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. Stephens
College, Delhi, which was run by the Cambridge
University Mission.
After graduating from St. Stephens College,
he went to London in 1909 and was enrolled at
Lincolns 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 Indias 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 Gandhis 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 partys 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 Gandhis 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 Alis health and a serious illness
led to his release in May 1945. As soon as the
war was
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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 Boses 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 Indias
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.
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