Aruna Asaf Ali was an Indian educator, political activist, and publisher. She is widely remembered for hoisting the Indian National flag at the Gowalia Tank maidan, Bombay during a Quit India Movement in 1942. Post-independence, she remained active in politics, becoming Delhi’s first Mayor.
About Aruna Asaf Ali in brief
Aruna Asaf Ali was an Indian educator, political activist, and publisher. She is widely remembered for hoisting the Indian National flag at the Gowalia Tank maidan, Bombay during a Quit India Movement in 1942. Post-independence, she remained active in politics, becoming Delhi’s first Mayor. She was dubbed the Heroine of the 1942 movement for her bravery in the face of danger and was called Grand Old Lady of the Independence movement in her later years. However, she faced criticism for her support of the Royal Family of India. She died in 1946 and was buried in Delhi’s Baghol Joshi Joshi Memorial Cemetery. She left a treasured note to Mahatma Gandhi urging him to come out of hiding and surrender herself as she could utilize the reward amount for the Harijan cause – her mission was accomplished.
She also wrote a book about her experiences in jail and later wrote a play about her life in Calcutta. Aruna was a member of Indian National Congress and participated in public processions during the Salt Satyagraha. In 1932, she was held prisoner at the Tihar Jail where she protested the indifferent treatment of political prisoners by launching a hunger strike. In the year 1942, she went underground to evade the arrest and started an underground movement. Her property was seized and sold and she also edited Inquilab, a monthly magazine of the Congress Party, along with Ram Manohar Lohia. She fell ill and was for a period hiding in Dr. Joshi’s Hospital in Delhi.
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