19 Facts About Mohammad Hamid Ansari

1. Mohammad Hamid Ansari was arrested in 2012 on entering Pakistan from neighboring Afghanistan.

2. Mohammad Hamid Ansari quoted, "The language used by the Pope sounds like that of his 12th-Century counterpart who ordered the crusades.

3. Mohammad Hamid Ansari said this on the last day of his tenure as the Vice President of India, one of the highest constitutional posts in the country.

4. Mohammad Hamid Ansari feels that there is a sense of unease among Indian Muslims.

5. Mohammad Hamid Ansari was the chairman of a working group on "Confidence building measures across segments of society in the State", established by the Second round Table Conference of the Prime Minister on Jammu and Kashmir in 2006.

6. Mohammad Hamid Ansari is a West Asia scholar and has written on the Palestinian issue and taken positions inconvenient to the Indian official line on Iraq and Iran.

7. Mohammad Hamid Ansari secured 455 votes, and won the election by a margin of 233 votes against his nearest rival Najma Heptullah.

8. Mohammad Hamid Ansari resigned as NCM chairman soon after his nomination for the post of India's Vice-President.

9. Mohammad Hamid Ansari became the chairman of India's National Commission for Minorities on 6 March 2006.

10. Mohammad Hamid Ansari wrote that appointing Ansari for this post at a time when "Pakistan went all out to bring Kashmir to the centre of international attention after the end of the Cold War" showed India's secular credentials.

11. Mohammad Hamid Ansari served as the Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations from 1993 to 1995.

12. Mohammad Hamid Ansari is married to Salma Ansari, fathering two sons and one daughter.

13. Mohammad Hamid Ansari is a grand-nephew of former Indian National Congress president and freedom fighter Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari.

14. Mohammad Hamid Ansari is the longest serving chairman of Rajya Sabha.

15. Mohammad Hamid Ansari was reelected on 7 August 2012 and was sworn-in by Pranab Mukherjee, the President of India.

16. Mohammad Hamid Ansari was elected as the Vice-President of India on 10 August 2007 and took office on 11 August 2007.

17. Mohammad Hamid Ansari worked as an ambassador and served as the Vice-Chancellor of the Aligarh Muslim University from 2000 to 2002.

18. Mohammad Hamid Ansari was the first person to be re-elected as Indian VP after Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan in 1957.

19. Mohammad Hamid Ansari has served as an Indian ambassador and is ex-chairman of Rajya Sabha.