G. M. Banatwala

Infobox Model
name = Gulam Mohammed Mahmood Banathwala


imagesize = 230px
caption =
birthname =
birthdate = birth date|1933|8|15
location = Mumbai, India
deathdate = death date and age|2008|6|25|1933|8|15
deathplace = Mumbai Central, India
occupation = Politician

Gulam Mohammed Mahmood Banathwala (15 August 1933 – 25 June 2008) was the spokesman and the voice of Indian Muslims in Indian Parliament.

Family

His family, the Meman Family, was emigrated from Kutch of Gujrat to Mumbai of Maharastra. He was born in August 15, 1933. His wife was Ayesha, who died in 1998. They had no children.

Profession and Politics

He was a College Lecturer early in his life. Then he gave up his profession and came to politics and became a great active politician. He was elected to Lok Sabha seven times from the Ponnani constituency of Kerala. He made the record of more time elected Member of Parliament, from Kerala same as Mr. Ibrahim Sulaiman Sait. He entered politics with his great speech both in Urdu and English. He was known as an Educationist. In 1960, he became the General Secretary of Muslim League of Mumbai. In 1962, he was a candidate to the Legislative Assembly from the Umer Qazi Constituency of Maharastra, but he was defeated just for 400 votes. But in 1967, he won from the same constituency and became the first member of Muslim League in the Maharastra Assembly. In 1972, he repeated his victory to the Legislative Assembly.

In the same period, he was a corporation Councillor in Mumbai Corporation. In 1977, 1980, 1984, 1989, 1996, 1998 and 1999 he was elected from the Ponnani Constituency of Kerala. In 1986, he brought a private bill and which made an Act of the Muslim Women Protection of Rights on Divorce Act, by the Rajiv Gandhi Government. Later, he became the State President of Muslim League of Maharastra.

In 1973, he became the General Secretary of Indian Union Muslim League together with C.H. Mohammed Koya Saheb. Banathwala became the President of Indian Union Muslim League in 1993.

Banathwala was a member of the All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawara, Kutch Meman Jama'ath, Muslim Personal Law Board, Aligarh Muslim University Court, etc.

Death

G.M. Banathwala died on 25 June, 2008, aged 74.cite news|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article4374214.ece|title=G. M. Banatwala: Indian Muslim leader|date=July 22, 2008|publisher=Times, The (London)|accessdate=2008-07-27]

References