20 Facts About Minoo Masani

Minocher Rustom "Minoo" Masani was an Indian politician, a leading figure of the erstwhile Swatantra Party.

Minoo Masani was a three-time Member of Parliament, representing Gujarat's Rajkot constituency in the second, third and fourth Lok Sabha.

Minoo Masani served as a member of the Constituent Assembly of India, representing the Indian National Congress.

Minoo Masani introduced the proposal for a uniform civil code to be included in the Constitution of India in 1947, which was rejected.

Minoo Masani became a member of the Indian Legislative Assembly.

Minoo Masani died, aged 92, in his home at Breach Candy, Mumbai.

Minocher Rustom Masani was born to Sir Rustom Masani who was a municipal commissioner of erstwhile Bombay and Vice chancellor of Bombay University.

Minoo Masani began his professional life as an advocate at the Bombay High Court in 1929 before joining the Indian independence movement the following year, during the civil disobedience campaign.

Minoo Masani was arrested several times by British for his participation in the movement.

Minoo Masani was in the Nashik jail in 1932 when Jayaprakash Narayan came in contact with him and they launched the Congress Socialist Party in 1934 together.

Minoo Masani participated in the Quit India Movement in 1942 and was jailed again.

Minoo Masani became a member of the Indian Legislative Assembly.

Minoo Masani was India's representative to UN Sub-Commission on Minorities.

Minoo Masani did not see eye to eye with the Nehru government on USSR's treatment of minorities, so he was withdrawn from the commission and appointed as Indian Ambassador to Brazil in May 1948 for one year.

Minoo Masani went back to electoral politics and got elected to Loksabha in 1957 from Ranchi as an independent candidate.

Minoo Masani won a by election from Rajkot as a Swatantra party candidate.

Minoo Masani was one of the few politicians who opposed the nationalisation of banks by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

Swatantra's party was India's single-largest opposition party in Parliament and Minoo Masani being its leader in Loksabha, initiated debate on finance bills and forced the Congress government to work rigorously.

Minoo Masani met Shakuntala Srivastava the daughter of Jwala Prasad Srivastava, an influential British loyalist during the Quit India movement.

Minoo Masani's first book, Our India, was a best seller and even a prescribed text book in pre-independence India.