Aruna Asaf Ali Essay in English for UPSC
Aruna Asaf Ali, an icon of India’s youth power and
women determination against the British rule, was born as Aruna Ganguly in a
cultured Bengali family on July 16, 1909 AD at Kalka, Punjab. Her father’s name
was Upendranath Ganguly and her mother was Ambalika Devi. She got her education
in Lahore and Nainital. After her Graduation, she started her career as a
teacher in the Gokhale Memorial School in Calcutta now called Kolkata.
Her life witnessed a revolutionary change after her
meeting in Allahabad with Asaf Ali, an eminent freedom fighter of that time.
She married Asaf Ali in 1928 AD. Aruna soon plunged into the Indian freedom
struggle movement under the influence of Asaf Ali. Aruna Asaf Ali was very much
impressed with the ideas and philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi. Aruna actively
participated in the Salt Satyagraha, resulting in her imprisonment. She did not
stop even in jail as she launched a hunger strike in the jail against the
unjust treatment of the prisoners.
Aruna Asaf Ali is best remembered for her major role
in the Quit India Movement in 1942 AD. After the arrest of major Congress
leaders during the Quit India Movement, Aruna Asaf Ali came forward as a leader
and got phenomenal success in it. Aruna presided over the remainder of the INC
Session on August 09, 1942 in absence of major Congress leaders after their
arrest. She bravely hoisted the Congress flag at the Gowalia Tank Maidan in
Bombay, now Mumbai as a mark of the launch of the Quit India Movement. She soon
became the national icon of the youthful Indian resistance to the cruel British
rule. The British government launched a massive campaign to catch her but in
vain. The government seized her property break her but she stood solid like a rock
on her path of national freedom.
She also edited the ‘Inquilab’, the Congress party’s
monthly magazine. She came out in public when the arrest warrant against her
was withdrawn in 1946. Being influenced by the philosophy and ideas of
Socialism, she became a member of the Congress Socialist Party, a group within
the Congress. After India’s freedom, she joined the Communist Party of India.
She was also elected the first mayor of Delhi in 1958. She renounced active
politics. She passed away on July 29, 1996.
Some Important Points
No:1. In 1954, Aruna Asaf Ali formed the ‘National
Federation of Indian Women’.
No:2. She started a weekly journal ‘Link’ and a daily
newspaper ‘Patriot’ to propagate her ideas of socialism and reforms.
No:3. She earned the epithet of ‘Heroine of the 1942
Movement’ by boldly hoisting the Congress flag at the Gowalia Tank Maidan.
No:4. She was the recipient of the International Lenin
Peace Prize in 1964.
No:5. She also won the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for
International Understanding in 1991.
No:6. She was decorated with the Bharat Ratna, India’s
top civilian award in 1997 posthumously.
No:7. Aruna Asaf Ali is also referred to as ‘the Grand
Old Lady of Indian freedom Movement’.
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