From inviting ‘spy’ Pak journalist to not saluting national flag, the controversies haunting Hamid Ansari

Former Vice President Hamid Ansari has stirred up a storm – yet again. He is under fire over media reports quoting “Pakistani journalist”, Nusrat Mirza, as saying that Ansari had invited him to India. The scribe claimed to have spied for the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) during his visits to India.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has asked Ansari and Congress to clarify Mirza’s claims that he visited India five times during the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) rule and passed on sensitive information to Pakistan’s spy agency.

The former VP has rubbished the report, calling it a “litany of falsehood”. “Lies are being spread against me. Invitations to foreign guests on behalf of the Vice President are given through the Ministry of External Affairs on the advice of the government. I have neither invited nor received,” Ansari said in a statement.

He has also rejected the BJP’s allegations that he had compromised national interests as India’s Ambassador to Iran, adding that his work as the envoy was, at all times, within the knowledge of the government. “The government of that time was aware of my work as the Ambassador of Iran. I am bound by a commitment to national security and avoid repercussions in such matters. The Government of India has all the information,” he clarified.

However, Ansari, who was picked for the vice president’s post by the UPA, is no stranger to controversy. He has held the position for two successive full terms, the second of which ended in 2017 and has courted controversies during his time in office and even after. We take a look.

‘Rise of Hindu nationalism’

Addressing a virtual panel organised by the Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) on 26 January this year, as the country celebrated its 73rd Republic Day, Ansari expressed concern over the “rise of Hindu nationalism in India”.

“In recent years, we have experienced the emergence of trends and practices that dispute the well-established principle of civic nationalism and interpose a new and imaginary practice of cultural nationalism… It seeks to present an electoral majority in the guise of a religious majority and monopolised political power. It wants to distinguish citizens on the basis of their faith, give vent to intolerance, insinuate otherness, and promote disquiet and insecurity.”

The IAMC had reportedly collected funds for the cause of the Rohingya crisis and paid a lobbying firm to get India blacklisted by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).

Hamid Ansari, former VP and favourite of Sonia Gandhi, shared stage with US legislators, all with a history of taking anti-India stands, in a program hosted by the Indian American Muslim Council, an organisation with links to Jamaat-e-Islami, lobbying to blacklist India.

Thread: https://t.co/4Id7UCK4DI

— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) January 27, 2022

The Ministry of External Affairs stepped in immediately, saying the track record of the event organisers and “the biases and political interests of the participants” were well-known.

The book
In his book, By Many A Happy Accident, released after his retirement in 2021, Ansari recalls a conversation with Narendra Modi, when the PM dropped into his office and asked why bills were not being passed in a din. Ansari was the chairman of the Rajya Sabha then.

Writing about his decision to not allow the passage of bills, he said that both the UPA and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) were unhappy and added that the BJP coalition felt that “its majority in Lok Sabha gave it the ‘moral’ right to prevail over procedural impediments in Rajya Sabha.

According to the book, the PM told Ansari “there are expectations of higher responsibilities (for) you but you are not helping me”.

‘Exposing’ R&AW in Iran

In June 2019, a former officer of the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), NK Sood, accused Ansari of “playing a crucial” in exposing the set-up of India’s intelligence agency in Tehran and “endangering the lives” of the unit’s members.

The former VP was posted as an ambassador to Iran between 1990 and 1992.

I was in Tehran, Iran n Hameed Ansari was ambassador in Tehran. Ansari had played a crucial role in exposing RAW set-up in Tehran endangering lives of RAW unit members. But this very man was made vice President for two consecutive terms.

— NK Sood (@rawnksood) June 28, 2019

R&AW officers in 2019 had reportedly sought an inquiry against Ansari for “damaging R&AW operations” in Tehran. In their complaint to Modi, the officers claimed that Ansari, while being posted in Tehran, “not only failed to protect India’s national interest, but cooperated with the Iranian government and its intelligence agency SAVAK to cause a serious dent to R&AW and its operations”, according to a report in The Sunday Guardian.

A ‘secret meeting’ with Pakistan officials

The journalist’s claims about Ansari are not the first time the veteran leader has been linked to Pakistan.

While campaigning in Gujarat in December 2017, Narendra Modi, referred to some “sensational” reports of meeting with Pakistani officials at Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar’s house during which “a former Vice President of India” and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh were present.

Modi did not mention Ansari but Amit Shah, who was then the BJP chief, repeated the claim. “Pakistan’s envoy, former PM Manmohan Singh and former VP Hamid Ansari had a meeting with Mani Shankar Aiyar,” he said.

Pakistan's Envoy, Former PM Manmohan Singh and Former VP Hamid Ansari had a meeting with Mani Shankar Aiyar. Right before Gujarat election, without informing MEA conducting a meeting with Pak envoy... I don't know what message does it convey: Amit Shah in Gandhinagar pic.twitter.com/DemZFvE7KY

— ANI (@ANI) December 10, 2017

After an uproar in Parliament, the government clarified in the Rajya Sabha that the “Prime Minister did not question nor did he mean to question the commitment to this nation of either Dr Manmohan Singh or Hamid Ansari”.

Skipping Yoga Day

In 2o15, after the United Nations declared 21 June as International Yoga Day, it was celebrated with much fanfare in India, especially in government offices.

Modi participated in an event at Rajpath; then President Pranab Mukherjee held the function at Rashtrapati Bhavan. All ministers participated in the Yoga Day functions, save for Hamid Ansari. He did not hold any event in the vice-president’s house.

His absence raised eyebrows in New Delhi. A PTI report revealed that Ansari had not been invited to the event. “The vice president only attends those programmes in which the minister concerned invites him as per protocol,” the VP’s office said.

Not saluting the national flag

In January 2015, Ansari was criticised for not saluting the national flag during the Republic Day parade at Rajpath. Many even questioned his patriotism.

However, the leader stated that as per protocol only those in uniform salute the flag while the national anthem is being played. Those in plainclothes are just supposed to stand in attention, he added

Abrupt adjournment of Rajya Sabha

On 30 December 2011, in a total anti-climax, Hamid Ansari, then chairman of the Rajya Sabha, abruptly adjourned the Upper House sine die without a vote on the Lokpal Bill. The adjournment came amid uproar after the UPA government sought more time for considering the 187 amendments moved by the Opposition.

As the chaos continued Ansari said, “I am afraid the Chair has no option but to reluctantly…,” and announced the playing of the national song ‘Vande Mataram’, which is usually done at the end of a session before adjourning sine die.

Team Anna Hazare blamed Ansari for the adjournment without a vote on the Bill.

Shanti Bhushan, a prominent member of the Hazare team, said that a majority of the members were ready to sit through the night. “Being the chair of the House, he (Ansari) should have done what the majority wanted… I think he did the wrong thing.”
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With inputs from agencies_

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