Did not want to work in PMO, had notion of extra vetting being a Muslim officer, says ex-CEC Quraishi

New Delhi: Former Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) S.Y. Quraishi on Tuesday said he had declined an offer to serve as Joint Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), saying he was uncomfortable with what he perceived as a communal approach towards the posting and wanted to be recognised for his professional merit rather than his religious identity.

In an exclusive interview with IANS, Quraishi said he preferred to be known as a capable and accomplished IAS officer instead of being viewed through the prism of religion.

Recalling the episode, which he has also described in his latest book, ‘India and I: A Hundred Memories, Not a Memoir’, he said his decision was influenced both by his satisfaction with his existing assignment and by his personal reservations about the circumstances surrounding the proposed posting.

Explaining his role at the time, Quraishi said: “I was Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Youth Affairs, and in addition I was also Director General of Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan, which had 3 lakh youth clubs all over the country, and I was also the head of NSS, National Service Scheme, which was operational in 300 universities.”

“With the result, instead of a Secretariat job, my job had become a field job. In fact, it had a double benefit. I was also a Secretariat officer, as Joint Secretary, but as DG and as Director of NSS, the whole country was my field, and I found it unique. It was the only job of its kind, and I was quite enjoying it,” he added.

Quraishi said he first learnt about the proposed PMO posting through another person rather than through official communication. He recalled being surprised because, according to him, the decision had already been taken and security clearance had reportedly been completed before he was informed.

“When somebody told me that I was going to PMO, he thought I’d be excited, but I was shocked. I said: ‘But I don’t know; nobody has told me’. So, he said, ‘No, all decisions have been taken. Security clearance is obtained, and this order must be coming any minute, maybe by evening or tomorrow morning.’ I was genuinely shocked, because normally, anybody would jump at that job. But one thing is that I was enjoying my current job and I didn’t want to move to PMO, where you become totally anonymous, faceless, nameless; you are a backroom boy. It is, of course, very important; working in the PMO is a privilege otherwise,” he said.

He further said that he also had personal reservations about serving in certain ministries because he felt Muslim officers could sometimes be viewed with “suspicion” rather than solely on the basis of their professional competence.

“I also had another funny notion; maybe wrong, maybe right; I don’t know; that I would not like to work in three Ministries, PMO was one and Home Ministry and Defence Ministry because there was a kind of a communal feeling around, and if I was subjected to extra vetting — ‘oh, this is a Muslim officer, therefore, let us keep an extra watch on him’, that was not acceptable to me at all. That was insulting. I used to think that I would rather be a king in Panchayati Raj Department, than be a suspect in these three Ministries. People may not agree with it, but that was my view. It was a considered long-term view. I didn’t want to go,” he added.

Recalling his conversation with the then Additional Secretary in the PMO, N.K. Sinha, Quraishi said he made it clear that he did not wish to be appointed on the basis of his religious identity but wanted to be considered for his professional abilities.

“My neighbour was the Additional Secretary, PMO, N.K. Sinha, who was first very angry and said, ‘How did you know, how did you get to know? It was supposed to be an all-secret process’. I said, sir, somebody told me, but I really don’t want to go. I said that I also don’t want to go in a kind of a quota — a Muslim officer. I don’t want to come as a Muslim officer; I want to come as a brilliant officer, as a bright officer. I want to come in that capacity. He said, ‘We do need a Muslim officer because there are some matters in which we need their advice, like Waqf’, so I said, you can get a Director or maybe I can suggest some other names, but this is my hang-up,” Quraishi said.

He further asserted that his views were later endorsed by K.R. Venugopal, who was serving as Secretary to the Prime Minister and had earlier supervised his work. According to Quraishi, Venugopal told him that he had previously recommended his name for the PMO but was informed that another Muslim officer was already serving there.

“But my feeling was not wrong; there was a Secretary to the Prime Minister, Narasimha Rao, K.R. Venugopal… he was my boss, and he was very fond of me. When I met him, he totally agreed with me. He said, ‘Yaqub, your stand is absolutely correct, because six months ago I had asked you by name, and that is when they say, no, we already have a Muslim officer; we can’t have two. So, therefore your stand is right’. So, finally I had prepared an alternative list of names which were not acceptable and the incumbent then was given an extension for two years,” he added.

IANS