JEDDAH — Former Indian minister Bashiruddin Babu Khan, a well known minority activist passed away after a prolonged illness at his residence in HyderabadIndia on Sunday. His contributions for the rights of minorities have been widely recognized both nationally and internationally. His demise leaves a vacuum for the IndianHyderabadi community in Kingdom, Aijaz Ahmed Khan President Khak-e-Taiba trust and a well known social worker said.
“It is a big loss for the Muslims. He was a great leader, industrialist, educationist and above all he was a great human being I found him to be a true philanthropist and a champion of the poor.” Mir Mohsin Ali a Riyadh-based Hydeabadi expat said, “Babu Khan was a great Muslim leader, and I admire him as a true philanthropist who served a lot for our community.” Babu Khan was elected as MLA twice, in 1985 & 1994 and he was Cabinet Minister twice. He held the portfolios of Higher Education, Major Industries, Tourism & Minorities Welfare during 1989, & 1994-1998. He resigned as minister when Telugu Desam Party supported BJP government at center in 1998. He was the first minister for higher education of Andhra Pradesh and was the founder member of Telugu Desham, he had been in the Cabinet of NTR, and Chanda Babu Naidu. In 2004 he joined Congress, but the party never recognized the services of genuine honest and educated representatives of muslims. Babu Khan's father, Khan Bahadur Abdul Karim Babu Khan, had constructed and donated the present AP Congress Headquarters, “Gandhi Bhavan”, to the Congress Party, some 50 years ago.
