Hyderabad: All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, a formidable political force in Hyderabad, has celebrated its 62nd founding day on Sunday (March 1).
History
The party has its roots in formerly Princely State of Hyderabad.
It was founded and shaped by Nawab Mahmood Nawaz Khan Qiledar of Hyderabad State with the “advice” of Nawab Mir Osman Ali Khan, the Nizam of Hyderabad in 1927. In its initial stage it was considered a pro-Nizam party. The organization was initially known as Ittehad Bainal Muslimeen or the United Forum among Muslims. It was founded at a meeting of prominent Muslims, including religious scholars and those who represented Dargahs. The meeting was hosted by Nawab Mahmood Khan Qiledar on 12th November 1927 in Hyderabad.
In 1938, Nawab Bahadur Yar Jung, a well know socio-religious leader, was elected as president of MIM. He later emerged as the tallest leader of the community and was called “Qaid-e-Millat”. After the death of Bahadur Yar Jang in 1944, Qasim Rizvi was elected as its leader.
Qasim Rizvi was described as a rabble rouser. He formed a militant wing of the Majlis whose members were called The Razakars or volunteers. He later went on to resist the merger of Hyderabad State with the Indian Union. Hundreds, may be thousands, of Razakars were killed when the Indian army arrived in Hyderabad under the garb of Police Action which in fact was military’s Operation Polo.
Following ‘the police action’, Hyderabad State was merged into Indian Union and the MIM banned in 1948. Qasim Rizvi was jailed from 1948 to 1957. The charges under which he was imprisoned did not warrant any harsher punishment. Therefore, he was released on the condition that he would leave the country. He went to Pakistan where he was granted an asylum and later citizenship.
Taken over by Owaisis
Before leaving Hyderabad, Qasim Rizvi handed over the responsibility of whatever remained of the Ittehad Bainal Muslimeen, to Abdul Wahid Owaisi, a lawyer. Owaisi with a small group of like-minded people renamed it as the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen. Those were terrible times for the Muslims as many of them had been arrested on false charges, removed from government services and many of them were put under surveillance for several years after the merger of Hyderabad.
During the lifetime of Abdul Wahed Owaisi, his son Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi took keen interest in the party affairs. He also fought municipal and later state assembly elections. After the demise of his father in 1975 he took control of MIM. He was later called by the Majlis followers as Salar-e-Millat.
First victory
For the first time, in 1960, AIMIM won the Mallepally ward of Hyderabad Municipal Corporation.
Entry into assembly
In 1962, Salahuddin won from Patharghatti assembly seat as an Independent candidate and later from Charminar constituency in 1967. In 1972, he won from Yakutpura and later in 1978, again from Charminar.
Entry into Lok Sabha
In 1984 AIMIM emerged victorious in the Hyderabad Lok Sabha Seat and Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi represented Hyderabad for the next 20 years. After him, Salahuddin’s elder son Asaduddin Owaisi has been representing the Hyderabad seat. The MIM has been holding the Lok Sabha seat for the Hyderabad constituency since 1984.
In the Hyderabad Municipality election of 2009, AIMIM won 43 out of 150 seats. Mohammed Majid Hussain was appointed as Mayor of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation.
The AIMIM was initially a city-based party, with influence only in the walled city of Hyderabad. It won seven seats in 2014 Telangana Legislative Assembly elections and received recognition as a ‘state party’ by the Election Commission of India.
Expanding horizons
Expanding horizons in 2012, it made entry into Maharashtra state by winning 13 seats in Nanded-Waghala city municipal council polls. In Karnataka state AIMIM made its entry by winning 6 seats in Karnataka local body elections in March 2013.
Nizamabad has been a stronghold of MIM. In the 2014 elections, MIM won 16 divisions of the total 50 in Nizamabad City Municipal Corporation. They lost the assembly seat to TRS but secured the position of Deputy Mayor of the city. In the 2020 elections, MIM won 16 of the 60 divisions. MIM also secured the Bhainsa municipality by winning 12 wards after a gap of 10 years. The party has for the first time opened its account in Seemandhra by securing five wards of Adoni municipality in Kurnool district.
The party won two seats in the 2014 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly election and one seat in the 2019 Maharashtra Lok Sabha and emerged as the second largest party in the Aurangabad municipal elections.
AIMIM performed very well in Uttar Pradesh Civic Body Elections 2017 and registered victory on 31 seats out of 78 seats it contested. In 2018, AIMIM collaborated with Prakash Ambedkar’s Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi party in Maharashtra. AIMIM & VBA contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in Maharashtra. Out of the 48 seats AIMIM contested one seat of Aurangabad and the VBA candidate for the remaining 47 seats. Imtiyaz Jaleel won the Aurangabad seat.
Currently AIMIM holds two seats in Lok Sabha, one seat in Bihar assembly 2 seats in Maharashtra Assembly and seven seats in Telangana assembly. Its election symbol is kite.
Ups and downs are part of any political outfit. If the MIM continues to play its cards well it may do well in the future.