Asaf Ali (11 May 1888 – 2 April 1953) was an Indian independence fighter and noted Indian lawyer. He was the first

Indian Ambassador to the United States The Indian Ambassador to the United States of America is the chief diplomatic representative of India to the United States, housed in the Embassy of India, Washington, D.C. The current ambassador is Taranjit Singh Sandhu who succeeded Harsh Vard ...

. He also served as the

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Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of Sc ...

Education

Asaf Ali was educated at St. Stephen's College, Delhi. He was called to bar from Lincoln's Inn in

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Indian National Movement

In 1914, the British attack on the

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had a large effect on the Indian Muslim community. Asaf Ali supported the Turkish side and resigned from the Privy Council. He saw this as an act of non-cooperation and returned to India in December 1914. Upon his return to India, Asaf Ali became heavily involved in the nationalist movement. He was elected to the

Central Legislative Assembly The Central Legislative Assembly was the lower house of the Imperial Legislative Council, the legislature of British India. It was created by the Government of India Act 1919, implementing the Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms. It was also some ...

in 1935 as a member of the Muslim Nationalist Party. He then became significant as a Congress member and was appointed deputy leader. 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 was detained at Ahmednagar Fort jail along with Jawaharlal Nehru and other members of the Congress Working Committee.Asaf Ali
Indianpost.com (2 April 1953). Retrieved on 2018-12-07.

Post 1946

He was in charge of the

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and

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in the Interim Government of India headed by Jawaharlal Nehru from 2 September 1946. He served as the first

from February 1947 to mid-April 1947.

Post independence

Asaf Ali was first Indian Ambassador to United States. He was appointed governor of Odisha for two terms and later, Indian Ambassador to Switzerland.

Legal career

Asaf Ali rose to become one of the most respected lawyers in the country. He defended Batukeshwar Dutt as a lawyer. In 1945, Ali came to be the convener of the

INA defence team The INA Defence Committee, later the INA Defence and Relief Committee, was a committee established by the Indian National Congress in 1945 to defend those officers of the Indian National Army who were to be charged during the INA trials. Addit ...

established by the Congress for the defense of the officers of the Indian National Army charged with treason later in November 1945. Bhagat Singh was charged with attempt to murder under section 307 of the Indian Penal Code. Asaf Ali, a member of the Congress Party was his lawyer.

Personal life

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). She is widely remembered for hoisting the Indian National Congress flag at the Gowalia Tank maidan in Bombay during the Quit India Movement, 1942. Later Aruna Asaf Ali was honored with India's highest civilian award, Bharat Ratna, for her work.

Death and legacy

Ali died in office in Bern on 2 April 1953, while serving as India's ambassador to Switzerland. In 1989,

India Post India Post is a government-operated postal system in India, part of the Department of Post under the Ministry of Communications. Generally known as the Post Office, it is the most widely distributed postal system in the world. Warren Hastings ...

brought out a stamp in his honor.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Asaf Ali 1888 births 1953 deaths Indian National Army trials Indian independence activists from Uttar Pradesh Delhi politicians St. Stephen's College, Delhi alumni Indian civil servants 20th-century Indian Muslims Politicians from Allahabad Governors of Odisha Ambassadors of India to the United States Members of the Central Legislative Assembly of India Members of the Constituent Assembly of India 20th-century Indian lawyers Indian National Congress politicians from Uttar Pradesh Scholars from Allahabad Ambassadors of India to the Holy See