Lone Muslim face in Nitish cabinet rekindles representation debate

Gaya: Zama Khan of the JD(U) emerged as the lone Muslim face inducted into the Nitish Kumar-led NDA cabinet in Bihar, a development that has revived discussions on the community’s diminishing presence in the state’s power structure.

Fiction writer and activist Syed Ahmad Quadri described the move as “more symbolic than representational”. “You may call it compassionate ground appointment,” Quadri said. He added that nobody would be surprised if Khan was handed a less important and nondescript dept such as minority welfare.


According to observers, the situation was not as discouraging even three years ago. At that time, along with Khan, Syed Shahnawaz Hussain had been made a minister and given a significant and futuristic portfolio such as industries. His performance drew high appreciation from CM Nitish Kumar. Known for being economical with praise, Nitish was uncharacteristically lavish in his commendation of Shahnawaz.

However, Shahnawaz was denied an extension to the legislative council, effectively eclipsing his political career. Hussain remains one of the best-known Muslim faces of the BJP and was once the youngest cabinet minister in the govt of India.

Muslim opinion makers recall that in 2000, the Rabri Devi-led govt, formed after the collapse of Nitish Kumar’s week-long administration, had five Muslim ministers. Three of them, including Dr Shakeel Ahmad and Shakeel Ahmad Khan, held cabinet rank while Md Javed and Chaudhary Mehboob Ali Qaiser served as ministers of state.

Not only were they well represented numerically, they also held important portfolios. Dr Shakeel Ahmad, who later became Union minister of state for home, headed the crucial health portfolio. The department’s principal secretary at the time, Afzal Amanullah, was also a Muslim – a rarity and more than mere coincidence. Ahmad’s namesake with the Khan surname served as law and energy minister in the same cabinet.

When Nitish formed his second govt in 2005, two Muslims – Monazir Hasan and Manzar Alam – were sworn in as ministers. In 2008, Jamshed Ashraf was inducted as a minister of state.

In 2010, late Perween Amanullah and Shahid Ali Khan became cabinet members, though Perween Amanullah later resigned to join the Aam Aadmi Party.

In 2015, after Nitish Kumar contested and won the election in alliance with the RJD, four Muslims were brought into the cabinet – Abdul Bari Siddiqui, Abdul Jaleel Mastan, Abdul Ghafoor and Firoz Ahmad.

Bihar, which once had its first Muslim CM in Abdul Ghafoor, also boasts a long list of assertive and influential Muslim ministers. These include Abdul Qayum Ansari, Ghulam Sarwar, Jabir Hussain, Mohammad Hussain Azad, Rafiq Alam, Abdul Bari Siddiqui, Dr Shakeel Ahmad and Shakeel Ahmad Khan.

The state has had two Muslim finance ministers – late Zawar Hussain in 1975 and Abdul Bari Siddiqi in 2015. Several other key portfolios such as health, education, agriculture, industry and transport have been headed by Muslim ministers over the decades. Bihar has also had Muslim speakers – Hedayatullah Khan and Ghulam Sarwar – as well as a Muslim chairman of the legislative council, Jabir Hussain.

Reflecting on the current scenario, cleric and former chief of the state Haj committee Anisur Rahman Qasmi described the present phase of poor representation as temporary. “The political cycle is like that and there is no real cause for disappointment. Sooner or later, the Muslims will regain that position,” he said.

Disagreeing with him, MA Kazmi, a former IG of Bihar Police and commentator on contemporary affairs, offered a starkly different assessment. “Politically speaking, it is downhill journey for Bihar Muslims who have virtually become irrelevant thanks mainly to the combined politics of BJP and its soulmate the AIMIM,” he said.

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