EP 30 - Asaf Ali

A husband and wife who both were freedom fighters and remained useful to the country till the end. In 1928, Aruna got married to Allahabad Congress Party leader Asaf Ali. Asaf Ali was 21 years older than Aruna. When I started meeting Gandhiji after my marriage, he called my marriage a symbol of Hindu-Muslim unity. But I resisted him and said that I did not marry Asaf because he was a Muslim. Was an Indian freedom fighter and famous Indian lawyer. He was the first ambassador from India to the United States. He also served as the Governor of Odisha. On 8 August 1942, when the Congress Party passed the Quit India resolution in its Mumbai session, the British decided to crush it strictly. The result was that all the Congress leaders including Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru were arrested, but this had no effect on the firebrand leader Aruna Asaf Ali who was participating in that session. The next day i.e. on August 9, defying all the restrictions of the British government, he hoisted the tricolour flag of Congress at Gowalia Tank Ground in Mumbai, which is nowadays called ‘Azad Maidan’. After this, instead of being arrested, she went underground. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices