Born: Aruna Asaf Ali Died on July 16, 1909: July 29, 1996 Highlights During the Quit India Movement, Aruna Asaf Ali played a significant role; chosen as Delhi's most memorable City hall leader; given the Jawahar Lal Nehru Award for International Understanding in 1991 and the Lenin Prize for Peace in 1975; in 1998, received the Bharat Ratna.
India's freedom struggle's legendary heroine was Aruna Asaf Ali. During the Quit India Movement in 1942, she had her moment of reckoning, and she rose to the occasion. She became a legend when she unfurled the national flag at the Gowalia Tank maidan to mark the beginning of the Quit India Movement, inspiring thousands of young people to do the same.
On July 16, 1909, Aruna Asaf Ali, also known as Aruna Ganguly, was born into an orthodox Hindu Bengali family in Kalka (Haryana). She received her education in Nainital and the Sacred Heart Convent in Lahore. She taught at the Gokhale Memorial School in Calcutta after graduating from school. She met Asaf Ali, a prominent Congressman who was 23 years older than her, in Allahabad. They got married in 1928 despite parental opposition based on their age and religion.
Aruna Asaf Ali also got involved in the freedom struggle after she got married, as Asaf Ali was very involved in it. During the Salt Satyagraha in 1930, she gave speeches and led procession for her first major political action. She was given a year in prison after the British government accused her of being a "vagrant." Aruna was not released when political prisoners were freed as a result of the Gandhi-Irwin agreement. However, public pressure for her release compelled the British government to release her.
In 1932, she was arrested once more and taken to Tihar Jail. She went on a hunger strike in Tihar Jail against the treatment of political prisoners. Conditions improved as a result of her protest, but she was transferred to Ambala's solitary confinement. She stayed away from the national movement for ten years following her release.
She and her husband went to the Bombay Congress Session in 1942, where on August 8 the historic Quit India resolution was passed. Aruna presided over the flag-raising ceremony at the Gowalia Tank Maidan in Bombay on the day that the Congress leaders were detained. She sparked the movement with her spark. She went underground to avoid arrest and became a full-time Quit India activist. The government took her assets and sold them. In addition, the Government announced Rs. a reward of 5,000 for her capture. In the meantime, she got sick, and Gandhiji told her to give up when he heard this. However, Aruna Asaf Ali did not surrender until the warrants against her were overturned on January 26, 1946.
Aruna Asaf Ali belonged to the Congress Socialist Party at the time of independence, which had previously been a part of the Congress framework. However, the socialists, including Aruna, established their own socialist party in 1948. She became a member of the Communist Party of India's Central Committee and Vice President of the All India Trade Union Congress after this group merged with the Communist Party of India in 1955. In 1958 she left the Socialist Coalition of India and was chosen Delhi's most memorable City chairman. She returned to the Congress party in 1964, but she stopped getting involved in politics. In 1975, she received the Lenin Prize for peace, and in 1991, she received the Jawahar Lal Nehru Prize for International Understanding. When Aruna Asaf Ali passed away on July 29, 1996, She received the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honor, in 1998, and the Indian Postal Service honored her with a stamp.
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