Lala Avtar Narain Gujral (also, Lala Avatar Narayan Gujral; died 1976) was an Indian politician from Punjab and the father of I. K. Gujral, the 12th prime minister of India (hence also the father-in-law of noted Hindi poet Sheila Gujral), and artist Satish Gujral. He represented the non-Muslim population of West Punjab in the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan for a few months.
His grandson Naresh Gujral is also a politician in India.
Personal life
Gujral was born in Pari Darwaza, a hamlet about twenty five miles away from Jhelum; he lost his father Duni Chand at an age of sixteen to bubonic plague.[1] Gujral was an alumnus of D.A.V. Lahore, and finished his higher secondary schooling from Jammu; he was a lawyer, by profession.[1] He was married to Pushpa.[1]
Gujral's son described him as a Hindu reformist who drew inspiration from the Arya Samaj movement and especially, Lala Lajpat Rai.[1]
Political career
British India
Gujral served as the district-president for the Jhelum unit of the Indian National Congress.[1] He was jailed multiple times by the British Government for engaging in subversive activities.[1]
Pakistan
As the 1946 Cabinet Mission to India decided on partitioning India, Gujral chose to stay in Pakistan; he was ensured of a harmonious environment by Ghazanfar Ali Khan, a lawyer from Jhelum and a leading League politician.[2] On 4 July 1947, Gujral was elected by the non-Muslim members of the (yet-undivided) Punjab Assembly to the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan;[3]Template:Efn he attended the inaugural session on 10 August.[4]
Three days later, the non-Muslim members of the Constituent Assembly met in Gujral's home at Karachi, and formed the "Pakistan Congress"; he was elected as the Chief Whip.[1] Soon, Liaquat Ali Khan, the first prime minister of Pakistan, sent him to Delhi to ensure the safety of Muslims who wished to migrate to Pakistan; while in Delhi, Gujral arranged for the migration of his extended family and esp. the women.[1] He stayed with his son in Karachi for a while, before following suit.[1]Template:Efn A year later, in January 1949, the "Committee on Addition and/or Redistribution of Seats" recommended the dissolution of his seat in the Constituent Assembly.Template:Efn
India
Gujral settled in Jalandhar; at Nehru's behest, he was appointed as a Judge in the Punjab Industrial Tribunal.[5] He died on 30 May 1976 of cardiac arrest.[6]
Notes
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Matters of Discretion: an autobiography{{#if:Gujral|, Gujral}. Penguin Books(2011). ISBN 978-938048080-0
- ↑ Changing Homelands: Hindu Politics and the Partition of India{{#if:Nair|, Nair}. Harvard University Press(2011). ISBN 9780674057791
- ↑ Punjab Speaker Defeated: Pakistan Assembly. Times of India(5 July 1947).
- ↑ Constituent Assembly of Pakistan Debates: Sunday, 10th August, 1947{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Government of Pakistan(1947)
- ↑ Scars Of 1947: Real Partition Stories{{#if:Shukla|, Shukla}. Penguin Random House India Private Limited(2022). ISBN 9789354924101
- ↑ Former ambassador to Moscow K.P.S. Menon awarded the Lenin Prize. India Today(13 March 2014). Retrieved 2022-12-29.