Asaf Ali

Asaf Ali's public life joined law, literature, and the struggle for Indian independence. Educated at St Stephen's College in Delhi, he went to London in 1909 and qualified at Lincoln's Inn in 1912. His British connections included Indian nationalists associated with India House and writers such as Sarojini Naidu. He translated Tagore's poetry into Urdu and organized a London literary dinner for Naidu with W. B. Yeats as chairman. ¹

Ali's legal work intersected with revolutionary politics. In the 1929 Central Assembly bombing case he represented Batukeshwar Dutt and advised Bhagat Singh, who declined conventional legal representation. This was distinct from the later Lahore conspiracy case in which Singh was sentenced to death. Ali entered the Central Legislative Assembly in 1935, became a Congress leader, and was imprisoned during the Quit India period. His wife, Aruna Asaf Ali, was herself a prominent independence activist. ^{2, 1, 3}

Appointed ambassador to the United States in 1947, Ali represented India through the transition to independence. At his introductory meeting with Secretary of State George Marshall on February 26, accompanied by embassy minister Binay Ranjan Sen, he emphasized economic development. He described planned river development projects modelled on the Tennessee Valley Authority and anticipated seeking American assistance for them. ^{4, 3}

Ali returned to India as governor of Orissa from 1948 to 1952, then became minister to Switzerland, with responsibility also for Austria and the Vatican. He died in Berne in April 1953. ¹