by Rajesh Singh
It is amusing how various Opposition party leaders have been shedding tears over the death of dreaded mafia don, Mukhtar Ansari. He died while being treated at a hospital during his prison time. His family has alleged poisoning, and the Opposition leaders have latched on to the accusation. While the official reason given for the death is heart failure, a magisterial inquiry, as per the standard operating procedure in such cases, has already been ordered.
But, even before the results are known, certain leaders, especially from the Samajwadi Party and the AIMIM, have gone ballistic and questioned the Yogi Adityanath government for the ‘failed law and order' condition in Uttar Pradesh. They have heaped praise on the dead criminal, calling him ‘saheb' and ‘ji.' But while they lament over his fate, they have not bothered, and never bothered in the past, to give a thought to the many families who suffered because of Mukhtar Ansari's criminal ways, and who lost their dear and near ones by bullets fired by him or by his henchmen.
The selective outrage by this section of politicians is, however, understandable, because it was under their patronage that Ansari's criminal career flourished. The don's political rivals were intimidated or eliminated, and those in the police force and the administration who dared to challenge him, were harassed, hounded; some even lost their jobs.
Mukhtar Ansari, in his death, has become akin to a martyr, even a victim, for these politicians, some of whom have begun to underline that he came from a distinguished family. It is true that his paternal grandfather was a freedom-fighter and president of the Indian National Congress in the pre-independence era; before that, he was president of the Muslim League. His maternal grandfather was a Mahavir Chakra awardee; he was given the recognition posthumously after laying down his life defending India against Pakistan's aggression in 1948. And, his uncle served the nation as the Vice President. But, in what way did Mukhtar Ansari take that legacy forward? Here is an overview of the don's life.
His life of crime began when he was only in his teens, but he shot into the limelight following his rivalry with another don, Brijesh Singh. Both vied for lucrative government contracts in the railway, coal, carpet and silk sectors, in the Poorvanchal region of Uttar Pradesh. Like Brijesh Singh, Ansari too hob-nabbed with various political parties. The bid to corner government contracts was accompanied with strong-arm tactics.
The feud spilled out in the open when Awadesh Rai, considered close to Brijesh Singh, was gunned down in 1991, allegedly by Ansari's people. Ansari plunged into politics and became a legislator in 1996, which gave him the confidence to expand his criminal activities. He had a narrow escape when Brijesh Singh's men, led by their boss, attacked Ansari's convoy. Some years later, revenge came. Brijesh Singh's cousin was brought down by a spray of bullets; the assailants were said to be Ansari's men. Ansari, though, escaped the arm of the law.
He became more emboldened. Senior BJP leader Krishnanand Rai was gunned down. As many as 400 bullets were fired from sophisticated firearms; light machine guns and AK-47s. Rai's mistake was that he had defeated Mukhtar Ansari's brother from a constituency in Ghazipur in 2002. The death squad was led by Ansari's henchman, Prem Prakash Singh, better known as Munna Bajrangi. Krishnanand Rai's killing proved to be a turning point in Ansari's life.
The state government led by the Samajwadi Party, and its administration showed little enthusiasm in pursuing the case. He was an important asset for the party in terms of minority vote-bank politics. The police officer, who had arrested him, was hounded and made to quit service; the state CID, which investigated the matter, threw up its hands after a while. Rai's wife sought a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation, which took up the case in 2006.
Ansari was indicted and taken into custody. Eventually, the courts held him guilty and sentenced him to a life-term; he got another lifer in an arms possession case. Although behind bars, he lost none of his influence, thanks to the political patronage he continued to enjoy. He floated a political party after being sacked from the BSP—in a turn of events, he later merged the organisation with the BSP! Besides, he himself won an assembly election in 2012. In the 2017 state polls, three members of his family got tickets to contest on behalf of the BSP.
BSP leaders, while seeking to distance the party from Ansari, argue that Mayawati's government had cracked down on mafia elements; they offer the example of the action taken against Raghuraj Pratap Singh, also known as Raja Bhaiya (the strongman of Kunda, near Pratapgarh). While it is true that Raja Bhaiya was acted against in many ways, the Mayawati government failed to establish a case against him which could lead to a conviction.
Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party leaders are today trying to rebut their party's links with Mukhtar Ansari, saying that he was never a member of the SP. It's a fact on record, though, that Ansari's rise in the world of crime gained wings during the SP's rule in the state, and that his clout grew exponentially as well. Rai's killing and the lethargic probe into the incident also took place during the SP's tenure. Ansari's connection with senior SP leaders had been a well-known fact to observers of the state's politics.
A police officer, then deputy superintendent of police (DSP), Shailendra Singh, regardless of the protection that the criminal had been receiving from the state machinery, went after him. A machine gun was recovered from Ansari and he was booked under the stringent provisions of Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA). But he was made to resign within days of the recovery. According to him, the Mulayam Singh Yadav government pressured and transferred several police officers out of their positions in a bid to abort the investigations against Ansari.
No tears need to be shed on the death of a man who had terrorised people and reported to brazen violence to get his way. (The Article is reproduced from Free Press Journal)
The writer is author of the book, ‘Baahubalis of Indian Politics'. The views expressed in his column are personal, and do not reflect those of Firstpost or of this publication.
