Syed Shahabuddin, a former member of the Indian Foreign Service, is one of the most articulate Muslim politicians of independent India. He bears a lot of responsibility for the Hindu backlash (which, in turn, has fanned Muslim fundamentalism, leading to militant postures in certain quarters) as a response to the Shah Bano case and the Babri Masjid movement. Syed Shahabuddin, whose organization of these two movements met with an unprecedented response from Muslims, finds himself isolated today. This certainly merits a serious study of contemporary Indian Muslim Politics. Syed Shahabuddin was till recently the President of the All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat, which split into two factions sometime back. He now exercises control over the AIMMM faction, which he claims is the umbrella organization of all Muslim political parties and active groups. Despite this claim of support and popularity, he has failed to make it to Parliament for a good 12 years now. This situation is also a reflection and a sad commentary on contemporary Muslim politics.

Earlier, Syed Shahabuddin had a 20-year long stint in Parliament, getting elected from Kishanganj in Bihar, which is a Muslim-majority constituency, but remains extremely backward, pointing to lack of nurture by him. So, the backwardness of Muslims has been used by Shahabuddin only to reinforce his atavistic politics. After the Babri Masjid demolition in 1992 and his failure at the hustings, Syed Shahabuddin has raised innumerable controversies. -- This freewheeling exclusive interview by Ather Farouqui poses all those questions which were never asked of him earlier and should facilitate historians in the future in understanding the dynamics of society which help breed his kind of personalities.

Interview ( 15 Feb 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com)

Syed Shahabuddin on his life and politics

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