E. Ahamed (29 April 1938 – 1 February 2017), Edappakath Ahamed in full, was an Indian politician from

Kannur Kannur (), formerly known in English as Cannanore, is a city and a municipal corporation in the state of Kerala, India. It is the administrative headquarters of the Kannur district and situated north of the major port city and commercial hu ...

(then

Cannanore Kannur (), formerly known in English as Cannanore, is a Cities in India, city and a municipal corporation in the state of Kerala, India. It is the administrative headquarters of the Kannur district and situated north of the major port city a ...

) in northern Kerala. A

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-p ...

) between 1991 and 2017, he was a key figure in India's diplomatic relations with the Middle East. Educated at

Brennen College Brennen College is an educational institution in Kerala, affiliated to the Kannur University. It is located in Dharmadam, Thalassery of Kerala state, India. The college evolved from a school established by the English philanthropist Edward Br ...

Tellicherry Thalassery (), formerly Tellicherry, is a municipality, Commercial City on the Malabar Coast in Kannur district, in the state of Kerala, India, bordered by the districts of Mahé (Pondicherry), Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kasaragod and Kodagu (Karnat ...

and Trivandrum Law College, Ahamed was first elecled to Kerala Legislative Assembly in 1967 (from

, with

Indian Union Muslim League The Indian Union Muslim League (abbreviated as the I. U. M. L. or the League) is an Indian political party primarily based in the Indian state of Kerala. It is recognised as a State Party in Kerala by the Election Commission of India. The first ...

). He later served as a cabinet minister (Industry) in the U D F ministry headed by

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

-leader K. Karunakaran (1982–87). He was first elected to the Parliament (

) in 1991. Ahamed was appointed Union Minister of State, Ministry of External Affairs, in 2004 (

-led U P A ministry headed by Manmohan Singh). He also served as Union Minister of State for Railways and Human Resource Development. Ahamed served as the National President,

between 2008 and 2017. He was the first

union minister in independent India. In 2004, he was famously dispatched by Atal Bihari Vajpayee to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

(

Geneva , neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier , website = https://www.geneve.ch/ Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevr ...

) to represent India.

Early life

E. Ahamed was born on 29 April 1938 at

Malabar District Malabar District, also known as Malayalam District, was an administrative district on the southwestern Malabar Coast of Bombay Presidency (1792-1800) and Madras Presidency (1800-1947) in British India, and independent India's Madras State (19 ...

to Edappakath Nafeesa Beevi and Ovintakath Abdul Khader (in a merchant family). He carried his mother's 'house name' as his initials as the tradition among the Cannanore Mappilas. He graduated from Government Brennen College,

and later obtained a law degree from Trivandrum Law College. He was the first General Secretary of the M. S. F., the students' wing of Indian Union Muslim League. He also worked as a reporter for the Chandrika newsapaper. Ahamed married Zuhara in 1961 (died in an accident in 1999). The couple has three children. Ahamed died on 1 February 2017 after suffering a

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. It is a medical emergency that, without immediate medical intervention, will result in sudden cardiac death within minutes. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and poss ...

in a

joint session A joint session or joint convention is, most broadly, when two normally separate decision-making groups meet, often in a special session or other extraordinary meeting, for a specific purpose. Most often it refers to when both houses of a bicamer ...

of Parliament. He was buried with full state honours at the Kannur City Juma Masjid.

Political career

In Kerala

Kerala_Council_of_Ministers_1983_Karunakaran

* Ahamed served as Minister for Industry from May 1982 to March 1987 ( U D F ministry headed by

-leader K. Karunakaran). * He was a member of the Kerala and Calicut University Senate. He was also Chairman, Kannur Municipal Council (1981–83). * He also served as the founder Chairman, Kerala State Rural Development Board (1971–77), and Chairman, Kerala Small Industries Development Corporation. * Ahamed was chosen as the General Secretary, Indian Union Muslim League in 1995.

Career in national politics

* From 2004 to 2009, Ahamed served as the Minister of State for External Affairs. From 2009 to 2011, he was the Minister of State for Railways. He assumed charge again as Minister of State for External Affairs in early 2011. Ahamed also held the additional charge of the Union Minister of State, Human Resource Development 2011 to 2012.

Other positions

President * Muslim Educational Foundation, Panur, Kannur * Kannur Deenul Islam Sabha, Kerala Member * Board of the Medical College, Pariyaram, Kerala * Managing Committee, MEA Engineering College, Malappuram * Executive Council, Aligarh Muslim University * Central Haj Committee

Representing India

* Ahamed represented India in the

several times between 1991 and 2014. * Special Emissary, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to the Gulf (1984). * Chairman, Crisis Management Group (Iraq hostage crisis, August–September, 2004).

Minister in different ministries

References

External links

Official website

E. Ahamed (profile) Lok Sabha

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Ahamed, E. 1938 births 2017 deaths India MPs 1991–1996 India MPs 1996–1997 India MPs 1998–1999 India MPs 1999–2004 India MPs 2004–2009 Union ministers of state of India Malayali politicians India MPs 2009–2014 Indian Union Muslim League politicians Lok Sabha members from Kerala India MPs 2014–2019 People from Malappuram district Kerala MLAs 1980–1982 Government Law College, Thiruvananthapuram alumni