ARUNA ASIF ALI

Aruna Asif Ali was an Indian independence activist. She is widely remembered for hoisting the Indian National Congress flag at the Gowalia Tank maidan in Bombay during the Quit India Movement, 1942. 

The turning point in Aruna's life was her participation in the Quit India movement launched by Mahatma Gandhi in August 1942.  Following the arrest of all the leaders of the Indian National Congress, on 9^th august 1942 Aruna presided over the historic Congress session in Bombay (Mumbai) and hoisted the national flag. This marked the commencement of the movement. The police fired upon the assembly at the session. Aruna was dubbed the Heroine of the 1942 movement for her bravery in the face of danger and was called Grand Old Lady of the Independence movement in her later years.

Outraged by the trampling of the flag by a British soldier, she renounced nonviolence and went underground to guide the movement, moving from city to city to escape arrest.  Along with Ram Manohar Lohia , she edited Inquilab, a revolutionary monthly of congress party.  The government announced an award of five thousand rupees for her capture, but she successfully remained underground until 1946, when the warrants against her were canceled.

She broke away from the Congress and later joined the Left Socialist Group; she also took an active interest in the trade union movement.  This group merged with the Communist Party of India (CPI) in 1955, and Aruna became a member of the central committee and vice president of the All India Trade Union Congress.  In 1954 she established the National Federation of Indian Women, the women's wing of the CPI. 

In 1958 she left the CPI and became Delhi's first elected mayor. She was a leading member of the Indo-Soviet Cultural Society and the All India Peace Council.

She was associated with two left-wing journals: Link, a weekly started in 1958, and Patriot, a daily founded in 1962.

Aruna was awarded several national and international awards

International Lenin Peace Prize 1964,

Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration

Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding 1991

Padma Vibhushan, 1992

Bharat Ratna (posthumously) 1997.

Aruna Asif Ali Marg in New Delhi was named in her honor. The all India Minorities distributes the Dr Aruna Asaf Ali Sadbhawana Award annually.