Faridul Haq Ansari (Urdu:فرید الحق انصاری)(1 July 1895 – 4 April 1966), popularly known as Farid Ansari, was a lawyer and politician who actively participated in

Indian independence movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events in South Asia with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British colonial rule. It lasted until 1947, when the Indian Independence Act 1947 was passed. The first nationalistic ...

. He was a prominent socialist leader who got special mention in

Jayprakash Narayan Jayaprakash Narayan Srivastava (; 11 October 1902 – 8 October 1979), also known as JP and ''Lok Nayak'' (Hindi for "People's leader"), was an Indian politician, theorist and Indian independence activist, independence activist. He is mai ...

's writings. He served two terms as Member of Parliament in

Rajya Sabha Rajya Sabha (Council of States) is the upper house of the Parliament of India and functions as the institutional representation of India’s federal units — the states and union territories.https://rajyasabha.nic.in/ It is a key component o ...

Early life

Faridul Haq Ansari was born in 1895 in

Yusufpur Yusufpur (युसुफपुर یوسف پور) and Mohammadabad is a Twin Town/Qasba in Mohammadabad Tahsil of the Ghazipur district of Uttar Pradesh, India.It belongs to Varanasi Division. Coordinates: 25°37′22″N 83°45′27″E It ...

town of

Ghazipur Ghazipur, is a city in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. Ghazipur city is the administrative headquarters of the Ghazipur district, one of the four districts that form the Varanasi division of Uttar Pradesh. It is located on the Ganges (Ganga) ...

district of

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

. His father Nezamul Haq Ansari was a zamindar. Faridul Haq Ansari was a descendant of an illustrious family of Ansari sheikhs who settled in south asia in 1526, he traced his lineage to the sufi saint of

Herat Herāt (; Dari/Pashto: هرات) is an oasis city and the third-largest city in Afghanistan. In 2020, it had an estimated population of 574,276, and serves as the capital of Herat Province, situated south of the Paropamisus Mountains (''Se ...

Abdullah Ansari Abu Ismaïl Abdullah al-Harawi al-Ansari or Abdullah Ansari of Herat (1006–1089) () also known as ''Pir-i Herat'' () "Sage of Herat", was a Sufi saint, who lived in Herat (modern-day Afghanistan). Ansari was a commentator on the Qur'an, schola ...

. Faridul Haq got his education at St. Stephen's College, Delhi,

Aligarh Muslim University Aligarh Muslim University is a Collegiate university, collegiate, Central university (India), central, and Research university, research university located in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India, which was originally established by Sir Syed Ahmad Kh ...

and

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

. After returning to India he started practicing as lawyer at

Delhi High Court The High Court of Delhi ( Hindustani: दिल्ली उच्च न्यायालय; ''dillī uchcha nyāyālaya'') is the high court in Delhi, India. It was established on 31 October 1966, through the ''Delhi High Court Act, 1966. ...

in 1925. He joined

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

in 1927 and served as the Secretary of

Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) is the Pradesh Congress Committee (state wing) of the Indian National Congress (INC) serving in the union territory of Delhi. It is responsible for organizing and coordinating the party's activities and ca ...

. He was cousin of former president of

Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari (25 December 1880 – 10 May 1936) was an Indian nationalist and political leader, and former president of the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League during the Indian Independence Movement. He was one of the found ...

Career

Faridul Haq actively participated in

and got arrested many times. He was one of the prominent leader of Quit India Movement who was sent to jail during 1942–1945. As a barrister he pleaded the defense in

Meerut Conspiracy Case The Meerut Conspiracy Case was a controversial court case that was initiated in British Raj in March 1929 and decided in 1933. Several trade unionists, including three Englishmen, were arrested for organizing an Indian railway strike. The Briti ...

Trail (1929–33) along with

Jawahar Lal Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru (14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat, and statesman who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. Nehru was a prin ...

and

Kailash Nath Katju Kailash Nath Katju (17 June 1887 – 17 February 1968) was a prominent politician of India. He was the Governor of Odisha and West Bengal, the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, the Union Home Minister and the Union Defence Minister. He was ...

as a member of Central defence Committee setup by the

Congress Working Committee The Congress Working Committee (CWC) is the executive committee of the Indian National Congress. It was formed in December 1920 at Nagpur session of INC which was headed by C. Vijayaraghavachariar. It is composed of senior party leaders and is r ...

. Within Congress Party he was known for his left-leaning. He was elected as the member of policy and programme drafting committee of

Congress Socialist Party The Congress Socialist Party (CSP) was a socialist caucus within the Indian National Congress. It was founded in 1934 by Congress members who rejected what they saw as the anti-rational mysticism of Gandhi as well as the sectarian attitude of ...

. After India's independence he joined

Socialist party (India) The Socialist Party was an Indian political party. It won 12 seats at the 1951 Indian general election, coming third. Despite Jayaprakash Narayan's personal popularity, its electoral fortunes did not improve. It merged with the Kisan Mazd ...

and became the member of its national executive. In the year of 1952 he became the member of

Praja Socialist Party The Praja Socialist Party, abbreviated as PSP, was an Indian political party. It was founded in 1952 when the Socialist Party, led by Jayaprakash Narayan, Rambriksh Benipuri, Acharya Narendra Deva and Basawon Singh (Sinha), merged with the ...

and served as the Joint Secretary of

during 1954–1958. In 1952 at the invitation of

Marshal Tito Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito ( ; , ), was a Yugoslav communist revolutionary and politician who served in various positions of national leadership from 1943 until his death ...

he led a delegation of socialist leaders to

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

, which included

Karpoori Thakur Karpoori Thakur (24 January 1924 – 17 February 1988) was an Indian politician who served two terms as the 11th Chief Minister of Bihar, first from December 1970 to June 1971, and then from June 1977 to April 1979. He was popularly known as Ja ...

, Banke Bihari Das, Shanti Narayan Naik and

Madhu Dandavate Madhu Dandavate (21 January 1924 – 12 November 2005) was an Indian physicist and socialist politician, who served as Minister of Railways in the Morarji Desai ministry, and as Minister of Finance in the V P Singh ministry. Born in Ahmedn ...

. Faridul Haq along with

Asaf Ali Asaf Ali (11 May 1888 – 2 April 1953) was an Indian independence activist and noted lawyer. He was the first Indian Ambassador to the United States. He also served as the Governor of Odisha. Asaf Ali was born on 11 May 1888 AD in Seohara ...

made a major contribution for expansion of Congress Party. They initiated mass contact campaign which resulted in many Muslims joining the Congress Party and deserting the membership of

Muslim League Muslim League may refer to: Political parties British India *All-India Muslim League, led the demand for the partition of India resulting in the creation of Pakistan ** Punjab Muslim League, a branch of the organization above **Unionist Muslim L ...

. After independence Faridul Haq served two terms as the Member of Parliament in

between 1958 and 1966. He died on 4 April 1966 in Delhi due to

coronary thrombosis Coronary thrombosis is defined as the formation of a blood clot inside a blood vessel of the heart. This blood clot may then restrict blood flow within the heart, leading to heart tissue damage, or a myocardial infarction, also known as a heart ...

.Jayprakash Narayan Selected Works, Vol. 1, p.156

Position held

* Secretary, Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee, 1927 * Secretary, Praja Socialist Party, 1954–58 * Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha), 1958–64 * Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha), 1964–66

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ansari, Faridul Haq 1895 births Indian independence activists Rajya Sabha members from Uttar Pradesh People from Ghazipur Quit India Movement 20th-century Indian lawyers Indian National Congress politicians from Uttar Pradesh St. Stephen's College, Delhi alumni Indian independence activists from Uttar Pradesh 1966 deaths Indian socialists Alumni of the University of Oxford Aligarh Muslim University alumni Praja Socialist Party politicians Prisoners and detainees of British India