Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed

Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed (13 May 1905 – 11 February 1977) was an Indian lawyer and politician who served as the fifth President of India from 1974 to 1977. He was also the second President of India to die in office.[1][2]

Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed
5th President of India
In office 24 August 1974 – 11 February 1977
Prime Minister	Indira Gandhi
Vice President	B. D. Jatti Gopal Swarup Pathak
Preceded by	V. V. Giri
Succeeded by	B. D. Jatti (Acting)
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
In office 1967-1977
Preceded by	Renuka Devi Barkataki
Succeeded by	Ismail Hossain Khan
Constituency	Barpeta
Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha
Personal details
Born	13 May 1905 Delhi, British India (now India)
Died	11 February 1977 (aged 71) New Delhi, India
Political party	Indian National Congress
Spouse(s)	Begum Abida Ahmed
Children	3
Alma mater	University of Cambridge Inner Temple
Profession	Lawyer

Early life and background

Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed was born on 13 May 1905 at the Hauz Qazi area of Old Delhi, India.[2] His father, Col. Zalnur Ali Ahmed, was an Assamese Muslim and the first indigenous person from northeast India to have an M.D. (Doctor of Medicine) degree.[3] His mother, Sahibzadi Ruqaiyya Sultan, was a daughter of the Nawab of Loharu.[4] Ahmed's grandfather, Khaliluddin Ali Ahmed, was from Kacharighat near Golaghat, Assam, and hailed from a well-known indigenous Assamese Muslim family. He married an indigenous Assamese Muslim girl named Begam Abida Ahmed of Sheikhupur, Badaun, Uttar Pradesh.[5]

Ahmed attended St. Stephen's College, Delhi, and St Catharine's College, Cambridge. He was called to the Bar from the Inner Temple of London and began legal practice in the Lahore High Court in 1928.[2][4]

Political years

He met Jawaharlal Nehru in England in 1925. He joined the Indian National Congress and actively participated in the Indian Freedom Movement. In 1942 he was arrested during the Quit India Movement and sentenced to ​3 ¹⁄₂ years' imprisonment.[2] He was a member of the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee from 1936 and of AICC from 1947 to 1974, and remained the Minister of Finance, Revenue and labour in 1948 Gopinath Bordoloi Ministry.[6]

After Independence he was elected to the Rajya Sabha (1952–1953) and there after became Advocate-General of the Government of Assam. He was elected on Congress ticket to the Assam Legislative Assembly on two terms (1957–1962) and (1962–1967) from Jania constituency.[6]

Subsequently, he was elected to the Lok Sabha from the Barpeta constituency, Assam in 1967 and again in 1971. In the Central Cabinet he was given important portfolios relating to Food and Agriculture, Co-operation, Education, Industrial Development and Company Laws.[6]

Presidency

Ahmed was chosen for the presidency by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1974, and on 20 August 1974, he became the second Muslim to be elected President of India. He is known to have issued the proclamation of emergency by signing the papers at midnight after a meeting with Indira Gandhi the same day.[7] He used his constitutional authority as head of state to allow him to rule by decree once the Emergency in India was proclaimed in 1975.[8]

He is well known among Indian diplomats for his visit to Sudan in 1975.[9] He was the second Indian president to die in office, on 11 February 1977. His death occurred after he collapsed in his office while preparing to attend his daily Namaz prayer. The cause of his death was a heart attack. Today, his grave lies right across the Parliament of India next to the Sunhari Masjid, at Sansad Chowk, in New Delhi.[10]

Honours

He was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Pristina, in Kosovo, in 1975, during his visit to Yugoslavia.[11]

He was elected President of the Assam Football Association and the Assam Cricket Association for several terms; and was also the Vice-President of the Assam Sports Council.[12]

In April 1967, he was elected President of the All India Cricket Association. He was a member of the Delhi Golf Club and the Delhi Gymkhana Club from 1961.[13]

A medical college, Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed Medical College has been named after him at Barpeta Assam.[14]

Grave of former Indian President Fakhrudhin Ali Ahmad

See also

• Death and state funeral of Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed

References

1. Former Presidents Archived 10 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine President of India website.
2. Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed (1905–1977): Biography RRTC, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. Archived 29 July 2017 at the Wayback Machine
3. "[Assam] Lt Col Sivram Bora". 7 July 2007. Retrieved 8 June 2019.
4. "History of India". Retrieved 17 May 2016.
5. "India's First Lady Moves Into the Official Spotlight". The New York Times. 25 October 1974.
6. Nikhat Ekbal (2009). Great Muslims of undivided India. Kalpaz. pp. 99–101. ISBN 8178357569.
7. "Who is Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed?". The Indian Express. 1 August 2018. Retrieved 8 June 2019.
8. "Shri Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed". Past Presidents of India. Retrieved 8 June 2019.
9. "India-South Sudan Relations" (PDF). Ministry of External Affairs. Retrieved 8 June 2019.
10. "President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed passes away". India Today. 28 February 1977.
11. Rajendra Kumar. President and Prime Minister of India. p. 1963.
12. Dr. Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed - President of India, Glorious India
13. "Fifth Lok Sabha". Retrieved 8 June 2019.
14. "Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed (1974 - 1977)". The Economic Times. 21 July 2017. Retrieved 8 June 2019.

Further reading

• Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, by M. A. Naidu, 1975
• Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, by Attar Chand. Pub. Homeland, 1975.
• Janak Raj Jai (2003). "Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed". Presidents of India, 1950–2003. Daya Books. p. 101. ISBN 81-87498-65-X.
• Speeches of President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, Publications Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Govt. of India, 1980.
• My eleven years with Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, by F. A. A. Rehmaney. S. Chand, 1979.

External links

• Legends of Assam