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Born in a politician's family, the field was ready for him much before his birth. In the contest between identity and faith, he chose the politics of the former as Naqeeb-e-Millat, while standing as a wall against the other extremists!
Born on 13th May 1969
Nepotism is a trending word in India nowadays. Every now and then you hear of a son (or daughter) trying to use his father's (or mother's) success as a stepping-stone to launch their career. Most often than not, it erases the struggles that every newcomer has to go through. After all, what takes generations to build is achieved only in a few years.
Owaisi family has a heritage in Indian politics. Ever since Abdul Wahed Owaisi had relaunched the party All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), the family has taken an active part in politics. It is the third generation that concerns us which began with the birth of Asaduddin Owaisi on 13 May 1969.
Though from a political background and kind of an aristocratic family in Hyderabad, Asaduddin Owaisi did not just jump into politics on the first opportunity. He was first dished up.
Trained in Arts and Law, he also had an initial career in cricket, before he finally joined politics.
He began his career at the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly. Evidently, later when he had made it into politics, his father Salahuddin Owaisi stepped down from the Hyderabad Constituency of Lok Sabha in his favour. The dinner was served!
He married at twenty-seven and had six beautiful children. Two of the daughters are married and happily settled, the son too young as of now.
He is highly reputed in the Muslim community, fluent in Urdu as well as in Hindi and English and dresses in a sherwani and Islamic cap with a clipped beard - like a true Musalman.
So far so better, the field was prepared, he sowed good seeds and had a good harvest!
But are things always this straight? Naah! There are always twists in the tale. While most of us assume that right-wing Muslim politics went northwest with Jinnah and Indian politics is a space only for extreme Hindu patriots, this is completely wrong. AIMIM is one party that practices the politics of chauvinism for Muslims and Dalits. But they have never gone as extreme as jihadis!
When India signed a nuclear deal with the US, Owaisi stood with United Progressive Alliance, not because he believed in the deal, but only because he did not want BJP to come into power and for Lal Krishna Advani to become the Prime Minister. The Babri Masjid demolition had scarred the idea of a secular and united India.
Owaisi has been a pretty serious minister. Like the most intelligent kid in the classroom, he has won the Sansad Ratna Award because he asked 1080 questions in Parliament while the national average is merely 292! He also has about 70% attendance!
Many think that he is like Jinnah. Owaisi disagrees as he speaks openly against Jinnah's two-nation theory. His politics differs from religious chauvinists because he associates with Muslim identity and not faith. In a country like India, identity and faith are very different things.
While others in this land are busy mixing Hinduism with nationalism, he has created a brand of Islamism and nationalism in areas under his authority.
He fights for the less representation of Muslims in Indian politics, for punishing the Muslims who create terror, for reservations of the backward Muslim communities, for the education of Muslim women and abolition of Haj subsidy while standing as a wall against the Hindutva ideology. But never against Hindus! It is in the end a politics of identity in India. The common man gets pulled through religion, which is altogether the common man's concern.
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