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. She was first a member of the Socialist Party and then of the Communist Party of India, with a seat on. He defended Batukeshwar Dutt as a lawyer. Aruna Asaf Ali, who has died aged 86, was a legendary heroine of India's freedom struggle. 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 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. As a student she took part in the Quit India Movement in 1942 and worked with Aruna Asaf Ali. 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. She attained her early education from Sacred Heart Convent in Lahore. Brought up independently, she was the eldest child of the family. Upon his return to India, Asaf Ali became heavily involved in the nationalist movement. Aruna Asaf Ali was born as Aruna Ganguly in an orthodox Bengali Brahmin family to Upendranath Ganguly and Ambalika Devi on Jat Kalka, Punjab.

He saw this as an act of non-cooperation and returned to India in December 1914. 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). Asaf Ali supported the Turkish side and resigned from the Privy Council. In 1914, the British attack on the Ottoman Empire had a large effect on the Indian Muslim community. He was called to bar from Lincoln's Inn in England.

Aruna asaf ali