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• The Prime Minister paid tributes to Acharya JB Kripalani on his birth anniversary.

About Acharya JB Kripalani

Early Life: Jiwatram Bhagwandas Kripalani was born in Hyderabad, Sindh in 1888. 

• In 1912, he began his career as an English and History teacher in Muzaffarpur College, Bihar. 1888 – 1958
• He taught briefly at the Benaras University and later became the Principal of the Gujarat Vidyapeeth.

Role in India’s Independence Movement:

• He was an ardent Gandhi follower and in 1927 joined the Indian National Congress. 
• He took part in the Champaran Satyagraha, Non-Cooperation movement, and Quit India movement.
• He was elected as the Congress Party President in 1946 but resigned a year later due to growing differences with the party members on the role of the Working Committee.

Contribution to Constitution Making:

• He was elected to the Constituent Assembly from the United Province. 
• He was the Chairman of the Sub-Committee on Fundamental Rights. 

Later Contributions:

• In 1951, he started his own political party – Krishak Mazdoor Praja Party – which later merged with the Praja Socialist Party. 
• He left Praja Socialist Party and retired from active politics. 
• He was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1952, 1957, 1963 and 1967.
• He moved the first-ever No confidence motion in Lok Sabha in 1963.
• He was a critic of the Indira Gandhi government and was arrested during Emergency in 1975.

Key Writings: My Times: An Autobiography, Gandhi His Life and Thought, Some stray thoughts.

• The Prime Minister remembered Maulana Azad on his birth anniversary.

Early Life:  He was born in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. 

• Azad was inspired by the modernist writings of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan. 
• In his teenage years, he transformed into a dynamic journalist and published Al-Hilal, a Calcutta based Urdu newspaper.
• He became the president of the Indian National Congress on two occasions – in 1923 and in 1940.

Role in India’s Independence Movement:

• He was a brief but active participant in the Khilafat Movement (1920-24), in the midst of which he held the post of the president of the All-India Khilafat Committee.
• After the Khilafat Movement, he was inspired by Mahatma Gandhi, and actively participated in his civil disobedience initiatives namely the Dandi March (1930) and the Quit India Movement (1942). 

Contribution to Constitution Making:

• He was elected to the Constituent Assembly from the United Provinces on a Congress ticket. 

Later Contributions

• After independence, he was appointed as the Education Minister.
• 11 November is observed as National Education Day every year since 2008.
• He was monumental in establishing the Indian Council for Cultural Relation (ICCR) to secure cultural exchange between India and the Eastern Countries.
• He was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna in the year 1992 in recognition of his efforts as a freedom fighter, journalist, scholar, and poet.

Key Writings: An Autobiographical Narrative. Other important books include Gubar-e-Khatir, Azad on Pakistan, and Tazkirah.