When the Minister was told that as a consequence of the Gulf War, inter airlines structure and international tourism were tottering and that some of the international airlines had posted a loss of 37 per cent and more in business, in fact some of them were facing closures and layoffs, he responding by saying that Indian aviation too was affected by the war but he was confident that India and its airlines structure had the resilience to face the challenge. He said, "we made serious efforts and took hard decisions and that was why we could cope with the brunt of the Gulf War impact. We would have suffered substantial damage if we were careless. Many world airlines are going bankrupt but India is still safe from that kind of fate. Since day one, when I stepped into this Ministry (the date was September 1, 2001) we took several bold and innovative steps. I had made up my mind that I would not be content with being described only as the youngest-ever minister of the Union Council of Ministers but would like to earn my own place as a performing minister. That was why I interacted with a large number of people in large sections within and outside the ministry under my charge."

Turning to the global aviation crisis, the Aviation Minister underlined that while major world airlines like United Airlines had almost gone bankrupt, India 's domestic airlines, Indian Airlines, which also flew to destinations which were part of its social and national obligation, was succeeding in maintaining its performance.

Turning to the threat from SARS, he said that though the Union Health Ministery was fully aware and ready to contain the SARS threat, his Ministery too was actively co-operating and the Government of India had discussed and taken appropriate steps to screen and offer assistance where required to air passengers with suspected SARS infection. A special watch and screening mechanism was put in place for air passengers from 15 countries including China, who could be potential carriers of this infection. But he stressed there was no cause of alarm.

Queried on the provision of adquate air transport facilities to the North-eastern States of India, Hussain said that efforts were on in provision and updating of civil aviation which has already been provided for these States and the existing infrastructure was being further strengthened and four ATRs had been provided exclusively to augment these services. He said fixed-wing services were also being launched for destinations like Shillong. A flight from Guwahati to Bangkok had also been introduced. In fact, there is no such station in the North-east today which is not touched by one flight or another. We have also doubled the seat capacity for this region. For example, destinations in this area which were served by twice-a-week flights are now being served by six-days-week flights. Therefore, the people in the North-east have no complaints against us."

Sunil Dang pointed out that there were places in the mountaious regions, particularly the North-east like Tripura, Manipur and Mizoram which were not easily accessible, even by road, at some times. It often took two or three days to reach a place in the North-east. Similar was the situation in other Himalayan States like Himachal Pradesh. After Syed Shahnawaz Hussain took over as the Civil Aviation Minister, Guwahati had become an air traffic hub in the North-east.

How did the Minister envisage turning Guwahati into an international air gateway for North-eastern India?

The Minister said: "We want to turn that area into the Switzerland of India. That region is so breathtakingly beautiful that even Switzerland could not compare with some of its beautiful areas. Of course, air connectivity is a major need of this region with great promise. In the past, even road traffic in this region was beset with many problems and hurdles. People had to face a wide range of hassles and hurdles in travelling by road even from one place to another in this part of the country. Now the expenditure of money and progress of development work is quite visible and it appears that we are going ahead and shall go ahead with the development and opening up of this region. Now take this launching of the international flight from Guwahati to Bangkok. Guwahati does not have even a five-star hotel. I had broached this issue with the Chief Minister of Assam and suggested that they should develop adequate infrastructure in this area, so that new hotels open up there, tourism receives a spurt and there is a influx of tourists. There should be better law and order in the area so that tourists can reach there and go about without difficulty and fear."

When it was pointed out to the Minister that at one time there was a demand for Siliguri having an international airport, the Minister responded: "The Air Force had its Bagdogra airport there but feasibility of an international flight to Nepal from there was under consideration. If some flights from South East Asia wanted to land there, the matter could be considered. But there had to be proper and adequate discussions with the Defence Ministry too about these projects as it had its own large airport and stakes in the area."

Queried about the long-standing demand for an airport and air services for Sikkim, the Civil Aviation Minister responded saying that with the co-operation of the North Eastern Development Council, the Sikkim State Government was developing an airport for which Rs. 500 crore was said to have been initially sanctioned. There are quite a few sanctions which are also awaited in connection with this project. The Ministry of Civil Aviation is taking a lot of interest in these projects."

Asked about his plans for better air connectivity for States like Manipur, the main lifeline to reach whose capital Imphal, was the air corridor only, the Minister said the increase in the frequency of flights to the North-eastern destinations was part of the overall plan to meet such demands, needs and challenges.

Sunil Dang turned the discussion to politics, particularly to the Minister's home State of Bihar and his constituency of Kishanganj, which had always been prominent on the political map of the State as it had elected many important leaders to parliament and had produced several leading intellectuals and celebrities.

At this point, the interaction was interrupted by a telephone call from a fan who wanted to get the Minister's reaction to the Gulf War. The Minister said: "Has Baghdad been occupied?" Then he told the phone caller that a stronger war was on and a lot of information and media hype was being showered from all directions. The real reaction could be given by anyone seriously only when the war was really over. Then he turned back to answer Sunil Dang's question with the confidence and wisdom of a confirmed man of politics. Sunil had wanted to know what the minister really wanted to do for Bihar? The Minister suddenly produced a well-printed document about his constituency, Kishanganj. It was his "annual report" of what he had been able to do for his electorate and what the problems were and their consequence which still needed to be addressed.

It was indeed a unique document, an exercise in public accountability by an elected representative of the people. Such a document was mooted by the first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru where every MP was supposed to submit a document under the title "Know Your Constituency"—a sort of document of problems to be tackled and achievements made by the MP in solving them. But one does not remember if the idea was perused by anyone after Nehru. Even today, it seemed that Shahnawaz Hussain of Kishanganj was the only MP who was fulfilling this duty and obligation of public accountability. It was his own individual effort. He was not aware if such an exercise had been mooted during the Nehru days.

He said: "This document contains an explanation of whatever I have done during the past three years. In fact, I present this accountability document to my electorate every year. He said that the constituency had IAS and media toppers, highly educated and thumb-impressionists too as representatives of the people, but no one ever cared to consider himself accountable to the people. Among them were highly educated people like Shahabuddin Khan and his antonym, Taslimuddin, who had studied only up to the fifth class. There were also representatives with criminal background boasting all the evil qualities in the world. I fought against many evil contenders and won the elections. I have fought from that my constituency against many evil people, and won. My constituency had the largest number of Muslim voters compared to any other parliamentary constituency in the country. Out of about 12 lakh voters, more than eight lakh were Muslim."

Asked if he was the only Muslim minister in the Union Government today, he said: "I am the only Muslim from my party (the BJP) to win from Bihar and became a minister from day one. I am the only Muslim minister at the Centre." He agreed that his Muslim community also expected a lot from him and there was no doubt that his party, at the moment, did not enjoy the highest image among the Muslim."

Sunil Dang pointed out that the BJP was not a favoured party among Muslims from the very beginning, and that they considered it a "Hindu party". He asked whether the image had changed with Shahnawaz Hussain's debut as a BJP leader and minister.

The MP from Kishenganj said: "I am a young Muslim Minister who can go to the Muslim masses and talk to them. I go to any big mosque and say my namaz there.

I am in the BJP not because I am with or separated from the Muslims. I am acceptable to them. Even with being in the BJP, the Muslims let me sit with them. So far, the Muslim leaders who were in the BJP did not evoke that kind of response from Muslim society. I feel I can today speak for my party in even stronger language than even VHP leaders. I want to be an asset and not a liability for my party. I want that because of me, more and more Muslims come to the BJP and misunderstaings disappear. I firmly believe that the BJP is not an anti-Muslim party. It was a wrong image deliberately projected among the Muslims that if they had even stomach ache, headache or cold and cough, it was the BJP which was the cause of their ailments. From the days of Nehruji and even today, the people are being fed that kind of misinformation. I ask if the Muslims of India today are poor, backward and jobless, is it all because of Advaniji? That is not true. They are so because of the same people who have been frightening them against the BJP all the time and have nothing for them. In 1984, the Congress had a two-thirds majority in Parliament. Whatever it wanted to do for the Muslims it could have done, but it did nothing. When there were only two BJP MPs in Parliament, even then the then rulers did not worry about Muslims. Now what can the Congress do when it is a broken-down and damaged party? It is a heavily repaired party. It is like a house whose plaster and mortar is chipping off here and there."

Turning to Bihar and the magic of Laloo, who ruled the State for so long on the strength of the Yadav and Muslim votes, Shahnawaz Hussain said that was also a miracle achieved by frightening the Muslims. He was hopeful that in the next elections the bluff would be called.