Sir
''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as p ...
Tej Bahadur Sapru (8 December 1875 20 January 1949) was an Indian freedom fighter, lawyer, and politician. He was a key figure in India's struggle for independence, helping draft the
Indian Constitution
The Constitution of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme law of India. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions and sets out fundamental r ...
. He was the leader of the
Liberal party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
in British-ruled India.
Early life and career
Tej Bahadur Sapru was born in
Aligarh
Aligarh (; formerly known as Allygarh, and Kol) is a city in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Aligarh district, and lies northwest of state capital Lucknow and approximately southeast of the capita ...
in the
United Provinces (now
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 ...
), in a
Kashmiri Pandit
The Kashmiri Pandits (also known as Kashmiri Brahmins) are a group of Kashmiri Hindus and a part of the larger Saraswat Brahmin community of India. They belong to the Pancha Gauda Brahmin group from the Kashmir Valley, a mountainous region ...
family.
Sapru was the only son of Ambika Prasad Sapru, a
zemindar
A zamindar ( Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as a ...
, and his wife Gaura Sapru (née Hukku). Sapru's mother Gaura was the sister of Niranjan Hukku, whose daughter Uma was married to Shyamlal Nehru, a first cousin 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 ...
. Sapru was also an eighth cousin of
Allama Iqbal
Sir Muhammad Iqbal ( ur, ; 9 November 187721 April 1938), was a South Asian Muslim writer, philosopher, Quote: "In Persian, ... he published six volumes of mainly long poems between 1915 and 1936, ... more or less complete works on philoso ...
, national poet of
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
and a Muslim ideologue who was among those who formulated the very idea of Pakistan in the 1930s.
He was educated at the Agra College. Sapru worked in the
Allahabad High Court
Allahabad High Court, also known as High Court of Judicature at Allahabad is the high court based in Prayagraj that has jurisdiction over the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It was established on 17 March 1866, making it one of the oldest high ...
as a
lawyer
A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...
where
Purushottam Das Tandon
Purushottam Das Tandon (; 1 August 1882 – 1 July 1962) was a freedom fighter from Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India. He is widely remembered for his opposition to the partition of India, as well as efforts in achieving the ''Official Langu ...
, a future nationalist leader, worked as his junior. He later served as a dean of the
Banaras Hindu University
Banaras Hindu University (BHU) IAST: kāśī hindū viśvavidyālaya IPA: /kaːʃiː hɪnd̪uː ʋɪʃwəʋid̪jaːləj/), is a collegiate, central, and research university located in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India, and founded in 1916 ...
. On 13 December 1930, Sapru was admitted to the
Middle Temple
The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...
, but withdrew on 14 January 1932 without being
called to the English bar.
Political career
Sapru served in the
Legislative Council of the United Provinces
The Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council (Hindi: ''Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Parishad'') is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of Uttar Pradesh, a state in India. Uttar Pradesh is one of the six states in India, where the state legislature i ...
(1913–16) and the
Imperial Legislative Council
The Imperial Legislative Council (ILC) was the legislature of the British Raj from 1861 to 1947. It was established under the Charter Act of 1853 by providing for the addition of 6 additional members to the Governor General Council for legislativ ...
(1916–20) and as a member for law affairs in the
Viceroy's Council (1920–23). Sapru and Indian Liberals collaborated with the Congress after the ascent of
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- ...
, who advocated
non-violent civil disobedience against British rule. Sapru supported the
Non-cooperation movement
The Non-cooperation movement was a political campaign launched on 4 September 1920, by Mahatma Gandhi to have Indians revoke their cooperation from the British government, with the aim of persuading them to grant self-governance. until (1920–22). He was knighted as a
Knight Commander of the Order of the Star of India
The Most Exalted Order of the Star of India is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria in 1861. The Order includes members of three classes:
# Knight Grand Commander (GCSI)
# Knight Commander ( KCSI)
# Companion ( CSI)
No appointments ...
(KCSI) in the
1923 King's Birthday Honours list, As early as 1927, Sapru organised an All Party Conference to begin drafting the
Indian Constitution
The Constitution of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme law of India. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions and sets out fundamental r ...
. In 1928, he helped draft the Nehru Committee Report on Constitutional Reforms. It is acknowledged as the most important document related to the evolution of the Indian Constitution. For the first time in the history of India, it proposed uniting the princely states with the rest of India as a part of the federal polity.
Although initially a member of 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 ...
, India's largest political party, Sapru left it to join the
Liberal Party of India. While he supported ''
Swaraj
Swarāj ( sa, स्वराज, translit=Svarāja '' sva-'' "self", '' raj'' "rule") can mean generally self-governance or "self-rule". It was first used by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj to attain self rule from the Mughal Empire and the Adil ...
'' (Self Rule) and
civil disobedience
Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal of a citizen to obey certain laws, demands, orders or commands of a government (or any other authority). By some definitions, civil disobedience has to be nonviolent to be called "civil". Hen ...
against British colonial rule, as a constitutionalist, Sapru advocated for greater political rights and freedoms for Indians to be achieved through dialogue with British authorities. For example, on 28 February 1930, he attended a dinner party organised by the Standing Committee of British India and minister advisers.
Chimanlal Setalvad from Bombay was also present ready to co-operate with Muslims
M. A. Jinnah, and
M. R. Jayakar
Mukund Ramrao Jayakar (M.R. Jayakar) (13 November 1873 – 10 March 1959, Bombay) was the first Vice-Chancellor of the University of Poona. He was a lawyer, scholar and politician. He was a prominent freedom fighter.
Jayakar was born in a Marat ...
, alongside
C. P. Ramaswami Aiyer from Madras. The Committee absorbed Haksar's Report, and agreed to hold monthly meetings; their deliberations became known as the Sapru Committee recommendations. These "conversations with the princes are very important" declared New Delhi.
Kailas Nath Haksar was a personal friend who also proposed federation of British and princely India, responsibility was a conservative counter-weight to radicalisation. They established good relations with the British Ministry of Works and Gandhi to build a forum for the round table conference. On 17 November 1930 the All-India Federation gained princely support for a constitutional relationship. Although unaware of the impact of this shift, Sapru sought out Gandhi and Nehru for conversations against civil disobedience movements. He was not successful, other than drawing criticism from Nehru about British control over the Army and financial safeguards. However they had more success in Bhopal and Bikaner, proposed the establishment of a Centre Party with allies in Oudh and United Provinces. They were in no stronger position when the Second Round Table Conference started. The factional splits were fatal to the princes cause; and Sapru's severe criticisms of Maharaja of Dhollpur only served to postpone federation. But he persevered with colleagues Jayakar and Haksar to lobby officials, when he was informed the Viceroy warned against repudiation. Lord Willingdon remained aloof and indifferent to his efforts. The bureaucratic denials slowed attempts, and so in early 1932 Lord Lothian of the Franchise Committee made overtures towards Federation, they recruited Hailey's organ ''The Pioneer'' to persuade the princes to donate.
Sapru and other Liberal politicians, eager to achieve independence through dialogue, participated in the central and provincial legislatures set up by the British, even though they were opposed by most Indian political parties and ignored by the people, who considered the legislatures to be unrepresentative "rubber stamps" for the
Viceroy of India
The Governor-General of India (1773–1950, from 1858 to 1947 the Viceroy and Governor-General of India, commonly shortened to Viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom and after Indian independence in 19 ...
. Many Congress politicians respected Sapru as an eminent jurist, as he was a valuable and effective mediator. Sapru mediated between Gandhi and the Viceroy
Lord Irwin
Edward Frederick Lindley Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax, (16 April 1881 – 23 December 1959), known as The Lord Irwin from 1925 until 1934 and The Viscount Halifax from 1934 until 1944, was a senior Conservative Party (UK), British Conservat ...
, helping to forge the
Gandhi–Irwin Pact
The Gandhi–Irwin Pact was a political agreement signed by Mahatma Gandhi and Lord Irwin, Viceroy of India, on 5 March 1931 before the Second Round Table Conference in London. Before this, Irwin, the Viceroy, had announced in October 1929 a va ...
that ended the Salt Satyagraha. Sapru also mediated between Gandhi, Dr.
Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar
Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (14 April 1891 – 6 December 1956) was an Indian jurist, economist, social reformer and political leader who headed the committee drafting the Constitution of India from the Constituent Assembly debates, served a ...
and the British over the issue of separate electorates for India's "
Untouchables", which was settled by the
Poona Pact
The Poona Pact was an agreement between Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. B. R. Ambedkar on behalf of Dalits, depressed classes, and upper caste Hindu leaders on the reservation of electoral seats for the depressed classes in the legislature of British ...
. Sapru was chosen as the representative of Indian Liberals at the
Round Table Conferences
The three Round Table Conferences of 1930–1932 were a series of peace conferences organized by the British Government and Indian political personalities to discuss constitutional reforms in India. These started in November 1930 and ended in Dec ...
(1931–33), which sought to deliberate plans over granting more autonomy to Indians. His efforts along with those of his contemporary
M. R. Jayakar
Mukund Ramrao Jayakar (M.R. Jayakar) (13 November 1873 – 10 March 1959, Bombay) was the first Vice-Chancellor of the University of Poona. He was a lawyer, scholar and politician. He was a prominent freedom fighter.
Jayakar was born in a Marat ...
at the Round Table Conferences for bridging the differences between the British administration and Congress are well known. But by Third Round Table many princes would not turn up, and their ministers were lukewarm about federation, and personalities clashed to exclude his able lieutenant Haksar. Sapru had to battle conservative intransigent and princely fickleness when participation was largely voluntary. He was appointed a member of the Privy Council on 26 February 1934.
Sapru supported the Viceroy's decision to bring India into the Second World War in 1939, even as the Congress criticised the decision as unilateral and made without consulting the representatives of India's people. Sapru was also one of the main lawyers engaged to defend captured soldiers of the rebel
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 ...
, raised by nationalist leader
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 ...
with the aid of
Imperial Japan
The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent forma ...
during the warand 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 ...
(1942–46).
Sapru Committee Report
In 1944, the Standing Committee of the Non-Party Conference adopted a resolution to appoint a committee that would make recommendations on constitutional principles, taking into particular account issues of communal division in India. Sapru was invited to head the committee, and to appoint members representing various communities to participate in the preparation of its report.
This report, titled 'Constitutional Proposals of the Sapru Committee', came to be commonly known as the Sapru Committee Report, and contained 21 recommendations pertaining to constitutional questions that concerned the governance and politics of India. The Report was published along with a detailed exposition of the reasoning behind these recommendations and included a number of notes of dissent from committee members, as well as details of correspondence regarding their deliberations between the committee and political figures such as
B.R. Ambedkar
Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (14 April 1891 – 6 December 1956) was an Indian jurist, economist, social reformer and political leader who headed the committee drafting the Constitution of India from the Constituent Assembly debates, served a ...
,
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 others.
The Sapru Committee Report rejected the proposal for the division of the Indian sub-continent into the two states of India and Pakistan, and made a number of recommendations for the protection of minorities in a unified state.
While the Report did not receive much attention or consideration when it was published, it was cited and considered a number of times by the
Constituent Assembly of India
The Constituent Assembly of India was elected to frame the Constitution of India. It was elected by the 'Provincial Assembly'. Following India's independence from the British rule in 1947, its members served as the nation's first Parliament as ...
when drafting the
Constitution of India
The Constitution of India (IAST: ) is the supreme law of India. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions and sets out fundamental ri ...
.
Personal life
Sapru and his wife were the parents of five children. Their three sons were Prakash Narain Sapru, Trijugi Narain Sapru, and Anand Narain Sapru and their daughters were named Jagdambashwari and Bhuvaneshwari. Sapru was the grandfather of
Jagdish Narain Sapru, former chairman of
British Oxygen
BOC Ltd is a British based multinational, industrial gas company, more commonly known as BOC, now a part of Linde plc. In September 2004, BOC had over 30,000 employees on six continents, with sales of over £10.6 billion. BOC was a constituent ...
and of
ITC Limited
ITC Limited is an Indian conglomerate company headquartered in Kolkata. ITC has a diversified presence across industries such as FMCG, hotels, software, packaging, paperboards, specialty papers and agribusiness. The company has 13 businesses in ...
.
Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru died on 20 January 1949 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 ...
, seventeen months after India gained independence.
Notes
References
*''Crusader for self-rule: Tej Bahadur Sapru & the Indian National Movement: life and selected letters''(1999) by Rima Hooja ASIN: B0006FEFZK,
*''Tej Bahadur Sapru'' (Builders of modern India) by Sunil Kumar Bose, Publications Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Govt. of India (1978), ASIN: B0006E11GM
*''Indian national movement and the liberals'' by Abha Saxena, Allahabad, India: Chugh Publications, 1986. foreword by A.C. Banerjee.
Muldoon, Andrew Robert, "Making a `moderate' India: British conservatives, imperial culture and Indian political reform, 1924–1935"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sapru, Tej Bahadur
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