Asaf Ali, Aruna (1909-1996)

Aruna Asaf Ali was an important figure in 20th-century Indian history. As a nationalist who fought against British imperialism, as a socialist and member of the Communist Party of India, and as an ardent feminist, she made significant contributions to Indian political life. This entry presents her biography and assesses her contribution to Indian politics.

Aruna Asaf Ali was born in a Bengali Hindu family on July 16, 1909. Her father, Upendranath Ganguly, was a hotelier, and her mother, Ambalika, a home-maker. Educated in a Catholic boarding school, she fell in love with English literature and wanted to go to college, but her family pressured her to marry. She rejected arranged marriages and instead opted for a “self-arranged” marriage to a Muslim lawyer and anti-colonial nationalist, Asaf Ali, who was 21 years older than Aruna. The couple faced major opposition from their families, but they did marry in September 1928 and gradually won the support of both their families. In her personal life, Aruna Asaf Ali sought to maintain her individuality. Several of her personal choices, including her marriage to a Muslim, her choice not to have children, and her romantic relationship with Edatata Narayanan after her husband's death, all defied Indian middle-class social conventions.

Asaf Ali contributed to Aruna's intellectual development by introducing her to Gandhi and Nehru and their political struggle against the British. He also broadened her reading interests beyond literature to include works on socialism, feminism, and Indian nationalism. Aruna Asaf Ali came to the forefront of politics when she unfurled the Indian flag at a political gathering in Bombay in August 1942, thus inaugurating the “Quit India Movement” in that city. Because that rally was banned by the British and many political leaders had been jailed in anticipation of the rebellion, her defiant act propelled her to the center of Indian politics. She went underground during the movement and challenged Gandhi's creed of nonviolence by supporting necessary acts of violence against British authorities. She exchanged several letters with Gandhi in which she discussed her choice of going underground, which was contrary to Gandhi's principle of openness in the rebellion. She also refused to surrender to British authorities despite Gandhi's suggestion she do so, because she felt surrender was morally weak. Despite their differences, Gandhi and Aruna Asaf Ali respected each other's political philosophies.

Asaf Ali aligned herself with the socialist wing of the Congress Party and was drawn to Nehru's ideas of industrialization as a means to social justice and equity. After independence, she joined the Congress Socialist Party and soon also found them not radical enough. Eventually, she joined the Communist Party of India (CPI). She was invited to Russia to study Communist society and was given full access by the Soviet government. Following her husband's death in 1953, she continued her political activism. She was elected New Delhi's first mayor in 1958 and ran as an independent candidate. That same year, she established Link, a socialist weekly that sought to support Nehru's socialist economic agenda.

Asaf Ali also actively supported women's issues. She worked with Sarojini Naidu and Rameshwari Nehru and became secretary of the Delhi Women's League, established by Rameshwari Nehru. She worked to increase women's participation in politics and also to promote social change with regard to women's roles in society. She attended the 1932 All India Women's Conference in Lahore and worked through it until the founding of the Communist-led National Federation of Indian Women in 1954.

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