It’s really good news that Apsana Begum MP has been cleared of all the fraud charges against her.

Many of us had underestimated her. One of the reasons was undoubtedly due to some form of elitist and class indoctrination. She does not speak like an intellectual when she participates in parliamentary debates or when she talks at public meetings. She speaks like other ordinary people from her East London background. Some may see this as a problem but for others, it’s a great strength that allows her access to all sorts of people in the community who understand and relates to what she says.

But anyone observing her performance, surely, must have been impressed by her dedication and commitment to her constituency, as well as her intelligence and fighting spirit. She works hard and is very active within the community and in parliament. It seems that deep inside her something is burning, which drives her to get up from the bed and into action.

I have known Apsana since around 2012 when she first attended Brick Lane Circle events. I don’t know her very well as we did not get to talk much. But I have found her to be very decent, intelligent, polite and I could also see that she possessed a caring personality. I don’t know how long she had harboured an ambition to be an MP, but the desire to be one must have been in her for a long time, which perhaps was developed when she was growing up in a family where her father was a local politician.

The recent attempt to destroy her career and as a person, through the accusation of housing fraud and trial must have been an intensely devastating experience for her. She could have lost everything: her career and standing as a good human being. But luckily, she has been cleared. Sometimes, in the depth of despair and the prospect of ruination, some lights get kindled, which propel someone to start realising some of their untapped and hidden talents.

Apsana Begum MP has survived. Now she has the potential to become something very formidable. The intense experience of grappling with fear and the process of fighting back to survive – through the utilisation of spiritual, emotional, intellectual and creative energies – must have unlocked and unleashed certain potencies in her which would have remained as a hidden potential only.

When she recovers through a period of rest you may see a different and formidable Apsana Begum MP in the making.