Sri Prakasa (3 August 1890 – 23 June 1971) was an Indian politician, freedom-fighter and administrator. He served as India's first High Commissioner to Pakistan from 1947 to 1949, Governor of Assam from 1949 to 1950, Governor of Madras from 1952 to 1956 and Governor of Bombay from 1956 to 1962. Sri Prakasa was born in Varanasi in 1890. In his early days, he participated in the Indian independence movement and was jailed. After India's independence, he served as an administrator and cabinet minister. Sri Prakasa died in 1971 at the age of 80.

Early life

Sri Prakasa was born on 3 August 1890 in

Varanasi Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world. * * * * The city has a syncretic t ...

Bhagwan Das Bhagwan Das (12 January 1869 – 18 September 1958) was an Indian Theosophist and public figure. For a time he served in the Central Legislative Assembly of British India. He became allied with the Hindustani Culture Society and was active in ...

. He had his schooling at Central Hindu Boys' School C.H.B.S. (B.H.U.) Varanasi and graduated from

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

Indian independence movement

Prakasa was arrested 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 ...

and was in jail from 1942 to 1944.

High Commissioner to Pakistan

In August 1947, Sri Prakasa was appointed India's first High Commissioner to Pakistan and served in the post till 1949. During this time, Pakistan was gripped by communal riots and Sri Prakasa had to deal with the influx of refugees to India and the granting of Indian citizenship to migrants. Sri Prakasa had also to represent India's diplomatic interests during Pakistan's invasion of Kashmir.

Governor of Assam

Sri Prakasa served as the Governor of Assam from 16 February 1949 to 27 May 1949. When Prakasa took over as governor, there were serious disturbances in the eastern parts of the province which were inhabited by the Mizo Hill tribes. The Governor pacified the agitators by promising to grant sufficient autonomy. As a result, a Lushai Hills Advisory Council was set up. During his short tenure, he secured the accession of

Manipur Manipur () ( mni, Kangleipak) is a state in Northeast India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. It is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west. It also borders two regions of Myanm ...

Governor of Madras

Sri Prakasa was elected to Lok Sabha from

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 ...

in 1952 but was quite soon appointed the Governor of Madras. He served as the Governor of Madras from 1952 to 1956. While governor, he took the highly criticized decision to invite politician

C. Rajagopalachari Chakravarti Rajagopalachari (10 December 1878 – 25 December 1972), popularly known as Rajaji or C.R., also known as Mootharignar Rajaji (Rajaji'', the Scholar Emeritus''), was an Indian statesman, writer, lawyer, and independence activis ...

to form a Congress government in the state despite the fact that the Indian National Congress did not have a majority and Rajagopalachari was not an elected member of the assembly as he had not participated in the elections. Rajagopalachari requested Prakasa to nominate him to the assembly thereby foregoing the usual process of election by the members of the assembly. However, Rajagopalachari resigned in two years because of strong opposition to his leadership among party ranks.

P.C. Alexander Padinjarethalakal Cherian Alexander (20 March 1921 – 10 August 2011) was an Indian Administrative Service officer of 1948 batch who served as the Governor of Tamil Nadu from 1988 to 1990 and as the Governor of Maharashtra from 1993 to 2002. ...

, a former

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

and

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

governor, viewed the behaviour of the Governor and the Chief Minister of Madras in 1952 as one of the most serious breaches of the democratic process.

Governor of Bombay

Sri Prakasa served as the Governor of Bombay.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prakasa, Sri Indian independence activists from Uttar Pradesh Governors of Assam Governors of Tamil Nadu Governors of Maharashtra 1971 deaths Governors of Bombay Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan in public affairs 1890 births High Commissioners of India to Pakistan Politicians from Varanasi Members of the Central Legislative Assembly of India Prisoners and detainees of British India Alumni of the University of Cambridge India MPs 1952–1957 Lok Sabha members from Uttar Pradesh People from Allahabad district Commerce and Industry Ministers of India