Keeping up with UP| Azam Khan: The new face of Muslim victimhood

Khan’s friendship with Mulayam Singh dates back to 1986 when he was arrested for organising a dharna demanding protection for the Babri Mosque

In the 1980s and the 1990s, Azam Khan was often compared with Bollywood stars of yesteryears for his powerful dialogue delivery, laced with sarcasm and fury.

Released from jail on September 23 after spending 23 months behind bars, Azam Khan (77) made emotional statements that mirrored his anguish and his sarcasm.

A polarising figure, he could hold his audience, even those who did not conform to his line of politics, spellbound as he often punctuated his remarks with Urdu couplets.

Released from jail on September 23 after spending 23 months behind bars, Azam Khan (77) made emotional statements that mirrored his anguish and his sarcasm: “I am an accused. I stole buffalo, hens, books, furniture, my wife and I stole liquor bottles” and “when my wife sat alone crying on Eid, did anyone call?”

His comments reminded many of the days when the UP police had launched a drive to find his stolen buffaloes. He said, “Where will I stay in Lucknow, I don’t have a home in Lucknow.”

“Had the Opposition had unitedly fought, what happened in Rampur in the 2022 by-polls…” he said. The BJP had created a history of sorts by winning the Muslim-dominated Rampur assembly seat for the first time in December 2022. Azam and his family had mostly held the seat since 1980.

The Samajwadi Party (SP) leadership had accused the administration of driving away voters by force on the polling day or putting up barriers in villages to disallow voters’ movement. The seat had fallen vacant on the disqualification of Azam Khan after his conviction in a 2019 hate speech case.

His statements, after release from jail, not only created confusion but also triggered speculation about Azam turning as a rebel. The SP national president, Akhilesh Yadav visited Rampur, a fortnight after Khan’s release.

While some speculated Azam may indirectly help the BJP by dividing the party’s core votes of Muslims, others were of the view that he may form his own party or join hands with Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).

This was not to happen and this is why. It’s not the first time that Khan had issues with SP leadership, but he never formed his own party. Having spent five decades in public life, he knows about the fate of small parties.

Even in 2009, when his friend and SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav had allied with BJP’s temple mascot Kalyan Singh for the Lok Sabha elections, Azam Khan had opposed it publicly and had resigned. He was back in the party in December 2010.

His friendship with Mulayam Singh dates back to 1986 when he was arrested for organising a dharna demanding protection for the Babri Mosque. Mulayam Singh had met him in jail and they weathered many political storms together. He is the only surviving co-founder of the SP.

As for the possibility of an alliance with the BSP, can two mercurial leaders survive together? Both Mayawati and Azam Khan are temperamental. Azam, as Mulayam’s trusted lieutenant, had witnessed the 1993 alliance with the BSP, the collapse of the government in 1995 and the subsequent FIRs against Mulayam by her (Mayawati).

Recently, he tweeted to put to rest all speculation about his plans. Perhaps no one would know what transpired between Akhilesh and him in their one-on-one meeting, except for Dimple Yadav or some senior leaders whom Akhilesh may decide to consult.

Khan has got a new lease of political life, emerging again as the Muslim face of victimhood. He is gaining sympathy even from those he had rubbed the wrong way. Whether he will campaign for the SP or not, only time will tell. He is 77 and not in the best of health. But his son Abdullah has a career ahead.

Khan is known for his penchant for generating controversies and for pressure politics that he resorted to even when Mulayam Singh was alive. Will he come under pressure, perhaps for his family?

Why Yogi went after him

Soon after the BJP government came into power in 2017 under the leadership of Yogi Adityanath, trouble started for Azam Khan. By 2019, nearly 100 cases were lodged against him in different courts.

One has to go back to the Ram temple campaign days of the Sangh Parivar. The locks on the then disputed Babri mosque-Ram Janmabhoomi were opened in February 1986. The Sangh Parivar decided to step up the temple campaign. Many strategy meetings were held at the Gorakhnath Math. Yogi’s Guru Mahant Avaidyanath had spearheaded the temple campaign and successfully contested several polls. He joined the BJP after reopening of the locks and won the 1991 Lok Sabha polls from Gorakhpur. He died in September 2014 and Yogi Adityanath became the head priest and in 2017, the chief minister of UP.

On the other hand, Azam Khan, then with the socialist party, had organised the first meeting of Muslim leaders and intelligentsia at his Darul Shafa (MLAs’ hostel) residence in Lucknow. He gave the first call for an all-India strike to oppose the temple campaign and was arrested in February 1986. The Babri Masjid Action Committee was formed the same year and he became its co-convenor. Before the SP was founded, he was a member of Janata Dal (S), Lok Dal and the Janata Party. Many see his role in the firing on kar sevaks in Ayodhya in 1990.

Thus, the protagonists of Ram temple and Babri Mosque often clashed, delivering fiery speeches that mobilised the two communities. Even at the time of riots, Yogi and Khan came face to face several times.

The Maulana Mohd Ali Jauhar University in Rampur was the dream project of Khan since early 2000. The bill, passed in 2006, was given clearance by the then outgoing Uttar Pradesh governor Aziz Qureshi after eight years in 2014. The BJP accused Khan of forcibly acquiring land from the poor and the donations made to the Maulana Mohd Ali Jauhar Trust.

After becoming CM in 2017, Yogi had his target list ready. Azam Khan, the Muslim face of SP, figured prominently. A probe started and raids were conducted. Khan is now out on bail but for how long? The courts will decide.