Former AMU Vice-Chancellor Tariq Mansoor is named as the BJP’s Party Vice President

Tariq Mansoor, a former vice-chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University, has been selected by the BJP to serve as one of its vice presidents in an effort to strengthen its relationship with Pasmanda Muslim communities. The appointment emphasizes the party’s efforts to forge closer relations with Muslim communities coming from Dalit and other lower-class backgrounds and to promote inclusion.

Tariq Mansoor has been given a crucial role in the party’s Pasmanda outreach. He is renowned for leading the AMU on a “middle path” during the anti-NRC and CAA protests and collaborating closely with the RSS to promote the teachings of Mughal prince Dara Shikoh on peaceful Hindu-Muslim coexistence.

 

Mansoor’s appointment was announced at the same time as Home Minister Amit Shah traveled to Rameshwaram, Tamil Nadu, to celebrate the publication of a book on former president APJ Abdul Kalam, another significant figure in the BJP’s Pasmanda outreach program. With a specific emphasis on Pasmanda Muslims, who come from Dalit and other oppressed backgrounds, the BJP has been actively interacting with segments of the Muslim community, especially via Minority Morcha gatherings.

 

Tariq Mansoor first became involved with the AMU in the 1970s, when he graduated from the university’s JN Medical College with an MBBS in surgery. He has throughout the years made important contributions to the Persian department at AMU, successfully translating and disseminating Dara Shikoh’s work on interfaith communication, and establishing himself as a role model for the Muslim community. Mansoor’s efforts were further shown by the planning of conferences and seminars with the same issue.

 

The RSS has been reaching out to Muslim academics and professionals, especially those in the professions of health, law, and bureaucracy, in an effort to have a positive influence on the discourse around minorities, while the BJP is working to develop its relations with the Pasmanda Muslim community.

 

Jamal Siddiqui, the leader of the BJP’s Minority Morcha, praised Mansoor as a “nationalist Muslim” who has always supported the philosophy of “nation first.” Siddiqui complimented Mansoor for prioritizing welfare and socio-economic justice above identity problems and appreciated his in-depth awareness of the divisions within the Muslim community.