Win wars without fighting, says Veep ‘contender’

MUMBAI: Lt General Zameer Uddin Shah (69), a former Deputy Chief of Army Staff (planning & systems), is not a film buff but he never misses his younger brother, actor Naseeruddin Shah’s new films. But when his actor son, Major Mohammed Ali Shah (commissioned for five years for short service before he joined Bollywood) suggested that he attend the premier of the Kabir Khan-directed, Salman Khan starrer ‘Tubelight’ on Thursday, he could not say no.Set against the backdrop of the Sino-Indian war (1962), it is an anti-war movie illustrating the pointlessness of battle, and Shah obviously got pulled in. “The presentation of the Army in the film is amateurish. They should have consulted an expert who knows the Indian Army well,” says Shah, a veteran of some crucial battles, including the 1971 war, anti-insurgency and anti-communal riot operations. “As a general, I believe in winning wars without fighting. Defeating your enemy without firing a bullet is an ideal war.”
Shah is currently waging a different war. Having served the Army for over four decades and administering several military and non-military institutions, including Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), which he served as VC till recently, Shah is on a new mission: Establishing at least 100 good English medium schools in the country; initially in UP (he comes from Meerut). “I have launched a jihad against ignorance and for education among Muslims,” says the general, who claims he was enriched immensely from various institutions, including St Joseph’s College (Nainital), National Defence Academy (Pune), and National Military Academy (Dehradun). “My siblings and I, including Nasser, had an edge over many others as my father (a civil servant) ensured we got good schooling through the English medium,” recalls Shah, speaking English fluently but often changing to Urdu.
Shah came into the larger public eye after he became AMU VC in 2012 and, since his departure from Aligarh, set his eyes on a one-point agenda: Facilitating quality school education for the community’s kids. “It sounds good when some people suggest there should be half a dozen universities for Muslims but the community first needs good schools,” he says. “Once the foundation is strong, they will not need the crutch of reservation and will compete with the best,” asserts Shah, who also met Dawoodi Bohras’ spiritual head and AMU chancellor Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin in Mumbai.
Even before he left Aligarh, there has been talk that Shah is a contender for the Vice-President post after Hamid Ansari demits office in August. He will not say it himself but his supporters cite precedents. Two former VCs of AMU—Dr Zakir Hussain and Hamid Ansari—went on to become President and Vice-President.