Could be the next big Muslim leader

You can agree or disagree with Maulana Badruddin Ajmal, 62, but you can’t ignore him. The cleric who has been a key figure in Assam politics is fast morphing into a leader of the Muslim community at the national level. Alongside, he and his four brothers have taken the perfumes business started by his father Haji Ajmal Ali to new heights. It is now estimated to do annual business of Rs 200 crore.

Ajmal, a scholar in Islamic theology from Darul Uloom, Deoband, who in public always wears a white kurta-pyjama and skull-cap, entered politics only in 2005 when he formed Assam United Democratic Front, now called All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), to champion the cause of “minorities”. The change of name indicates how his political ambitions have gained scale.

Ajmal’s timing was just right — 2005 was the year the Supreme Court scrapped the infamous Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunal) Act (IMDT), calling it “anti-Constitution”. The IMDT Act, which was passed by Parliament in 1983 and applied only to Assam, was seen as an act meant to protect illegal Bangladeshi settlers from being deported by making the procedure of identification extremely difficult. His detractors say Ajmal positioned himself as the protector of illegal Bangladeshi settlers, the “saviour of minorities”, and exploited their fears after the IMDT Act was repealed. That may not be entirely true, but there is fear amongs the minorities and AIUDF has successfully created a strong vote-bank of Bengali-speaking Muslims in Assam.

Since 2005, Ajmal’s rise has been phenomenal. AIUDF is now the second largest political party in the Assam Assembly, a formidable rival of the ruling Congress, which, too, depends heavily on Muslim votes. Its strongholds are the districts that have a sizeable Muslim electorate. In 2009, Ajmal was elected to the Lok Sabha from Dhubri, the district with the largest number of Muslims in the state.

The recent Assam riots will play out in Ajmal’s favour as it will help him consolidate Muslim votes in Assam. Ajmal today is stronger than he was a few months ago; his profile as a leader has grown. Though he has been blamed for inciting rioters, Ajmal has remained unfazed — he, on his part, has accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of communalising the situation. Business Standard made several attempts to reach Ajmal, but he did not respond to calls or SMSes. However, in a recent interview to a national daily, Ajmal was quoted as saying that he never described the recent Assam riots as Muslims versus Hindus; rather it was the Bodos against non-Bodos.

Ajmal’s rise is the Congress’s biggest worry in Assam. It is probably this that has prompted the party to deviate from its earlier track and now talk of identifying illegal settlers in Assam and updating the National Register of Citizens.

Despite his busy schedule as a political leader and lawmaker, Ajmal takes time out to look after his family business. Ajmal, along with younger brother Sirajuddin, concentrates on the Indian operations, while the other brothers take care of global operations. Though Haji Ajmal Ali, a native of Hojai in central Assam, moved to Mumbai in the 1960s and thereafter shifted base to Dubai, the family never lost touch with its roots. Ajmal and Sirajuddin now run several philanthropic organisations in and around Hojai under the banner of the Ajmal Foundation.