E. Ahamed (29 April 1938 – 1 February 2017), Edappakath Ahamed in full, was an Indian politician from

Kannur Kannur (), formerly known in English as Cannanore, is a city and Municipal corporation (India), municipal corporation in the state of Kerala, India. It is the administrative headquarters of the Kannur district and situated north of the maj ...

(then

Cannanore Kannur (), formerly known in English as Cannanore, is a city and municipal corporation in the state of Kerala, India. It is the administrative headquarters of the Kannur district and situated north of the major port city and commercial hub ...

) in northern Kerala. A Member of Parliament (

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 ...

) between 1991 and 2017, he was a key figure in India's diplomatic relations with the Middle East. Educated at

Brennen College Brennen College is an educational institution in Kerala, affiliated to the Kannur University. It is located in Dharmadam, Thalassery of Kerala state, India. The college evolved from a school established by the English philanthropist Edward Br ...

Tellicherry Thalassery () (also called Tellicherry) is a city and municipality on the Malabar Coast in Kannur district in the state of Kerala, India, bordered by the districts of Mahe and Kozhikode. Thalassery municipality has a population of just under ...

and Trivandrum Law College, Ahamed was first elected to

Kerala Legislative Assembly The Kerala Legislative Assembly, popularly known as the Kerala Niyamasabha, is the State Assembly of Kerala, one of the 30 states in India. The Assembly is formed by 140 elected representatives. Each elected member represents one of the 140 ...

in 1967 (from

, with

Indian Union Muslim League Indian Union Muslim League (abbreviated as the IUML or Muslim League) is a political party primarily based in Kerala. It is recognised as a List of political parties in India, State Party in Kerala by the Election Commission of India. After the ...

). He later served as a cabinet minister (Industry) in the U D F ministry headed by

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 ...

-leader K. Karunakaran (1982–87). He was first elected to the Parliament (

) in 1991. Ahamed was appointed Union Minister of State, Ministry of External Affairs, in 2004 (

-led U P A ministry headed by

Manmohan Singh Manmohan Singh (26 September 1932 – 26 December 2024) was an Indian economist, bureaucrat, academician, and statesman, who served as the prime minister of India from 2004 to 2014. He was the fourth longest-serving prime minister after Jaw ...

). He also served as Union Minister of State for Railways and Human Resource Development. Ahamed served as the National President,

between 2008 and 2017. He was the first

union minister in independent India. In 2004, he was famously dispatched by

Atal Bihari Vajpayee Atal Bihari Vajpayee (25 December 1924 – 16 August 2018) was an Indian poet, writer and statesman who served as the prime minister of India, first for a term of 13 days in 1996, then for a period of 13 months from 1998 ...

to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

(

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

) to represent India.

Early life

E. Ahamed was born on 29 April 1938 in a merchant family in

Malabar District Malabar District, also known as British Malabar or simply Malabar was an administrative district on the southwestern Malabar Coast of Bombay Presidency (1792–1800), Madras Presidency (1800–1950) and finally, Madras State (1950–1956) in ...

(Now

Kannur district Kannur () is one of the 14 Districts of Kerala, districts along the west coast in the state of Kerala, India. The city of Kannur is the district headquarters and gives the district its name. The old name, Cannanore, is the anglicized form of th ...

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

), to Edappakath Nafeesa Beevi and Ovintakath Abdul Khader. He carried his mother's 'house name' as his initials as the tradition among the Cannanore Mappilas. He graduated from Government Brennen College,

and later obtained a law degree from

Government Law College, Thiruvananthapuram Government Law College, Thiruvananthapuram is an institution for legal education at graduate and post-graduate levels in Kerala, India. Established by the then Maharaja of Travancore in 1875, it is one of the oldest law colleges in India. Affili ...

. He was the first General Secretary of the M. S. F., the students' wing of Indian Union Muslim League. He also worked as a reporter for the Chandrika newspaper. Ahamed married Zuhara in 1961 (died in an accident in 1999). The couple has three children.

Political career

In Kerala

Kerala_Council_of_Ministers_1983_Karunakaran

* Ahamed served as Minister for Industry from May 1982 to March 1987 ( U D F ministry headed by

-leader K. Karunakaran). * He was a member of the Kerala and Calicut University Senate. He was also Chairman, Kannur Municipal Council (1981–83). * He also served as the founder Chairman, Kerala State Rural Development Board (1971–77), and Chairman, Kerala Small Industries Development Corporation. * Ahamed was chosen as the General Secretary, Indian Union Muslim League in 1995.

Career in national politics

* From 2004 to 2009, Ahamed served as the Minister of State for External Affairs. From 2009 to 2011, he was the Minister of State for Railways. He assumed charge again as Minister of State for External Affairs in early 2011. Ahamed also held the additional charge of the Union Minister of State, Human Resource Development 2011 to 2012.

Other positions

President * Muslim Educational Foundation, Panur, Kannur * Kannur Deenul Islam Sabha, Kerala Member * Board of the Medical College, Pariyaram, Kerala * Managing Committee, MEA Engineering College, Malappuram * Executive Council,

Aligarh Muslim University Aligarh Muslim University is a Collegiate university, collegiate, Central university (India), central, and Research university, research university located in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India, which was originally established by Sir Syed Ahmad Kh ...

* Central Haj Committee

Representing India

* Ahamed represented India in the

several times between 1991 and 2014. * Special Emissary, Prime Minister

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 ...

to the Gulf (1984). * Chairman, Crisis Management Group (Iraq hostage crisis, August–September 2004).

Minister in different ministries

Death

Ahamed died on 1 February 2017 after suffering a

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest (also known as sudden cardiac arrest CA is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. When the heart stops beating, blood cannot properly Circulatory system, circulate around the body and the blood flow to the ...

in a

joint session A joint session or joint convention is, most broadly, when two normally separate decision-making groups meet, often in a special session or other extraordinary meeting, for a specific purpose. Most often it refers to when both houses of a bicam ...

of Parliament. He was buried with full state honours at the Kannur City Juma Masjid.

References

External links

Official website

E. Ahamed (profile) Lok Sabha

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Ahamed, E. 1938 births 2017 deaths Indian Muslims India MPs 1991–1996 India MPs 1996–1997 India MPs 1998–1999 India MPs 1999–2004 India MPs 2004–2009 Union ministers of state of India Malayali politicians India MPs 2009–2014 Indian Union Muslim League politicians Lok Sabha members from Kerala India MPs 2014–2019 Politicians from Malappuram district Kerala MLAs 1980–1982 Government Law College, Thiruvananthapuram alumni