Bhulabhai Desai
Encyclopedia
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
. He is well-remembered for his defense of the three Indian National Army
Indian National Army
The Indian National Army or Azad Hind Fauj was an armed force formed by Indian nationalists in 1942 in Southeast Asia during World War II. The aim of the army was to overthrow the British Raj in colonial India, with Japanese assistance...
soldiers accused of treason during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, and for attempting to negotiate a secret power-sharing agreement with Liaquat Ali Khan
Liaquat Ali Khan
For other people with the same or similar name, see Liaqat Ali Nawabzada Liaquat Ali Khan was a Pakistani statesman who became the first Prime Minister of Pakistan, Defence minister and Commonwealth, Kashmir Affairs...
of the Muslim League.
Early life
Bhulabhai Desai was born in ValsadValsad
Valsad , formerly known as Bulsar, is a city and a municipality in the Valsad district of the Indian state of Gujarat. The city has a collectorate, a district court, and a police headquarters with a historic prison...
, Gujarat. Initially schooled by his maternal uncle, Bhulabhai further studied at the Avabai School in Valsad and the Bharada High School in Bombay, from where he matriculated
Matriculation
Matriculation, in the broadest sense, means to be registered or added to a list, from the Latin matricula – little list. In Scottish heraldry, for instance, a matriculation is a registration of armorial bearings...
in 1895, standing first in his school. He married Ichchhaben while still in school. They had one son, Dhirubhai, but Ichchhabhen died of cancer in 1923. He then joined the Elphinstone College
Elphinstone College
Elphinstone College is an institution of higher education affiliated to the University of Mumbai. Established in 1856, it is one of the oldest colleges of the University of Mumbai. It was exalted as a prestigious seat of learning during the British Raj and is generally observed for its vibrant alumni...
in Bombay from where he graduated in high standing in English literature
English literature
English literature is the literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; for example, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Joseph Conrad was Polish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, J....
and history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
. He won the Wordsworth Prize and a scholarship for standing first in History and Political Economy. He did his M.A.
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
in English from the University of Bombay. Bhulabhai was appointed Professor of English and History in the Gujarat College, Ahmedabad. While teaching he also studied law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
. Desai enrolled as an advocate at the Bombay High Court
Bombay High Court
Bombay High Court at Mumbai, Maharashtra, is the High Court of India with jurisdiction over the states of Maharashtra & Goa, and, the Union Territories of Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli...
in 1905, and became one of the city's and later the nation's leading lawyers.
Political career
Bhulabhai began his political career with joining Annie BesantAnnie Besant
Annie Besant was a prominent British Theosophist, women's rights activist, writer and orator and supporter of Irish and Indian self rule.She was married at 19 to Frank Besant but separated from him over religious differences. She then became a prominent speaker for the National Secular Society ...
's All India Home Rule League. He had joined the Indian Liberal Party
Indian Liberal Party
The Liberal Party of India was a political organization espousing liberal, pro-British points of view in the politics of India under the British Raj.-Liberal point of view:...
, supportive of British influences, but came out in opposition of the all-European Simon Commission
Simon Commission
The Indian Statutory Commission was a group of seven British Members of Parliament that had been dispatched to India in 1927 to study constitutional reform in Britain's most important colonial dependency. It was commonly referred to as the Simon Commission after its chairman, Sir John Simon...
formed in 1928 by the British to formulate constitutional reforms in India. His connection with the Indian National Congress
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...
began when he represented the farmers of Gujarat in the inquiry by the British Government
British Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
following the Bardoli Satyagraha
Bardoli Satyagraha
The Bardoli Satyagraha of 1928, in the state of Gujarat, India during the period of the British Raj, was a major episode of civil disobedience and revolt in the Indian Independence Movement...
in 1928. The satyagraha was a campaign by the farmers of Gujarat protesting oppressive taxation policies in a time of famine, under the leadership of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
Vallabhbhai Jhaverbhai Patel was an Indian barrister and statesman, one of the leaders of the Indian National Congress and one of the founding fathers of India...
. Bhulabhai formidably represented the farmers' case, and was important to the eventual success of the struggle.
Desai formally joined the Congress in 1930. Convinced about the effectiveness of boycott of foreign goods, he formed the Swadeshi Sabha and persuaded 80 textile mills to join in, with the aim of building a boycott by Indian companies of foreign goods. The Sabha was declared illegal and he was arrested in 1932 for his activities. While in jail, Bhulabhai Desai was constantly ill. On his release on health grounds, he went to Europe for treatment. When the Congress Working Committee
Congress Working Committee
Congress Working Committee is the executive committee of the Congress Party in India, it typically consisting of fifteen members elected from the All India Congress Committee or AICC, and is headed by the Working President....
was reorganized, at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel's insistence Desai was included in the committee.
In November 1934, Desai was elected to the Central Legislative Assembly
Central Legislative Assembly
The Central Legislative Assembly was a legislature for India created by the Government of India Act 1919 from the former Imperial Legislative Council, implementing the Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms...
from Gujarat. The Government of India Act 1935
Government of India Act 1935
The Government of India Act 1935 was originally passed in August 1935 , and is said to have been the longest Act of Parliament ever enacted by that time. Because of its length, the Act was retroactively split by the Government of India Act 1935 into two separate Acts:# The Government of India...
, which allowed provincial autonomy, raised the question whether the Congress should participate in the legislatures. Bhulabhai among others supported Congress participation, pointing out the greater autonomy and political rights granted to Indians. When the Congress entered the Central Assembly, he was elected the leader of all elected Congressman, thus becoming the majority leader. He built much respect and standing by forcefully leading the first elected representation of the Congress.
At the onset of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the Congress opposed the arbitrary inclusion of India and Indian soldiers in the war effort. Bhulabhai Desai considered it important to use the Central Assembly to clarify the Congress attitude to the world. Bhulabhai addressed the House on November 19, 1940, making a strong plea which read "...unless it is India's war, it is impossible that you will get India's support." Participating in the satyagraha
Satyagraha
Satyagraha , loosely translated as "insistence on truth satya agraha soul force" or "truth force" is a particular philosophy and practice within the broader overall category generally known as nonviolent resistance or civil resistance. The term "satyagraha" was conceived and developed by Mahatma...
initiated by Mohandas Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi , pronounced . 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was the pre-eminent political and ideological leader of India during the Indian independence movement...
, he was arrested on December 10, under the Defense of India Act and sent to Yeravada jail. He was released from prison in September 1941 on grounds of poor health, which also affected his participation in the Quit India movement
Quit India Movement
The Quit India Movement , or the August Movement was a civil disobedience movement launched in India in August 1942 in response to Mohandas Gandhi's call for immediate independence. Gandhi hoped to bring the British government to the negotiating table...
.
Desai-Liaquat pact
While Mohandas Gandhi and the entire Congress Working Committee had been arrested during the Quit India movement, from 1942 to 1945, Desai was one of few Congress leaders free. While pressing demands for the immediate release of political prisoners, Desai began secretive talks with Liaquat Ali KhanLiaquat Ali Khan
For other people with the same or similar name, see Liaqat Ali Nawabzada Liaquat Ali Khan was a Pakistani statesman who became the first Prime Minister of Pakistan, Defence minister and Commonwealth, Kashmir Affairs...
, the second-most important leader of the Muslim League. It was their intention to negotiate an agreement for a future coalition government, which would enable a united choice for Hindus
Hinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
and Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
s for the independent Government of India. In this deal, Liaquat gave up the demand for a separate Muslim state in turn for parity of Muslims-to-Hindus in the council of ministers. Conceding the League as the representative of Muslims and giving a minority community equal place with the majority Hindus, Desai attempted to construct an ideal Indian alliance that would hasten India's path for freedom while ending the Quit India struggle. While Desai was working without the knowledge of Gandhi, Patel, Jawaharlal Nehru
Jawaharlal Nehru
Jawaharlal Nehru , often referred to with the epithet of Panditji, was an Indian statesman who became the first Prime Minister of independent India and became noted for his “neutralist” policies in foreign affairs. He was also one of the principal leaders of India’s independence movement in the...
or any other Congress leader, Khan had kept the deal a secret from his superior, Muhammad Ali Jinnah
Muhammad Ali Jinnah
Muhammad Ali Jinnah was a Muslim lawyer, politician, statesman and the founder of Pakistan. He is popularly and officially known in Pakistan as Quaid-e-Azam and Baba-e-Qaum ....
.
When a press report leaked the prospective deal in 1945, the respective parties were alarmed. While Desai presented full information to Gandhi, Jinnah and the League outrightly rejected any agreements, and Liaquat Ali Khan denied that such a pact was being negotiated. Desai's assertion that a deal had been reached was ridiculed by the League, while Congress leaders were angry at him for conducting such negotiations without informing them. Bhulabhai Desai would lead a major effort in March 1945 to get the House to defeat the unpopular war budget, but he had lost political standing in his own party owing to the fallout of the Desai-Liaquat pact. He was not given a ticket to contest elections for the Constituent Assembly of India
Constituent Assembly of India
The Constituent Assembly of India was elected to write the Constitution of India, and following independence served as the nation's first Parliament.-Nature of the Assembly:...
on grounds of his ill-health, but also due to feelings in the Congress that Desai had been advancing his own power and popularity while the Congress leadership was imprisoned.
INA soldiers trial
When three captured Indian National Army (INA) officers, Shahnawaz Khan, Prem Kumar Sahgal and Gurbaksh Singh DhillonGurbaksh Singh Dhillon
Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon was an officer in the Indian National Army who was charged with "waging war against His Majesty the King Emperor". Along with Shah Nawaz Khan and Prem Kumar Sahgal, he was tried by the British at the end of World War II in the INA trials that began on November 5, 1945 at Red...
were put on trial for treason, the Congress formed a Defence committee composed of 17 advocates including Bhulabhai Desai. The court-martial
Court-martial
A court-martial is a military court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the armed forces subject to military law, and, if the defendant is found guilty, to decide upon punishment.Most militaries maintain a court-martial system to try cases in which a breach of...
hearing began in October 1945 at the Red Fort. Bhulabhai was the leading counsel for the defense. Undeterred by poor health, Bhulabhai made an emphatic and passionate argument in defense of the charged soldiers. He worked for three months at a stretch. He based his arguments on the principles of international law
International law
Public international law concerns the structure and conduct of sovereign states; analogous entities, such as the Holy See; and intergovernmental organizations. To a lesser degree, international law also may affect multinational corporations and individuals, an impact increasingly evolving beyond...
, arguing that the accused were entitled to take up arms to liberate their country under the order of the Provisional Government which Subhas Bose had established and which had the recognition of a few sovereign governments, and that the Indian Penal Code
Indian Penal Code
Indian Penal Code is the main criminal code of India. It is a comprehensive code, intended to cover all substantive aspects of criminal law. It was drafted in 1860 and came into force in colonial India during the British Raj in 1862...
did not apply to their case. The judge nevertheless pronounced the three officers guilty and sentenced them to transportation for life.