Azam Khan (politician)

Azam Khan (आज़म ख़ान )
MLA, 16th Legislative Assembly[1]
Incumbent
Assumed office Mar 2012
Preceded by	Himself
Constituency	Rampur
MLA, 15th Legislative Assembly[2]
In office May 2007 – Mar 2012
Preceded by	Himself
Succeeded by	Himself
Constituency	Rampur
MLA, 14th Legislative Assembly[3]
In office Feb 2002 – May 2007
Preceded by	Afroz Ali Khan
Succeeded by	Himself
Constituency	Rampur
MLA, 12th Legislative Assembly[4]
In office Dec 1993 – Oct 1995
Preceded by	Himself
Succeeded by	Afroz Ali Khan
Constituency	Rampur
MLA, 11th Legislative Assembly[5]
In office Jun 1991 – Dec 1992
Preceded by	Himself
Succeeded by	Himself
Constituency	Rampur
MLA, 10th Legislative Assembly[6]
In office Dec 1989 – Apr 1991
Preceded by	Himself
Succeeded by	Himself
Constituency	Rampur
MLA, 09th Legislative Assembly[7]
In office Mar 1985 – Nov 1989
Preceded by	Himself
Succeeded by	Himself
Constituency	Rampur
MLA, 08th Legislative Assembly[8]
In office Jun 1980 – Mar 1985
Preceded by	Manzoor Ali Khan
Succeeded by	Himself
Constituency	Rampur
Personal details
Born	(1948-08-14) August 14, 1948[9] Rampur district[9]
Nationality	India
Political party	Samajwadi Party[9]
Other political affiliations	Janata Party Janata Dal Lok Dal & Janata Party (Secular)
Spouse(s)	Tazeen Fatma (wife)[9]
Children	2 sons.
Parents	Mumtaz Khan (father)[9]
Alma mater	Aligarh Muslim University[10]
Profession	Lawyer & Politician
Religion	Islam

Azam Khan (a.k.a. Mohammad Azam Khan) (Hindi: आज़म खान) is an Indian politician and a member of the 16th Legislative Assembly of Uttar Pradesh of India.^[9][10] He is also a Cabinet Minister in the Government of Uttar Pradesh and has been a member of the legislative assembly for eight terms from Rampur assembly constituency. Azam Khan is a member of the Samajwadi Party.^[11] He is a Sunni Muslim.^[12]

Early life and education

Azam Khan was born in Rampur, Uttar Pradesh, India. He attended Aligarh Muslim University and attained Bachelor of Laws degree in 1974.^[9][10] Khan got married to Tazeen Fatma in 1981 and has two sons.^[9] Prior to joining politics, he worked as a lawyer.

Political career

Azam Khan has been a MLA for eight terms; all from Rampur assembly constituency. He is also a cabinet minister in the government of Uttar Pradesh. Khan is currently a member of the Samajwadi Party but has been a member of four other political parties between 1980 and 1992. During his first term (8th Legislative Assembly of Uttar Pradesh), he was a member of Janata Party (Secular). During his second term (9th Legislative Assembly of Uttar Pradesh), he was a member of the Lok Dal. Khan was a member of Janata Dal during his third term (10th Legislative Assembly of Uttar Pradesh). In his fourth term (11th Legislative Assembly of Uttar Pradesh), Azam Khan was a member of Janata Party. Since 1993 (his fifth term and 12th Legislative Assembly of Uttar Pradesh), he has been a member of the Samajwadi Party.

Azam Khan also was a post holder in Samajwadi Party however on 17 May 2009 he resigned from the general secretary post of the party.^[13] However, during the 15th Loksabha elections, his opposition to the Samajwadi Party candidate, Jaya Prada, and the surrounding controversies resulted in a crisis in the party,^[14] and on 24 May 2009, he was expelled for six years.^[15] The Samajwadi Party later revoked his expulsion and he rejoined on 4 December 2010.^[16]

Posts Held

Controversies

• On 28 August 2012, he lost his temper and verbally abused an Indian Administrative Service officer during a meeting, shouting at the officer: "Bakwas karte ho...chup baithiye...badtameez kaheen ke" (Stop talking non-sense...sit quietly...you ill-mannered).^[17]
• During the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Azam Khan caused several controversies which sparked attention from the media.
  • He said, referring to the Kargil War: "The perks of Kargil were conquered not by Hindu, but Muslim soldiers.”^[18][19] This was criticized by the Indian media and an FIR was lodged against him. He refused to apologize for this and later accused the Indian Election Commission of bias against him because of his religion.^[20]
  • While addressing a rally in Sambhal, Azam Khan appealed to people to take revenge against the “murderers of Muzaffarnagar.” Third, Azam Khan insulted his political opponent Narendra Modi, saying: "We don’t want your sympathy, elder brother of a dog’s son."^[21]
  • On 11 April 2014, Azam said that Sanjay Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi had been punished by Allah for "forcible" sterilisation during the Emergency and "shilanyas" at the disputed site in Ayodhya.^[22]
  • He also commented on Narendra Modi's acknowledgement of his marriage, saying "the person who could not live with his wife, how can he live with the country?".^[18]
• It has been alleged that he pressured the police to not arrest people from the Muslim community during the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots.^[23] Later he was in the news, when some of his buffalo were stolen, when sniffer dogs and a team of 100s of policemen were deployed for the job.^[24][25]
• In July 2014, Shias in Uttar Pradesh asked for his removal over accusations of bribery.^[26]
• On 21 November 2014, Azam Khan commented that Taj Mahal should be handed over to the Wakf board. He was widely criticized in the media over his remarks, as the Taj Mahal belongs to the whole of India and not to a single community. He also said, apparently sarcastically, that the huge birthday funding of Netaji came from Dawood Ibrahim and the Taliban.^[27] He is also accused of having called Bharatmata a "dayan" (witch) in the past.^[28]
• In 2013, Dalit writer and social activist Kanwal Bharti was arrested by Rampur Police (constituency of Azam Khan) for a Facebook post against Khan. Bharti, was booked under Section 66-A of the Information Technology Act.
• In 2015, a teenage school boy was also arrested under Section 66-A of IT Act for an "objectionable" post on Khan after Khan’s media-in-charge Fasahat Ali lodged an FIR.^[29] Later, the Supreme Court sought an explanation from the Uttar Pradesh Police on the circumstances leading to the arrest of the boy. Later, in March 2015, Section 66-A of the IT Act was struck down by the Supreme Court deeming it unconstitutional.^[30]
• On 3 October 2015, Khan made a comment saying that Bharatiya Janata Party MP Mahesh Sharma should be arrested for conspiracy to commit the murder of a man for eating beef in the Dadri village of Bisara.^[31]
• Suspended IPS officer filed a case against Azam Khan in CJM court Lucknow on account of indecent comment on November 30, 2015.^[32]

Kumbh Mela incident

He was appointed as the Chairman of the Maha Kumbh Mela committee by the U.P. Chief Minister. More than 30 million pilgrims took the holy dip in the Ganges River and returned home safely. However, almost forty people died in a stampede at the Allahabad Junction railway station (which was actually located outside Kumbh Mela premises), leading to Khan announcing his resignation on "moral grounds".^[33] The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister rejected Khan's resignation, praising the minister and declaring that Khan was not at fault.^[34]

Paris attacks

On 15 Nov 2015, Azam Khan made controversial statements (below) about the November 2015 Paris attacks.

• The Paris terror attacks were the result of the action of global superpowers like America and Russia and "history will decide who is a terrorist."
• We condemn the Paris attack, we also condemn the attacks on oil-bearing countries by America and Russia. Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria and Iran were destroyed in these attacks.
• We should first see who killed the innocents first and who retaliated. Whoever kills innocent people, whether it is America or Russia or any group, is wrong...history will decide who is a terrorist and who is not.
• Killing innocents whether in Syria or Paris is a highly deplorable act and the whole world should condemn it. But then, if you created such a situation, you have to face the backlash too.

— ^[35]

See also

• Rampur
• Government of Uttar Pradesh
• Sixteenth Legislative Assembly of Uttar Pradesh
• Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly

References