John Aloysius Thivy (

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...

: ஜான் திவி)(1904–1959) was a Malayan Indian politician and former lawyer who was the founding president of the

Malayan Indian Congress The Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC; ta, மலேசிய இந்திய காங்கிரஸ், Malēciya Intiya Kāṅkiras; formerly known as Malayan Indian Congress) is a Malaysian political party. It is one of the founding membe ...

. Thivy finished schooling at

St. Michael's Institution , motto_translation = Who slike God? , established = 1912 , type = All-boys primary and secondary school , grades = Standard 1 - 6Form 1 - 6 , gender = Co-educati ...

Ipoh , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Ipoh in Perak , pushpin_map = #Malaysia#Asia#Earth , pushpin_mapsize = 275px , pushpin_map_caption = Ipoh in Malaysia , coordinates ...

Perak Perak () is a state of Malaysia on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula. Perak has land borders with the Malaysian states of Kedah to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kelantan and Pahang to the east, and Selangor to the south. Thailand's ...

. He studied law in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, before returning to practise in

Malaya Malaya refers to a number of historical and current political entities related to what is currently Peninsular Malaysia in Southeast Asia: Political entities * British Malaya (1826–1957), a loose collection of the British colony of the Straits ...

. In London, Thivy had a chance to meet

Mohandas 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- ...

and came to be interested in 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 ...

. On his return to Malaya, after getting his law degree in 1932, he became involved with the Indian nationalist movements. Later, after the fall of Malaya to the Japanese, Thivy's interest was rekindled by a speech given by

Subhas Chandra Bose Subhas Chandra Bose ( ; 23 January 1897 – 18 August 1945 * * * * * * * * *) was an Indian nationalist whose defiance of British authority in India made him a hero among Indians, but his wartime alliances with Nazi Germany and Imperia ...

at one of his rallies in 1943. Thivy joined the

Indian National Army The Indian National Army (INA; ''Azad Hind Fauj'' ; 'Free Indian Army') was a collaborationist armed force formed by Indian collaborators and Imperial Japan on 1 September 1942 in Southeast Asia during World War II. Its aim was to secure In ...

in 1943 and served in the Burma Front. He also served in a ministerial cabinet post under Bose' Provisional Government of Free India, the

Azad Hind The Provisional Government of Free India (''Ārzī Hukūmat-e-Āzād Hind'') or, more simply, ''Azad Hind'', was an Indian provisional government established in Japanese occupied Singapore during World War II. It was created in October 1943 ...

.Pettibone, Charles, The Organization and Order of Battle of Militaries in World War II, vol. VII, Germany's and Imperial Japan's Allies & Puppet States, p. 412. Trafford Publishing, 2012. ISBN 978-1-4669-0350-0 After the

Japan's surrender The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally signed on 2 September 1945, bringing the war's hostilities to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy ...

, John Thivy was held at

Changi prison Changi Prison Complex, often known simply as Changi Prison, is a prison in Changi in the eastern part of Singapore. History First prison Before Changi Prison was constructed, the only penal facility in Singapore was at Pearl's Hill, beside t ...

for collaboration and was only released after India's independence. On 4 August 1946, Thivy became the 1st and founding President of the

(MIC), which represented

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

interests in

. He was helped in the setting up of the party by other notable individuals such as Janaky Athi Nahappan. The MIC was modelled after the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

. The party participated in the Malayan Independence movement. In 1948, Thivy was appointed as an official to represent

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

by the Nehru Government.

Notes

References

Biographies of INA freedom Fighter National Archives of Singapore

Times of India

Malaysian Indian Congress. History

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20121104040155/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-82779482.html Reference to the "late John Thivy" {{DEFAULTSORT:Thivy, John Indian National Army personnel Malaysian politicians of Indian descent Indian revolutionaries 1904 births 1959 deaths Presidents of Malaysian Indian Congress Malaysian political party founders Ambassadors of India to the Netherlands

See also

Notes

References