Chaudhary Khurshid Ahmed (20 June 1934 – 17 February 2020) was an

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Associated with India * of or related to India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine Associated with indigenous peoples o ...

politician and a practicing lawyer before the

Supreme Court of India The Supreme Court of India is the supreme judiciary of India, judicial authority and the supreme court, highest court of the Republic of India. It is the final Appellate court, court of appeal for all civil and criminal cases in India. It also ...

, who served as Member of Lok Sabha in a by-poll election from the Lokdal party proceeding the death of the previous office holder, Chaudhary Rahim Khan. Ahmed was a Member of Parliament for no longer than 8 months.Haryana Assembly
/ref> He was also elected as a

Member of the Legislative Assembly A Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected to sit in a legislative assembly. The term most commonly refers to members of the legislature of a federated state or an autonomous region, but is also used for several nation ...

to the Punjab and Haryana assembly five times.

Early life

Khurshid Ahmed was born to Chaudhary Kabir Ahmed and Faizan Begum. After independence, his father was twice elected to

Haryana Haryana () is a States and union territories of India, state located in the northern part of India. It was carved out after the linguistic reorganisation of Punjab, India, Punjab on 1 November 1966. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with les ...

assembly.

Personal life

Khurshid Ahmed married Firdos Begum in 1961. He had three sons and one daughter – Aftab Ahmed, Mehtab Ahmed, Anjum Ahmed and Rukhsana. Aftab Ahmed was elected as MLA from Nuh constituency on the ticket of

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

Party and is a former Cabinet Minister in the Government of Haryana. He was also the Vice-President of

Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee The Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee or (HPCC or Haryana PCC) is the state unit of the Indian National Congress (INC) in the state of Haryana, India. It is responsible for organizing and coordinating the party's activities and campaigns within ...

. Mehtab Ahmed is practicing lawyer, while youngest son Anjum Ahmed is Practicing lawyer in High Court of Punjab & Haryana.

Political career

He was elected to the state assembly five times and twice and represented the

Faridabad Faridabad () is the most populous List of cities in Haryana by population, city near NCT of Delhi in the Indian state of Haryana and a part of National Capital Region (India), Delhi National Capital Region. It is one of the major satellite citie ...

constituency once, Lok Sabha from the Lokdal party as well. He also held various positions in the Congress Party as well:

Controversies

Provocation the 1993 Mewat Riots

The 1993 Mewat riots in the southern region of Haryana's Gurgaon district (modern-day

Nuh district Nuh district, formerly known as the Mewat district, is one of the 22 districts of the northern Indian state of Haryana. The district is known for having the largest Muslim population in Haryana. It lies within the National Capital Region as wel ...

) erupted following the demolition of the Babri Masjid, triggering violence between the region's Meo Muslim community and Hindus. The unrest began on December 7, 1992, after rumors spread that Hindus in Nuh were celebrating the mosque's demolition, leading to Muslim mobs attacking Hindu temples in Nuh, Punhana, and Pinangwan. The violence, reportedly instigated by Khurshid Ahmed, involved hired youth who ransacked and burned temples, and even committed atrocities like burning a cow alive. The police's delayed response escalated tensions, resulting in indiscriminate raids and alleged abuses against the Meo community, with many villagers fleeing their homes. Tayyab Husain, and his son Zakir Hussain, who was an MLA from the neighboring Taoru constituency, were also implicated by some in the Muslim community. They were political rivals of Khurshid Ahmed and were accused of exploiting the situation to expand their influence among the Meos. Politicians Khurshid Ahmed and his son, Aftab Ahmed, were booked for instigating the riots and went into hiding, while former home minister Tayyab Hussain and his son Zakir Hussain, an MLA from Taoru, were accused by some of exploiting the situation for political gain. Both communities were left distrustful of the police, who were widely criticized for their handling of the situation, and the region, previously peaceful, was deeply scarred by the violence.

Unconstitutional Political Corruption Incident with Indira Gandhi

The controversies surrounding Khurshid Ahmed, as outlined in Maloy Krishna Dhar's account from the book " Open Secrets," depict a narrative of political manipulation and secret illegal operations. Allegations suggest his involvement in orchestrating events to undermine the electoral success of

Devi Lal Devi Lal (25 September 1914 – 6 April 2001) was an Indian statesman and politician who briefly served as the deputy prime minister of India from 1990 to 1991 and previously from 1989 to 1990. Lal emerged as a prominent advocate for rural and ...

, a prominent political figure. One instance detailed is the facilitation of a meeting between

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and stateswoman who served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India from 1966 to 1977 and again from 1980 un ...

and

, despite the Devi Lal's initial reluctance. Ahmed's role in what was termed as '''Operation Harit involved persuading Haryana's Legislative Assembly members to defect to the Indira Congress. Khurshid Ahmed and others reportedly took "one million to five million" rupees each to engage in this political corruption according to Maloy Krishna Dhar's own testimony.

Rahim Khan vs Khurshid Ahmed on 8 August, 1974

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

, Chaudhary Rahim Khan won his second term in Haryana's Legislative Assembly, defeating Khurshid Ahmed, who was a sitting minister at that time. Following his humiliating defeat, Khurshid Ahmed filed a case in the

Punjab and Haryana High Court Punjab and Haryana High Court is the common High Court for the Indian states of Punjab and Haryana and the Union Territory of Chandigarh based in Chandigarh, India. Sanctioned strength of Judges of this High Court is 85 consisting of 64 Pe ...

, challenging Rahim Khan's election on various grounds of corrupt practices. The High Court ruled in favour of Ahmed, setting aside Rahim Khan's election and citing violations of sections 123(1), (2), and (4) of the

Representation of the People Act, 1951 The Representation of the People Act, 1951 is an act of Parliament of India to provide for the conduct of election of the Parliament of India, Houses of Parliament and to the House or Houses of the Vidhan Sabha, Legislature of each State, the ...

. Khurshid Ahmed accused Rahim Khan of bribery (Section 123(1)), appealing to faith (Section 123(3)), and character assassination (Section 123(4)) of the

. The court found evidence supporting the charges of appealing to voters' religion by calling Ahmed a

non-believer An infidel (literally "unfaithful") is a person who is accused of disbelief in the central tenets of one's own religion, such as members of another religion, or irreligious people. Infidel is an ecclesiastical term in Christianity around which th ...

and character assassination through the distribution of damaging

handbills A flyer (or flier) is a form of paper advertisement intended for wide distribution and typically posted or distributed in a public place, handed out to individuals or sent through the mail. Today, flyers range from inexpensively photocopied lea ...

which stated that Khurshid Ahmed was a

womaniser Womanizer may refer to: * Womanizer (term), "Womanizer" (term), a promiscuous heterosexual man * Womanizer (song), "Womanizer" (song), a 2008 song by Britney Spears * "Womanizer", a 1977 song by Blood, Sweat & Tears from ''Brand New Day (Blood, Sw ...

and committed Islamically illicit practices such as feeding Muslims pork, leading to the finding of corrupt practices of Rahim Khan under sections 123(3) and (4).

Khan Khan may refer to: * Khan (surname), including a list of people with the name * Khan (title), a royal title for a ruler in Mongol and Turkic languages and used by various ethnicities Art and entertainment * Khan (band), an English progressiv ...

appealed the case to the

, but the appeal was dismissed.

The Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

upheld the High Court's judgment, officially overturning Rahim Khan's 1972 election. This case, known as " Rahim Khan vs Khurshid Ahmed and Ors on 8 August, 1974", remains significant in Indian legal history and is still included in the curriculum of many Indian law schools today.Supreme Court of the India. ''Rahim Khan vs Khurshid Ahmed & Ors'', 1975 AIR 290, 1975 SCR (1) 643, main.sci.gov.in, 8 August, 1974

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahmed, Kurshid Indian National Congress politicians from Haryana 1934 births 2020 deaths Haryana MLAs 1966–1967 Haryana MLAs 1968–1972 Haryana MLAs 1977–1982 Haryana MLAs 1987–1991 Haryana MLAs 1996–2000 Lok Sabha members from Haryana Supreme Court of India lawyers People from Haryana Meo people India MPs 1984–1989