsequently served Indian missions inBaghdad,Rabat,Brussels andJeddah.[9] From 1976 to 1980, he served as theIndian ambassador to the United Arab Emirates. Mohan Jashanmal, the chairman of the Indian Business and Professionals Group, said that "Ansari was instrumental to get land for the Indian School from His HighnessShaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan".[10] He has also served as the Indian ambassador to Australia (1985–1989), Afghanistan (1989–1990), Iran (1990–1992), Saudi Arabia (1995–1999).[11]
He also served as thepermanent representative of India to the United Nations from 1993 to 1995.[8] His deputyT. P. Sreenivasan wrote that while Ansari's stint as the permanent representative, he refuted Pakistan's allegations ofhuman rights abuses in Jammu and Kashmir by "the horns and subdued it whenever necessary". He also wrote that appointing Ansari for this post at a time when "Pakistan went all out to bring Kashmir to the centre of international attention after the end of theCold War" showed India's secular credentials.[12]
After serving as avisiting professor of the West Asian and African Studies Department ofJawaharlal Nehru University from 1999 to 2000,[8] Ansari was appointed as thevice-chancellor of theAligarh Muslim University on 23 May 2000.[13] After leaving the post in 2002, he served as a visiting professor of the Academy for Third World Studies Department of theJamia Milia Islamia from 2003 to 2005.[8]
Ansari became the chairman of India'sNational Commission for Minorities (NCM) on 6 March 2006.[14] In June 2007, Ansari, in his capacity as NCM chairman, upheld the decision of St. Stephen's Delhi to earmark a small percentage of seats for Dalit Christians.[15] He resigned as NCM chairman soon after his nomination for the post of India's vice-president.
On 20 July 2007, Ansari was named by theUPA-Left, the ruling coalition in India, as its candidate for the post ofVice-President for the upcoming election. When asked, Ansari said he felt "humbled" over the UPA-Left decision naming him as their candidate. "I am humbled by the confidence reposed in me". Ansari refused to say more when asked about his prospects in theAugust 2007 vice-presidential election.[16] Ansari secured 455 votes, and won the election by a margin of 233 votes against his nearest rivalNajma Heptullah.
In the2012 vice presidential election, the Congress-led UPA re-appointed Ansari as their candidate for the post of VP. Earlier, in May 2012,Lalu Prasad Yadav envisaged Ansari as a presidential candidate.[17] The NDA nominatedJaswant Singh, formerFinance,External Affairs andDefence minister as well as formerLeader of Opposition.[18] The NDA cited Ansari's conduct in theRajya Sabha duringThe Lokpal Bill, 2011 debate when he had abruptly adjourned the Housesine die.[19] Hamid Ansari was re-elected for the second term on 7 August 2012, defeating the NDA's nominee Jaswant Singh by a margin of 252 votes.[20] Ansari was the first person to be re-elected as Indian vice president afterSarvepalli Radhakrishnan in1957.[21]
Upon the inauguration ofRam Nath Kovind asPresident of India in 2017, Ansari became the first Indian vice-president to serve during the terms of three presidents. He is the longest serving vice president of India.
Ansari is a West Asia scholar and has written on thePalestinian issue and taken positions inconvenient to the Indian official line onIraq andIran. He questioned India's vote in theInternational Atomic Energy Agency on Iran's nuclear programme where India voted against Iran. He said that though the Indian Government claimed to have acted on "its own judgement," this was not borne out by facts.[22]
He was the chairman of a working group on "Confidence building measures across segments of society in the State," established by the Second Round Table Conference of the Prime Minister onJammu and Kashmir in 2006. The report of the working group was adopted by the Third Round Table in April 2007. Among other things, the report advocates recognizing the right ofKashmiri Pandits to return to "places of their original residence". This right, it argued, should be recognized without any ambiguity and made a part of state policy.[22]
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| Preceded by | Vice-Chancellor of AMU 2000–2002 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Vice President of India 2007–2017 | Succeeded by |
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| Award presented to civil servants | |
| Indian Administrative Service officers | |
| Indian Police Service officers | |
| Indian Foreign Service officers | |
| Indian Forest Service officers | |
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