85. Asaf Ali (1888-1953)

Asaf Ali (1888-1953)

Asaf Ali was born at Delhi in an upper middle class family on 11 May 1888. His father was a land-owner in Bulandshahr, a district of Uttar Pradesh. The family had connections with Delhi and young Asaf Ali was sent to the Anglo-Arabic High School in the city where he imbibed the best of the traditional Islamic education along with an introduction to western education. From the Anglo-Arabic School he went on to St. Stephen’s College, Delhi, which was run by the Cambridge University Mission. After graduating from St. Stephen’s College, he went to London in 1909 and was enrolled at Lincoln’s Inn. He was called to the Bar in January 1912. He spent the next two years traveling in England and Europe, giving depth to his education and acquiring knowledge of the Western world which proved most useful later in his career. Asaf Ali returned to India in 1914 just as the First World War was about to break out. He began his legal career at Delhi Bar, soon becoming involved in politics as the defence counsel in several celebrated trials, including the appeal of Bhagat Singh in the Punjab High Court against the sentence of death upon him in Saundeers Case. His first active role in the cause of India’s freedom was played in the old Home Rule League organized by Mrs. Annie Basant during the First World War. It was not long, however, before Asaf Ali, like so many other Indians of his period, was attracted by Mahatma Gandhi’s non-cooperation movement. As early as 1918 he was arrested and tried under the Defence of India Act. But he pleaded on his own behalf and his own behalf and his eloquent defence led to his acquittal. Three years later, in 1921, he was not so fortunate. Once later, he was arrested, tried and sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment. Once out of jail he became active in the Khilafat movement, which had unnecessarily attracted the attention of the Muslims of this country. His understanding of Gandhism and the non-cooperation movement was so through and complete that in 1921 he wrote ‘Constructive Non-Co-operation’ which may be aptly described as the catechism of Gandhian political tacties. In 1927 he was made the Secretary-General of the Congress Party and three years later, in 1930, a member of the Congress Working Committee. Once again his anti-British activities led to his incarceration for a short spell but he emerged as undaunted. Between 1934 and 1946 he served in the Central Legislative Assembly, acting from time to time as his party’s Chief Whip, its Secretary-General or its Deputy Leader. While serving in the Assembly he was elected in 1935 to the Delhi Municipal Committee, a position to which he was reelected for the next decade and a half. As an ardent nationalist Asaf Ali was deeply concerned about the question of Hindi-Muslim harmony. He always stressed the importance of this relationship for the future of India. It was with this in mind that he took the initiative and played a prominent role in the abortive Unity Conference in 1932, designed to bring about Hindu-Muslim cooperation and unity. However, his personal reputation as a man of secular ideals was such that he defeated the Muslim League and the Hindu Mahasabha candidates in the Delhi Municipal elections on every occasion. The outbreak of the Second World War again found him in the vanguard of Gandhi’s non-cooperation movement. He was at this time a member of the Congress Working Committee under Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, and the Secretary of the Assembly Congress Party. At the Bombay Session of the Congress Party it was decided that the party would not cooperate with the British war effort. Thus in August 1942, Asaf Ali with the rest of the A.I.C.C. was arrested and charged with inciting open rebellion against the British government. He, along with others, was detained in Ahmednagar Fort for an unspecified period. The rigours of life in the Fort began to tell on Asaf Ali’s health and a serious illness led to his release in May 1945. As soon as the war was

over, Asaf Ali took up secretaryship of the Committee which was formed under the Presidentship of Bhulabhai Desai for defending those who had joined Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s Indian National Army and who were regarded by The British as traitors. As a member of the inner circle of the Congress Party Asaf Ali took part in discussions on the transfer of power with the Cabinet Mission headed by Lord Pethick Lawrence, which visited India in 1946. In August of the same year he was given the portfolio of Minister of Transport and Railways in the Interim Government which the Congress was persuaded to join. He was also a member of the Constituent Assembly which framed the Constitution India. Nehru had always been conscious of India’s relation with the outside world. America had emerged after the Second World War as the most powerful and important nation in the world, and therefore the Interim Government naturally considered the Ambassadorship at Washington as an assignment of singular importance. It is significant that Asaf Ali was chosen for this vital task of establishing Indo-American relations on a firm foundation. Asaf Ali remained in Washington from February 1947 to April 1948, occasionally representing India at the U.N. From Washington, where to Indian communalists to Cuttack as the Governer of Orissa, non-controversial post which he occupied from June 1948 to May 1952. On account of declining health in 1952, Asaf Ali was appointed Minister to Berne, Switzerland, with the personal rank of Ambassador. He was also accredited to Austria and the Vatican, and in this tranquil post he was able to represent India at the United Nations and other international conferences as the need arose. But before he could do much he died of a heart attack in Switzerland on 2 April 1953. His body was flown back to his beloved city of Delhi where he lies buried in the graveyard attached to the tomb of the great Saint Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia. Asaf Ali married Aruna Ganguli in 1928. His wife thought very young started to play an important role in her own right in the national movement and soon established a reputation for herself as a political leader.(Refer to the biography of Aruna Asaf Ali). They had no children. Apart from his political activities, Asaf Ali had great talent for writing fine poetry and prose in Urdu, English and Hindi. Early in his career he wrote for newspapers and magazines, supplementing his earnings from his legal practice. Apart from the book on ‘ Constructive Non-Co-operation’, he also wrote a report on the North-West Frontier and a life of Stalin in Urdu verse. At one stage in the late 1930’ he was also writing a book called ‘Some Urgent Indian Problems’, dealing with the various causes of Hindu-Muslim friction and how these causes were to be removed. He was also most eloquent as a speaker. Of middle height, Asaf Ali was handsome and had an agile mind. He possessed personal charm and was immaculate in his dress, whether in achkan, Gandhi cap and churidar pyjamas or in Western attire, which he wore in his early days complete with a venetian bow and sometimes a monocle. Generally he wore glasses. He possessed a ready wit and was never at a loss for a repartee. As an advocate and cross-examiner he was superb. Had he applied himself seriously to his legal profession, he would have achieved highest eminence. In his taste for good living he belonged to a past age of refinement and culture. His hospitality was great. It may be said in conclusion that his pursuit of political objectives robbed the legal profession of a great advocate, Urdu poetry of a potential great poet, literature of a fine literature, journalism of a good journalist. What he received and gave to the country in return was leadership in the second line of leaders, and a reputation for a suave handling of troubled situation for others. He married Aruna Ganguly a Social worker in 1928. He died in Switzerland in 1953.