Feroze Gandhi (born Feroze Jehangir Ghandy;
[: "Feroze Gandhi was also from the Nehrus' home town, Allahabad. A Parsi by faith, he at first spelt his surname 'Ghandy'. However, after he joined the national movement as a young man, he changed the spelling to bring it in line with that of Mahatma Gandhi."
]
12 September 1912 – 8 September 1960) was an Indian
freedom fighter
A resistance movement is an organized effort by some portion of the civil population of a country to withstand the legally established government or an occupying power and to disrupt civil order and stability. It may seek to achieve its objectives ...
, politician and journalist.
Gandhi published the newspapers ''
The National Herald
''The National Herald'' is an English-language weekly newspaper, based in New York City, focusing on the Greek-American community. It was founded in 1997 and added a website in 2004. Its headquarters are in the Long Island City neighborhood of t ...
'' and ''
The Navjivan''. He served as a member of the provincial parliament between 1950 and 1952, and later a member of the
Lok Sabha
The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past ...
, the Lower House of India's
parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
.
Gandhi's wife,
Indira Nehru
Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (; ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and a central figure of the Indian National Congress. She was elected as third prime minister of India in 1966 and was als ...
(daughter of
Jawaharlal Nehru
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat—
*
*
*
* and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...
, the first Prime Minister of India), and their elder son
Rajiv were both
prime ministers of India
The prime minister of India is the chief executive of the Government of India. Although the President of India is the constitutional, nominal, and ceremonial head of state, in practice and ordinarily, the executive authority is vested in the P ...
.
Early life
Feroze Jehangir Ghandy was born on 12 September 1912 to a Parsi family at the
Tehmulji Nariman Hospital in the
Fort
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
district of
Bombay
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
; his parents, Jehangir Faredoon Ghandy and Ratimai (née Commissariat), lived in Nauroji Natakwala Bhawan in Khetwadi Mohalla in Bombay. His father Jahangir was a marine engineer working for Killick Nixon and was later promoted as a warrant engineer. Feroze was the youngest of the five children with two brothers Dorab and Faridun Jehangir, and two sisters, Tehmina Kershashp and Aloo Dastur. The family had migrated to Bombay from
Bharuch (now in South
Gujarat
Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...
) where their ancestral home, which belonged to his grandfather, still exists in Kotpariwad.
In the early 1920s, after the death of his father, Feroze and his mother moved to
Allahabad
Allahabad (), officially known as Prayagraj, also known as Ilahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi (Benares). It is the administrat ...
to live with his unmarried maternal aunt, Shirin Commissariat, a surgeon at the city's Lady Dufferin Hospital. He attended the Vidya Mandir High School and then graduated from the British-staffed
Ewing Christian College
Ewing Christian College (ECC), formerly Allahabad Christian College, is an autonomous constituent college of University of Allahabad, located in Allahabad, India.
The college was established in 1902 by Arthur Henry Ewing, a prominent Presbyte ...
.
Family and career
In 1930, the wing of Congress Freedom fighters, the ''Vanar Sena'' was formed. Feroze met
Kamala Nehru
Kamala Nehru (''née'' Kaul; ; 1 August 1899 – 28 February 1936) was an Indian independence activist and the wife of Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India. Her daughter Indira Gandhi was the first female Prime Minister of India ...
and
Indira among the women demonstrators picketing outside Ewing Christian College. Kamala fainted with the heat of the sun and Feroze went to comfort her. The next day, he abandoned his studies to join the
Indian independence movement
The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947.
The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged ...
. Being inspired by
Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...
, Feroze changed the spelling of his surname from "Ghandy" to "Gandhi" after joining the Independence movement.
[
] He was imprisoned in 1930, along with Lal Bahadur Shastri
Lal Bahadur Shastri (; 2 October 1904 – 11 January 1966) was an Indian politician and statesman who served as the 2nd Prime Minister of India from 1964 to 1966 and 6th Home Minister of India from 1961 to 1963. He promoted the White Re ...
(the 2nd Prime Minister of India), head of Allahabad District Congress Committee, and lodged in Faizabad
Faizabad (Hindustani pronunciation: ɛːzaːbaːd is a city situated near the southern banks of Saryu river in Ayodhya district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The area of this Faizabad region is administered by Ayodhya Municipal Corpor ...
Jail for nineteen months. Soon after his release, he was involved with the agrarian no-rent campaign in the United Province
United may refer to:
Places
* United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community
* United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community
Arts and entertainment Films
* ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film
* ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two fi ...
(now Uttar Pradesh) and was imprisoned twice, in 1932 and 1933, while working closely with Nehru.
Feroze first proposed to Indira in 1933, but she and her mother rejected it, putting forward that she was too young, only 16. He grew close to the Nehru family, especially to Indira's mother Kamala Nehru, accompanying her to the TB sanatorium at Bhowali
Bhowali ( Kumaoni: ''Bhoāli'') is a town and a municipal board in Nainital District in the state of Uttarakhand, India. It is situated at a distance of from the city of Nainital, the district headquarters; at an average elevation of from sea l ...
in 1934, helping arrange her trip to Europe when her condition worsened in April 1935, and visiting her at the sanitarium at Badenweiler and finally at Lausanne, where he was at her bedside when she died on 28 February 1936. In the following years, Indira and Feroze grew closer to each other while in England. They married in March 1942 according to Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
rituals.
Indira's father Jawaharlal Nehru
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat—
*
*
*
* and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...
opposed her marriage and approached Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...
to dissuade the young couple, but to no avail. The couple were arrested and jailed in August 1942, during the Quit India Movement
The Quit India Movement, also known as the August Kranti Movement, was a movement launched at the Bombay session of the All India Congress Committee by Mahatma Gandhi on 8th August 1942, during World War II, demanding an end to British rule in ...
less than six months after their marriage. He was imprisoned for a year in Allahabad's Naini Central Prison
Naini Central Prison or Naini Jail at Naini, near Prayagraj, is one of the most important prisons, and correctional Institutions in Uttar Pradesh, built during the British Raj.
Independence movement history
It became famous in pre-independence ...
. The following five years were of comfortable domestic life and the couple had two sons, Rajiv and Sanjay, born in 1944 and 1946, respectively.
After independence, Jawaharlal became the first Prime Minister of India
The prime minister of India (IAST: ) is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and their chosen Council of Ministers, despite the president of India being the nominal head of the ...
. Feroze and Indira settled in Allahabad with their two young children, and Feroze became Managing Director
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
of ''The National Herald
''The National Herald'' is an English-language weekly newspaper, based in New York City, focusing on the Greek-American community. It was founded in 1997 and added a website in 2004. Its headquarters are in the Long Island City neighborhood of t ...
'', a newspaper founded by his father-in-law.
After being a member of the provincial parliament (1950–1952), Feroze won independent India's first general elections in 1952, from Rae Bareli
Raebareli is a city in Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of Raebareli district and a part of Lucknow Division. The city is situated on the banks of the Sai river, southeast of Lucknow. It possesses many a ...
constituency in Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...
. Indira came down from Delhi and worked as his campaign organizer. Feroze soon became a prominent force in his own right, criticizing the government of his father-in-law and beginning a fight against corruption.
In the years after independence, many Indian business houses had become close to the political leaders, and some of them started various financial irregularities. In a case exposed by Feroze in December 1955,[ pp. 166, 179. See thes]
excerpts
/ref> he revealed how Ram Kishan Dalmia, as chairman of a bank and an insurance company, used these companies to fund his takeover of Bennett and Coleman
and started transferring money illegally from publicly held
A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) company can be listed on a stock exchange (l ...
companies for personal benefit.
In 1957, he was re-elected from Rae Bareli
Raebareli is a city in Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of Raebareli district and a part of Lucknow Division. The city is situated on the banks of the Sai river, southeast of Lucknow. It possesses many a ...
. In the parliament in 1958, he raised the Haridas Mundhra
Haridas Mundhra ( hi, हरिदास मूंदड़ा; died January 6, 2018) was a Kolkata, Calcutta-based stock speculator who was found guilty and imprisoned in the first big financial scandal of newly independent India in the 1950s.
...
scandal involving the government controlled LIC insurance company. This was a huge embarrassment to the clean image of Nehru's government and eventually led to the resignation of the Finance Minister T.T. Krishnamachari
Tiruvellore Thattai Krishnamachari (1899–1974) was an Indian politician who served as Finance Minister from 1956 to 1958 and from 1964 to 1966. He was also a founding member of the first governing body of the National Council of Applied Econo ...
. His rift with Indira had also become public knowledge by then, and added to the media interest in the matter.
Feroze also initiated a number of nationalization drives, starting with the Life Insurance Corporation. At one point he also suggested that TATA Engineering and Locomotive Company
Tata or TATA may refer to:
Places
* Jamshedpur, a city in Jharkhand, India also known as Tatanagar or Tata
* Tata, Hungary, a town in Hungary
* Tata Islands, a pair of small islands off the coast of New Zealand
* Tata, Morocco, a city in Tat ...
(TELCO) be nationalized since they were charging nearly double the price of a Japanese railway engine. This raised a stir in the Parsi community since the Tatas were also Parsi. He continued challenging the government on a number of other issues, and emerged as a parliamentarian well-respected on both sides of the bench.[
]
Death and legacy
Feroze suffered a heart attack in 1958. Indira, who stayed with her father at Teen Murti House
The Teen Murti Bhavan (''Teen Murti House''; formerly known as Flagstaff House) was built by British as the residence New Delhi of the Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru. However, He stayed there for 16 years until his death on 27 May 1 ...
, the official residence of the prime minister, was at that time away on a state visit to Bhutan
Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainous ...
. She returned to look after him in Kashmir
Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...
. Feroze died in 1960 at the Willingdon Hospital, Delhi, after suffering a second heart attack. He was cremated and his ashes interred at the Parsi cemetery in Allahabad
Allahabad (), officially known as Prayagraj, also known as Ilahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi (Benares). It is the administrat ...
.
His Rae Bareli Lok Sabha constituency
Rae Bareli is one of the 80 Lok Sabha (parliamentary) constituencies in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is considered a bastion of the Indian National Congress.
Vidhan Sabha segments
Presently, Rae Bareli comprises five Vidhan ...
seat was held by his daughter-in-law, and wife of Rajiv Gandhi
Rajiv Gandhi (; 20 August 1944 – 21 May 1991) was an Indian politician who served as the sixth prime minister of India from 1984 to 1989. He took office after the 1984 assassination of his mother, then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, to beco ...
, Sonia Gandhi in 2004, 2009, 2014 and 2019.
A school of higher education that he helped found was named after him in Rae Bareli
Raebareli is a city in Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of Raebareli district and a part of Lucknow Division. The city is situated on the banks of the Sai river, southeast of Lucknow. It possesses many a ...
.[
]Feroze Gandhi College
Feroze Gandhi College, is a college in Raebareli, Uttar Pradesh, established on 8 August 1960 by then local Member of Parliament Feroze Gandhi. It is associated with University of Lucknow.
About
Feroze Gandhi College is the main center for highe ...
; http://fgc.edu.in
NTPC Limited
NTPC Limited, formerly known as National Thermal Power Corporation Limited, is an Indian central public sector undertaking under the ownership of the Ministry of Power, Government of India which is engaged in generation of electricity an ...
renamed their Unchahar Thermal Power Station in Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...
to Feroze Gandhi Unchahar Thermal Power Plant
Feroze Gandhi Unchahar Thermal Power Plant is located at Unchahar in Raebareli district in Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The power plant is one of the coal based power plants of NTPC Limited. In the year 1992, Uttar Pradesh State Electricity Bo ...
.
Notes
References
Sources
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gandhi, Feroze
1912 births
1960 deaths
Parsi people
Parsi people from Mumbai
Indian newspaper editors
Indian male journalists
Nehru–Gandhi family
Indian Zoroastrians
Politicians from Allahabad
India MPs 1952–1957
India MPs 1957–1962
Indian National Congress politicians
Indian independence activists from Maharashtra
Prisoners and detainees of British India
Members of the Constituent Assembly of India
Spouses of prime ministers of India
Politicians from Mumbai
Lok Sabha members from Uttar Pradesh
20th-century Indian journalists
Writers from Mumbai
Journalists from Maharashtra
Journalists from Gujarat
Writers from Allahabad
Husbands of national leaders