Rafi Ahmed Kidwai

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Rafi Ahmed Kidwai
Born 18 February 1894
Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh, India
Died 24 October 1954
Organization Indian National Congress
Movement Indian Independence movement

Rafi Ahmed Kidwai (Hindi: रफ़ी अहमद क़िदवई رفیع احمد قدوائی Urdu ), (18 February 1894 – 24 October 1954) was a politician, an Indian independence activist and a socialist, sometimes described as an Islamic socialist.[1] He hailed from Barabanki District of United Provinces, now Uttar Pradesh, in north India.

Early life

Late Rafi Sahab had five brothers, he himself was the eldest. other brothers were Late Shafi Ahmad Kidwai, Late Mehfooz Ahmad Kidwai, Late Ali Kamil Kidwai and Late Hussain kamil Kidwai.Now Fareed Kidwai s/o late Mehfooz Ahmad Kidwai is a MOS in UP govt. Other surviving nephews are Rishad Kamil Kidwai s/o Late Mehfooz Ahmed Kidwai, Mumtaz Kamil Kidwai s/o Late Ali Kamil Kidwai and Hasan Javed Kidwai s/o Husain kamil Kidwai.

Politics (pre-independence)

After attending Muhammedan Anglo-Oriental College in Aligarh, Kidwai entered politics through the Khilafat movement. After the passage of the Government of India Act 1935, he held an office for the Indian National Congress.

In 1937, Kidwai became a minister for Revenue and Prisons in Govind Ballabh Pant's cabinet in the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh (UP) under the Provincial Autonomy Scheme. Under his stewardship, UP became the first province to curtail the zamindari system. In April 1946, he became the Home Minister of UP.

Politics (post-independence)

Kidwai was a major ally of Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India. After India gained independence from the British Raj in 1947, Kidwai became India's first Minister for Communications. (Kidwai and Abul Kalam Azad were the two Muslims in Nehru's central cabinet.)

After the first general elections in 1952,Mr.Kidwai elected from Bahraich. Nehru entrusted Kidwai with the portfolio of Food and Agriculture at a time when there was food rationing in the country.

Death

Kidwai died on 24 October 1954.

Legacy in Modern India

The Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Award was created in 1956 by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) in 1956 to recognize Indian researchers in the agricultural field. Awards are distributed every second year, and take the form of medals, citations, and cash prizes.[2]

In Nov 2011, Government of India decided to rename the Postal Staff College, Ghaziabad after him as Rafi Ahmed Kidwai National Postal Academy.[3] The National Academy is entrusted with the task of imparting training to the officers of Indian Postal Service selected through Civil Services Examination conducted by the UPSC. The Academy is in the same league as its counterpart Administrative and Police academies named after stalwarts like Lal Bahadur Shastri and Sardar Patel.[4]

In Kolkata, a major street has been named after him to glorify this hero of the Indian independence movement.[5] His Statue is also located in Indira Nagar,Lucknow and Krishi Bhawan, NEW DELHI to honour his service towards the nation

In his honour,Veteran educationist Sri Asad Ali Farooqui established RAFI AHMAD QIDWAI INTER COLLEGE in Hardoi district of Uttar Pradesh.The college was started in 1958 as a junior high school and later became an inter college.Recently Rafi Ahmad Qidwai Inter College completed 50 years of its establishment.Sri Asad Ali Farooqui became the Founder and the first principal of the college and after retiring in 1992, now serves as the president of the college committee.

Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology is named after him.He played a major role in donating 20 acres of the Campus land and Rs. 100,000 for the Radiotherapy machine.

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ http://www.icar.org.in/merits.html
  3. ↑ http://www.indiapost.gov.in/Pdf/No.2-04-2009-Trg_31-10-2011.pdf
  4. ↑ http://www.raknpa.gov.in
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

Further reading

  • Paul R. Brass, Kidwai, Rafi Ahmad (1894–1954), politician in India in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (2004)
  • M. Bassien, ed., Who's who in legislature, 1 (1953)
  • M. Weiner, Party politics in India: the development of a multi-party system (1957)
  • P. N. Chopra, Rafi Ahmad Kidwai: his life and work (1960)
  • S. Sunder and S. Shyam, Political life of Pandit Govind Ballabh Pant, 1: 1887–1945 (1960)
  • Sampurnanand, Memories and reflections (1962)
  • A. P. Jain, Rafi Ahmad Kidwai: a memoir of his life and times (1965)
  • P. R. Brass, Factional politics in an Indian state: the Congress Party in Uttar Pradesh (1966)
  • S. Gopal, Jawaharlal Nehru: a biography, 2: 1947–1956 (1979)
  • V. Menon, From movement to government: the Congress in the United Provinces, 1937–42 (2003)
  • M. Hasan, From pluralism to separatism: qasbas in colonial Awadh (2004)

External source

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