Khurshed Framji Nariman (1883 – 1948), also known as Veer Nariman, was one of the second generation of

Parsi Parsis () or Parsees are an ethnoreligious group of the Indian subcontinent adhering to Zoroastrianism. They are descended from Persians who migrated to Medieval India during and after the Arab conquest of Iran (part of the early Muslim conq ...

stalwarts in 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 ...

. He remained

Mayor of Bombay The Mayor of Mumbai is the elected chief of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai. The mayor is the first citizen of the city. The role is largely ceremonial as the real powers are vested in the Municipal Commissioner. The Mayor plays a d ...

from 1935 for a year.

Life

After studying B.A. and L.L.B., he started his career as a lawyer, and soon his political career as a youth leader, and later with Bombay Municipality, widely supported by

Vallabhbhai Patel Vallabhbhai Jhaverbhai Patel (; ; 31 October 1875 – 15 December 1950), commonly known as Sardar, was an Indian lawyer, influential political leader, barrister and statesman who served as the first Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister of I ...

. Hinnells, p. 257 He came into the public eye in 1928 as an independent and courageous politician for his sensational protest against the British engineer,

George Buchanan George Buchanan ( gd, Seòras Bochanan; February 1506 – 28 September 1582) was a Scottish historian and humanist scholar. According to historian Keith Brown, Buchanan was "the most profound intellectual sixteenth century Scotland produced." ...

involved in the Bombay ' Backbay Reclamation' scandal. He was cited for libel, but exposed the scandalous financial arrangements in this scheme. Nariman was later elected president of the Bombay Provincial Congress Committee and then mayor of Bombay. His ''Whither congress? 'Spiritual idealism' or 'political realism' some random thoughts on the Poona conference and after'', published in 1933, was unpopular among members of the party. In 1930 he was influenced 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- ...

and organised and led the

civil disobedience movement The Salt March, also known as the Salt Satyagraha, Dandi March and the Dandi Satyagraha, was an act of nonviolent civil disobedience in colonial India led by Mahatma Gandhi. The twenty-four day march lasted from 12 March to 6 April 1930 as a di ...

(

Salt March The Salt March, also known as the Salt Satyagraha, Dandi March and the Dandi Satyagraha, was an act of nonviolent civil disobedience in colonial India led by Mahatma Gandhi. The twenty-four day march lasted from 12 March to 6 April 1930 as a di ...

) in Bombay and also led Bombay province contingent at the

All India Congress Committee The All India Congress Committee (AICC) is the presidium or the central decision-making assembly of the Indian National Congress. It is composed of members elected from state-level Pradesh Congress Committees and can have as many as a thousan ...

(AICC). He remained

from 1935 to 1936. However, following the provincial elections of 1937 in the

Bombay Presidency The Bombay Presidency or Bombay Province, also called Bombay and Sind (1843–1936), was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India, with its capital in the city that came up over the seven islands of Bombay. The first mainl ...

in which Congress secured majority, he was passed over in the selection of the chief minister in favour of

B. G. Kher Balasaheb Gangadhar Kher (24 August 1888 – 8 March 1957) was an Indian politician who served as the prime minister of Bombay (1937 - 1939, 1946 - 1947) and the first chief minister (then called Premier) of Bombay State (1947 - 1952). He was a ...

. He complained of a communal bias to the party high command, but no investigation was taken up by

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 ...

. Gandhi responded to a separate appeal, but could find no proof for Nariman's complaints. He was expelled from the Congress party due to his vociferous but unsubstantiated charges. His attempts to reestablish himself in the freedom movement through the

All India Forward Bloc The All India Forward Bloc ( AIFB) is a left-wing nationalist political party in India. It emerged as a faction within the Indian National Congress in 1939, led by Subhas Chandra Bose. The party re-established as an independent political party a ...

(founded in 1939 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 ...

) failed.

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- ...

Nariman Point Nariman Point is a prominent downtown area of Mumbai in Maharashtra, India. Located on the southern tip of the Mumbai peninsula, at the end of the Mumbai's Marine Drive, Nariman Point houses some of India's prestigious business headquarters. ...

is named after him. He lived at Readymoney Mansion near

Horniman Circle The Horniman Circle Gardens is a large park in South Mumbai, India, which encompasses an area of 2½ acres (10,100 m²). It is situated in the Fort district of Mumbai, and is surrounded by office complexes housing the country's premier banks. D ...

(then Elphinstone Circle) in Mumbai, the road is now called Veer Nariman Road, after him.

Works

*''Harvey-Nariman Libel Case: With a Brief History of the Development Department..''. S. M. Surveyor, 1927. * ''"Whither congress?": 'Spiritual idealism' or 'political realism,' some random thoughts on the Poona conference and after''. D. R. Dewoolkar, 1933. * ''What Next?''. Bombay Book Depot, 1934.

Legacy

* Mumbai's a Southern area is named Khurshed Nariman as

References

*Portions of this text are fro
The Mumbai Pages
(c) 2005, Sourendu Gupta, as released under the terms of the ''

GNU Free Documentation License The GNU Free Documentation License (GNU FDL or simply GFDL) is a copyleft license for free documentation, designed by the Free Software Foundation (FSF) for the GNU Project. It is similar to the GNU General Public License, giving readers the r ...

'' *
Khurshed F. Nariman, Biography

TIFR Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) is a public deemed research university located in Mumbai, India that is dedicated to basic research in mathematics and the sciences. It is a Deemed University and works under the umbrella of the De ...

Parsi people from Mumbai All India Forward Bloc politicians Politicians from Mumbai Indian independence activists from Maharashtra Mayors of Mumbai Indian National Congress politicians from Maharashtra Marathi politicians Maharashtra politicians 1883 births 1948 deaths {{Maharashtra-INC-politician-stub

Life

Works

Legacy

Further reading

References