Aziz Qureshi (24 April 1941 – 1 March 2024) was an Indian politician and a senior

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

leader of mixed

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

Pathan Pashtuns (, , ; ;), also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are an Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically also referred to as Afghans until 1964 after the ...

Muslim ethnoreligious and

Urdu-speaking Native speakers of Urdu are spread across South Asia. The vast majority of them are Muslims of the Hindi Belt, Hindi–Urdu Belt of northern India, followed by the Deccanis, Deccani people of the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in south-central I ...

linguistic background from

Bhopal Bhopal (; ISO 15919, ISO: Bhōpāl, ) is the capital (political), capital city of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of both Bhopal district and Bhopal division. It is known as the ''City of Lakes,'' due to ...

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

Career

Qureshi had previously served as 15th governor of Mizoram from January to March 2015. In addition, he also previously served as the governor of

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand (, ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2007), is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. The state is bordered by Himachal Pradesh to the n ...

from 2012 to 2015 and was also appointed Governor of

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

(additional charge) for a month in 2014, before Ram Naik took over his position. Later, he was appointed chairman of the Madhya Pradesh Urdu Academy on 24 January 2020 by the

Government of Madhya Pradesh The Government of Madhya Pradesh (abbreviated as MP) or Madhya Pradesh Government, is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and its 55 districts. It consists of an executive, led by the governor of Madhya Prade ...

, after leaving the state governorships post. In 1973, he served as a cabinet minister in Madhya Pradesh and later in 1984, he was elected to

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, also known as the House of the People, is the lower house of Parliament of India which is Bicameralism, bicameral, where the upper house is Rajya Sabha. Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by a ...

from Satna (Madhya Pradesh) constituency for a term until 1989.

Contribution towards Muhammad Ali Jauhar University

Maulana Ali Jauhar University earlier did not have Minority Status. In a conversation between Mulyam Singh Yadav and former Governor, the latter commented “ Do you want me to approve the bill related to the University and let one of its doors open in Pakistan? We have already endured the pain of partition by creating Aligarh Muslim University as the university had helped the creation of Pakistan.” Mulayam Singh passed the essence of the conversation to Azam khan that took place between him and the former Governor of that time. Many witnesses that were present there give details that Azam Khan started crying after hearing this stereotypical approach towards the Muslim Minority. Witness says that Azam Khan prayed to Allah that may Dr. Aziz Qureshi became the Governor of Uttar Pradesh. On 17 June 2014 Dr Azizi Qureshi became Governor of Uttar Pradesh for five days only. In this short span of time, his secretary got several calls from New Delhi to transfer the files to the Delhi Office. The secretary averted the request and she highlighted that the Governor is currently studying the details of the files. Officials of the Modi Government try to lure Dr. Qureshi by offering and extending the Governorship for further five more years but Dr. Aziz Qureshi showed strong determination and Character. Dr. Aziz Qureshi signed the Bills which granted the permission of Minority Status to Maulana Ali Jauhar University. In a public statement once Dr. Qureshi said “They (secular citizens) should save the university by putting their lives at stake and not hesitating to give the last drop of their blood for the cause.

Death

On 1 March 2024, Aziz Qureshi died at a Bhopal hospital after a prolonged illness. He was 82.

References

, - , - , - 1941 births 2024 deaths Indian National Congress politicians from Madhya Pradesh Governors of Uttarakhand India MPs 1984–1989 Lok Sabha members from Madhya Pradesh Indian people of Pashtun descent Governors of Uttar Pradesh Indian Sunni Muslims Governors of Mizoram Indian people of Arab descent Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar University alumni Politicians from Bhopal People from Bhopal State {{MadhyaPradesh-INC-politician-stub