)
Agra has a special place in the history of the Samajwadi Party (SP). It was Agra where in 2009, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and once Mulayam Singh Yadav’s arch enemy Kalyan Singh came and addressed Samajwadi Party workers. On that occasion, as SP workers raised slogans of ‘Kalyan Singh Zindabad”: but Azam Khan, the so-called Muslim face of the Samajwadi Party was missing. Earlier this week, when the SP held its national executive meeting in Agra just after communal riots in UP, again, Azam Khan was missing.
Why is Azam Khan so important?
Mohammad Azam Khan, is the original plebian socialist. The son of a farmer from Rampur, the seat of the family of the Nawab of Rampur, he was stirred by the anti-feudalism idealism of the socialist movement and organised Rampur Muslims against the mighty Nawab Rampur family. Naturally, he was arrested during the emergency from Aligarh where he was studying for an LLM. In jail, he met Mulayam Singh Yadav and the two became firm friends. He joined the Janata Party (Charan Singh) and became an MLA in 1980. Since then he has stood as the most powerful opponent of the Congress – and supporter of Mulayam Singh when the latter took over the Janata Party and re-launched it as the Samajwadi Party.
In the 1980s, the Babri Masjid Action Committee (BMAC) was launched. Few know that it was actually launched at Khan’s official residence – he was Lok Dal MLA at the time. Shripat Mishra was the Chief Minister and soon the activities of the BMAC became a pain in the neck for the Congres government. Azam Khan was arrested and Mulayam Singh Yadav came to see him in jail and promised him unstinted support. He raised the issue a colleague’s arrest in the assembly.
Khan was conscious that forces of the state were working against him and his colleagues in the BMAC all the time. He went on repeating that he derived his ideological strength from Maulana Muhammed Ali Jauhar -- one of the main protagonists of the Khilfat movement who said he was a Muslim first, a Muslim second and a Muslim last when it came to Islam and an Indian first, an Indian second and an Indian last when it came to India. He argued that Muslims in India had no hangover of Pakistan as they are Indians by choice. His outspoken speeches changed politics in north India. Muslim abandoned the Congress and voted in large numbers for SP.
Azam Khan coined a new slogan for Mulayam Singh Yadav: ‘Rafiq-ul-Mulk’. The duo was weighed in roses in some places by the Muslims and weighed in blood in other places. The Yadav-Muslim bond became it seemed, inseparable. SP swept the assembly elections and Mulayam Singh announced that Urdu teachers and Urdu translators would be recruited in the UP government. Then came the firing on the Karsevaks, and the Muslims began to feel that not just Azam Khan but also Mulayam Singh yadav were their saviours.
Azam Khan coined a new slogan for Mulayam Singh Yadav: ‘Rafiq-ul-Mulk’. The duo was weighed in roses in some places by the Muslims and weighed in blood in other places. The Yadav-Muslim bond became it seemed, inseparable. SP swept the assembly elections and Mulayam Singh announced that Urdu teachers and Urdu translators would be recruited in the UP government. Then came the firing on the Karsevaks, and the Muslims began to feel that not just Azam Khan but also Mulayam Singh yadav were their saviours.
However, when Mulayam Singh came into power, the promotion of his family and caste began to irk Azam Khan. It was as if his contribution in bringing SP to power was immaterial. Mulayam went on making mistake after mistake. To cut Azam Khan to size at the time, Jayaprada was given the Rampur Lok Sabha seat. Sakshi Maharaj was brought from the BJP to the SP, although this was the same Sakshi Maharaj who had said he’d especially got rubble from the demolished Babri Masjid to use as masonry for the floor. Azam Khan was deeply offended. The final straw was the induction of Kalyan Singh ostensibly on the grounds of backward caste solidarity. Azam Khan could not take it. He distanced himself from SP and was finally expelled.
It was much later that Khan was brought back by Mulayam Singh and given pride of place. By then the extended Yadav family had taken over the government and party. It was to prevent cousin Shivpal Yadav that son Akhilesh was made Chief Minister of UP. Azam Khan sulked for a bit but then reconciled himsef to the changed situation. He got the UP government to create a new university and his stock went up in the Muslim community.
However, the fault lines have been growing for some time now. Azam Khan who holds eight portfolios including the Minority Affairs portfolio has absented himself consecutively for the last eight Cabinet meetings. He also went onto publicly express his displeasure at Mulayam Singh Yadav's recent meeting with Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) mahants in connection with the 'Chaurasi kosi yatra.'
Now, with Ramgopal yadav – considered a hired gun for Mulayam – making it clear in no uncertain terms that Azam Khan should respect the party and government, it would seem that Khan is once again heading for a break from the SP. Others are being encouraged to take on the Muslim mantle in SP: including some BSP leaders for whom Mulayam has big plans. “Jala jala ise bujhata hai; use chiragh sey nahin, chiragh ki raushni se nafrat hai” (he burns the wick to the ground – it is not the lamp but the light of the lamp he is afraid of) said former SP leader Amar Singh to illustrate how Mulayam Singh Yadav doesn’t like leaders to become ‘bigger than Yadav’.
SP national general secretary Ramgopal Yadav without mincing his words said, "Either he (Azam Khan) should not remain the office-bearer and resign or he should have come (for the meeting of the national exeucitve in Agra).” Yadav added, “It is a national executive meeting and all prominent leaders are present here...He was not here, but its does not make any difference and his absence was not felt".Ram Gopal Yadav added: "With such behaviour a person lowers his own stature."
For Azam Khan, the signal is clear. What he does now will be interesting.
