London Central Mosque Trust & The Islamic Cultural Centre

Dr. Mozammel Haque
Media Advisor
Islamic Cultural Centre, London

Sabina Yasmin: First Muslim Woman Minister in West Bengal, India

After more than 60 years in the post-independent West Bengal, for the first time a Muslim woman Minister is inducted in the state government. Muslim community constituted 30% of the total population of West Bengal and the share of Muslim employees is way below their share in the population, according to one of the key findings of the Sachar Committee. The Report also said, ironically, in two states that have high Muslim population share, West Bengal (25.2%) and Assam (30.9%), the percentage of Muslim employees in key positions in the judiciary is barely 5% and 9.4% respectively. This is true in tune with West Bengal’s dismal overall Muslim employment data as well.

Sachar Committee Report
The Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh, appointed a high level committee on 9 March, 2005, under the chairmanship of retired Supreme Court Judge Justice Rajinder Sachar, for preparation of a report on the social, economic and educational status of the Muslim community of India. The Committee, commonly called the Sachar Committee, was comprised of seven members including four Muslims. The Committee prepared a 403-page report. The CPIM government of West Bengal has not shown any interest to implement the recommendations of the said Sachar Committee Report.

Muslim votes decisive factor
Throughout the history of West Bengal, Muslim vote played a decisive role in the state elections. According to the Census 2001, 25.25% of the West Bengal population is Muslim. After independence in 1947, Indian National Congress (INC) has managed to obtain entire Muslim votes in its favour up to the 6th Assembly Election held in 1971. After that food crisis emerged in West Bengal and both Hindus and Muslims opted for change and voted the LF, under the leadership of CPI (M), and thus the LF came into power in 1977 Assembly Election. Up to the 14th Assembly Election, held in 2006, the Communists succeeded to remain in power with the help of the Muslims’ block votes.

Historic changeover in WB Politics
But the uprising at Singur, Nandigram and Lalgarh.and the Muslim agitation was crucial turning point in West Bengal politics and helped the Muslims turn away from the Communists and became supporters of AITMC. The episode of the forceful acquisition of farmland by the CPI-M government took place at Singur and Nandigram and, particularly, the police firing and killing of innocent farmers at Nandigram made the people of the state, both Hindus and Muslims, turn away from the LF government. The Nandigram area is inhabited by both Hindus and Muslims and many of the victims of police firing were Muslims. A local Muslim leader Maulana Siddiqullah Chowdhury agitated and organised the Muslims against the police excesses and the Muslim lost sympathy for the LF government. Along with this, the non-implementation of the Sachar Committee Report made Muslims upset.

West Bengal Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind leader Maulana Siddiqullah Chowdhury wanted an end of the CPI-M led Left Front rule in West Bengal. He demanded reservations for Muslims in all Government sectors of West Bengal according to percentage of Muslim population. He called upon all Muslims and non-Muslims to join hands in favour of Reservation for Muslims in West Bengal. He vowed, “In the eve of Assembly Election 2011 of West Bengal, the ruling Left Front Government should declare reservation for whole Muslim community in the state, otherwise Muslims will throw them out of power.” He also warned Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress to speak in favour of Muslim reservation in West Bengal; otherwise Muslims might not vote for it.

“The Assembly election result of 2011 mirror the disgruntlement of the people in general and Muslims in particular against a 34-year-old dispensation which could no longer delude the people. The CPI-M leadership had acted like an ostrich all the while, ignoring the implications of the resounding victory of the Trinamool Congress in the Panchayat poll of 2008 and in the Lok Sabha elections of 2009. The writing was on the wall – Muslims, who once made up the CPI-M’s most dependable vote bank – had turned away from it.” ( Sk. Sadar Nayeem, in his article Muslims dump the left in Bengal, published in The Statesman, 18 May, 2011.)

West Bengal state government formed
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) and allies Congress won the West Bengal Legislative Assembly election of May 2011 with three-fourths majority of the 294-member state Legislative Assembly. This massive victory in the state brought to an end of 34-years of uninterrupted rule by CPI (M)-led Left Front. The TMC-Congress combine had won 227 seats out of 294 in the Legislative Assembly, while the ruling Left Front, led by the CPI (M), only garnered 62 seats.

After 13 years of its formation, Trinamool Congress party assumed power in West Bengal on 13 Friday, 2011 with a landslide victory and 55-year-old Mamata Banerjee, its chairperson was sworn in on the same day, as the first woman chief minister of West Bengal heading Trinamool Congress-Congress coalition government. The 43-member cabinet took oath of office along with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, 36 from the TMC and the Congress has seven, of whom two hold Cabinet berths.

First Muslim Woman Minister in West Bengal
For the first time in the history of post-independence West Bengal, there is a Muslim woman minister in the cabinet. Young Congress MLA Sabina Yasmin created history when she took oath as a Minister in West Bengal She is the first Muslim woman Minister in post-independence West Bengal. Member of Rahul Gandhi team, Sabina Yasmin was Sabhadhipati (President) of Malda Zilla Parishad when she contested the recent Assembly poll and won. Yasmin is MLA from Mothabari constituency in Malda. After independence this is the first time the state Muslim community has got a Muslim woman in the council of ministers.

Sabina Yasmin resides at Karai Chandpur village in Malda. The 33-year-old is part of the Rahul Gandhi team. Her husband Mehbub Alam is a small businessman.

Yasmin holds Masters Degree from North Bengal University. She completed her graduation from Gaurh Mahavidyalay in 2000 and obtained post-graduation degree from North Bengal University in 2002. Six years later, she began her political career.

It may be recollected that in 1962, the first Muslim woman Member of West Bengal Assembly was Shakila Khatun. She had won the Assembly election on Congress ticket in 1962 from the Basanti constituency by a margin of 13,978 votes and became Member of the West Bengal Assembly. In 1962, graduate Shakila was the only Muslim woman in West Bengal Assembly.

Muslim Ministers in Mamata’s Cabinet
Out of 43 Ministers of West Bengal cabinet, there are eight Muslim Ministers; five from TMC and three from Congress. The Muslim Ministers inducted in the Mamata cabinet are Haidar Aziz Safwi, Javed Ahmed Khan, Abdul Karim Chowdhury, Firhad Hakim, Noor-e Alam Chowdhury from Trinamool and Abu Hena, Sabina Yasmin and Abu Nasar Khan Chowdhury from Congress.

Most of the cabinet ministers took the oath in Bengali, except Firhad Hakim and Javed Ahmed Khan who took it in English. Abdul Karim Chowdhury in Urdu. Karim Chowdhury, H.A. Sawfi, Firhad Hakim, Abu Hena, Sabina Yasmin and Abu Nasar Khan Chowdhury took the oath in the name of Allah.

Perhaps West Bengal is the only state (after J&K) in India today which has eight Muslim ministers – seven male and one woman. Six of them are cabinet ministers and two minister of state.

All eight Muslim ministers are well educated and none of them is below graduate. Out of eight ministers, five have post-graduate degree. Professionally, two from legal profession. One is former Calcutta High Court judge and another former IPS officer. And a third one has a foreign doctorate degree.

Age-group: However, age-wise, they are not young; average age of the eight Muslim ministers is 59 years with the oldest at 76 and the youngest at 33. There is one below 40; three between 50 and 60; and three between 61 and 70. with Abu Nasar Khan Chowdhury of Congress the oldest at 76 and Sabina Yasmin the youngest at 33.

Education: All eight Muslim Ministers are well educated and none of them is below graduate. Out of eight ministers, five have post-graduate degree Abu Nasar Khan Chowdhury has his post graduate degree from the United Kingdom. He completed Masters Degree from the University of Liverpool, England; M.Phil from the University of Leicester, England and got Doctorate degree from the University of Zurich, Switzerland in 1986. Abu Hena is Law Graduate.

Profession: Justice Noor-e-Alam Chowdhury was former Judge of Calcutta High Court and for a few days, he was Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court. Mr. Haider Ali Safwi an IPS officer; was former Director General of Police.

Family relationship: In this connection, it may be mentioned that some of the Muslim Ministers have family connection with politics. Three out of eight has family relation with someone who was somehow in politics or in former cabinet. Abu Nasar Khan Chowdhury is the brother of former Railway Minister late ABA Ghani Khan Chowdhury; Abu Hena is the son of Dr. Abdus Sattar who was cabinet minister in Siddhartha Sankar Roy-led Congress government in 1970s. After the death of Abdus Sattar in 1991, Abu Hena has taken his place and he is now five times MLA. He is a Law Graduate. Justice Noor-e-Alam Chowdhury’s father-in-law Monsur Habibulla was Law Minister in Jyoti Basu’s cabinet. However, he switched side and won on TMC ticket.

Conclusion
While it's understandable that people, both Muslims and non-Muslims, suffered under the LF rule for more than three decades and badly wanted a change, the fall of the CPI-M government was speeded up by the swift erosion of its support base of the poor and lower middle class sections of society, especially the desperately backward Muslim community. The Muslim community that forms 26 percent of the state's population has voted for the CPI-M all these years. Indeed, the condition of Bengal Muslims is worse than those in Narendra Modi's Gujarat, according to government statistics. For its 26 percent share in population, the community gets about 2 percent of government jobs and 50 percent of its children are out of school. Let's hope Mamata Banerjee will learn from the Left Front's mistakes.

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