In 1989, India Post brought out a stamp in his honor. Aruna Asaf Ali, who has died aged 86, was a legendary heroine of India's freedom struggle. Death and legacy Īli died in office in Bern on 2 April 1953, while serving as India's ambassador to Switzerland.
Later Aruna Asaf Ali was honored with India's highest civilian award, Bharat Ratna, for her work. She is widely remembered for hoisting the Indian National Congress flag at the Gowalia Tank maidan in Bombay during the Quit India Movement, 1942. In 1928, he married Aruna Asaf Ali, a marriage that raised eyebrows on the grounds of religion (Asaf Ali was a Muslim while Aruna was a Hindu) and age difference (Aruna was 20 years junior to him). In 1945, Ali came to be the convener of the INA defence team established by the Congress for the defense of the officers of the Indian National Army charged with treason later in November 1945. He defended Batukeshwar Dutt as a lawyer. He was appointed governor of Odisha for two terms and later, Indian Ambassador to Switzerland.Īsaf Ali rose to become one of the most respected lawyers in the country.
He served as the first Indian Ambassador to the United States from February 1947 to mid-April 1947.Īsaf Ali was first Indian Ambassador to United States. He was in charge of the Railways and Transport in the Interim Government of India headed by Jawaharlal Nehru from 2 September 1946. He was detained at Ahmednagar Fort jail along with Jawaharlal Nehru and other members of the Congress Working Committee. The last of several spells of imprisonment which Asaf Ali courted during the freedom movement was in the wake of the 'Quit India' resolution adopted by the All India Congress Committee in August 1942. He then became significant as a Congress member and was appointed deputy leader. He was elected to the Central Legislative Assembly in 1935 as a member of the Muslim Nationalist Party. Upon his return to India, Asaf Ali became heavily involved in the nationalist movement. Veteran of the Quit India Movement of 1942 Aruna Asaf Ali nee Ganguli, was an ardent socialist. She was arrested and after serving time at the Lahore Women's Central Jail, she started working among industrial workers. During this time, she relocated to Delhi where she went underground and edited a journal ‘Hamara Sangram’. He saw this as an act of non-cooperation and returned to India in December 1914. Aruna Asaf Ali (L), Indian independence activist known for her contribution in the Quit India movement, during a discussion with other freedom fighters. As a student she took part in the Quit India Movement in 1942 and worked with Aruna Asaf Ali. Aruna Ali was a freedom fighter and is widely remembered for hoisting the Congress. Asaf Ali supported the Turkish side and resigned from the Privy Council. Aruna Asaf Ali is known as the Grand Old Lady of the Independence Movement. In 1914, the British attack on the Ottoman Empire had a large effect on the Indian Muslim community. Fragments from the Past: Selected Writings and Speeches of Aruna Asaf Ali, with a Biographical Introduction From inside the book What people are saying. He was called to bar from Lincoln's Inn in England.