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Quraishi, the first Muslim CEC

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Quraishi, the first Muslim CEC : Rediff.com India News

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Low-profile Shahabuddin Yaqoob Quraishi, brings with him rich experience as a thoroughbred civil servant of more than 35 years to become the first Muslim Chief Election Commissioner of India.

63-year-old Quraishi, who will have a little more than two years as CEC, has already served the Election Commission for more than four years and has a solid grounding in the institution that has earned a name for conducting free and fair elections.

A product of St Stephen's College in Delhi [ Images ], Quraishi joined the Indian Administrative Services in 1971 and had worked in the governments both Centre and state levels.

He had earned distinction for his study of modern Persian, Arabic and German languages before joining the civil service.

Later in his career, Quraishi received a Ph.D for his thesis on "Role of Communication and Social Marketing in Development of Women and Children".

Quraishi is known for his scholarly work on innovative approaches to issues faced by the Muslim community. Before his induction into the Commission in 2006, Quraishi held the post of Secretary, Sports and Youth Affairs in the Centre.

He had held several key positions in the government and had made special contribution in the areas of social sector reforms covering health, education, population, drug abuse and civil society action.

Quraishi is an expert on gender and HIV/AIDS and is known for his extensive work in the field of population, women and child development, youth and adolescent issues.

United Nations and other international organisations have availed his experience in these areas. He has a number of books, articles and talks to his credit on issues related to democracy, elections and social sector issues.

He had authored two path-breaking papers 'Islam, Muslims and Family Planning in India' [ Images ] and 'Islam and AIDS'.
 
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Quraishi new Chief Election Commissioner

NEW DELHI: President Pratibha Patil on Tuesday appointed Election Commissioner (EC) Shahabuddin Yaqoob Quraishi as the next Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) under Clause 2 of the Article 324 of the Constitution.

A Law Ministry notification said Mr. Quraishi will assume office on July 30 as the incumbent, Navin Chawla, demits office on Thursday.

“Very proud”

Expressing happiness over the appointment, 63-year-old Mr. Quraishi, who will head the three-member Election Commission till June 10, 2012, told TheHindu that he was “very proud to be given the honour.” It would be his endeavour to live up to the fullest of the trust reposed in the great institution of Commission by the nation, he said.

Mr. Quraishi sought the support of all stakeholders, especially the people in the discharge of his “sacred duties.”

As there would be one vacancy of EC following Mr. Quraishi's elevation, the government is in the process filling that post and the exercise is expected to be completed in a couple of days. The other EC is V.S. Sampath.

Mr. Quraishi, an IAS officer of the 1971 batch from the Haryana cadre, will be in charge of holding the Assembly elections in Bihar this year and in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala, Puducherry and Assam next year.

In Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Manipur the Assembly polls are due in 2012 well before he demits office.

Born on June 11, 1947 in Delhi, Mr. Quraishi is a post-graduate in history from St. Stephen's College here. He did his Ph.D in communication and social marketing. The title of his doctoral thesis is ‘The Role of Communication and Social Marketing in Development of Women and Children.'

Mr. Quraishi became EC on June 30, 2006. Prior to that, he was Union Secretary, Youth Affairs and Sports. He also served as Director-General, Doordarshan (National Television Network), and Power Secretary of the Haryana government.
 
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Good for him, but why is that even news worthy? Just cos he is a muslim?

It is still an appointed post, it would be worth while news if we ever elect a muslim as the PM..... any chances its gonna happen anytime soon?;)
 
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Good for him, but why is that even news worthy? Just cos he is a muslim?

It is still an appointed post, it would be worth while news if we ever elect a muslim as the PM..... any chances its gonna happen anytime soon?;)

Congartulations to Mr Quraishi..

Even I wonder the same , Indian media always make all these cases to point of specific ethnicity, religion, region etc. They will never forget to add such adjectives like Muslim CEC or Dalit Politician. I am sick of all these..:angry::angry:
 
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Good for him, but why is that even news worthy? Just cos he is a muslim?

It is still an appointed post, it would be worth while news if we ever elect a muslim as the PM..... any chances its gonna happen anytime soon?;)

You are right, after all he's not the first CEC from minority, we've had Sikh and Christian CECs in the past. Hence the religion angle is not required in the reporting.

OTOH CEC is a very very important position in India and hence the appointment merits mention anyways.
 
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