Syed Shahabuddin passes away at 82

Noida, March 4 

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Former Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer and MP Syed Shahabuddin, who was suffering from prolonged illness, died at a hospital in Noida, adjoining the national capital, on Saturday morning. He was 82.

“Shahabuddin, former president of the All-India Muslim Majlise Mushawarat, left for heavenly abode at 6.22 am,” said close associate Navaid Hamid, who is currently heads the organisation.

Shahabuddin, who is survived by his wife and four daughters, was buried at the Panjpeeran cemetery in Nizamuddin with a large number of prominent Muslim figures in attendance.

Born in 1935 in Ranchi, now in Jharkhand, he joined the IFS in 1958 but took premature retirement in the 1970s to delve into politics.

As a diplomat, he lobbied for the creation of Bangladesh and rallied support in Latin America — where he was posted at that time — for Indian intervention in the affair.

Although considered to be in the good books of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, he was one of the few diplomats who were openly anti-Emergency.

Within eight months of relinquishing service, Shahabuddin was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1979 from Kishanganj in Bihar, a Muslim majority constituency that sent him to the Lok Sabha multiple times. Shahabuddin shot to further prominence during the Ramjanmabhoomi movement as he remained at the forefront of the movement from the Muslims’ side. — IANS