Mohammad Hamid Ansari

Mohammad Hamid Ansari (born April 1, 1937, Calcutta [now Kolkata], India) is an Indian diplomat, politician, educator, and writer who served as vice president of India (2007–17).

Ansari, who was born to a wealthy Muslim family, completed B.A. and M.A. degrees in political science from Aligarh Muslim University in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh. In 1961 he entered the Indian Foreign Service, where he served for nearly four decades. After postings to several countries over some 15 years (Iraq, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, and Belgium), Ansari was named ambassador to the United Arab Emirates (1976–79). He also served as ambassador to Afghanistan (1989–90), Iran (1990–92), and Saudi Arabia (1995–99), as well as high commissioner to Australia (1985–89) and permanent representative to the United Nations (1993–95). In between those foreign postings, he was the chief of protocol for the Indian government in 1980–85.

Upon his retirement from the foreign service, Ansari was named to academic positions, including vice chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University (2000–02) and visiting professor at two New Delhi schools—Jawaharlal Nehru University (1999–2000) and Jamia Millia Islamia (2003–05). He also worked for a private think tank and served on several government commissions and committees.

In 2007 Ansari became the Indian National Congress (Congress Party)-led United Progressive Alliance’s vice presidential candidate and defeated his closest opponent, Najma Heptuallah of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-headed National Democratic Alliance (NDA), by securing 455 votes in an electoral college of 788. In 2012 he was again chosen to contest the post, after the Congress Party passed over him in favour of Pranab Mukherjee as its presidential candidate. He defeated the NDA’s Jaswant Singh by a margin of 252 votes to win his second term. Ansari left office in 2017.

Ansari’s tenure was largely noncontroversial. He became known for his role in ensuring compensation to the victims of communal riots in Gujarat state in 2002, and he subsequently pushed for a complete review of relief and rehabilitation efforts for all riot victims in India since 1984. On occasion he articulated strong views in public. In 2006, while serving as chairman of the National Commission for Minorities, he denounced as anti-Islamic the comments made by Pope Benedict XVI in which the pontiff used the terms “jihad” and “holy war.” Earlier, in 2005, Ansari had questioned India’s vote against Iran’s nuclear program in the International Atomic Energy Agency, stating that the Indian government’s position was not supported by the facts.

With his many years of diplomatic postings in the Middle East, Ansari developed a reputation as a scholar of that region. He wrote in particular on the Palestinian issue. He is the author of Travelling Through Conflict: Essays on the Politics of West Asia (2008) and the editor of Iran Today: Twenty Five Years After the Islamic Revolution (2005).