Category Personalities

               Varahagiri Venkata Giri was born in Berhampur in the present Ganjam district of Odisha on 10th August 1894. His father, V.V. Jogayya Pantulu, was a prominent lawyer and political activist while his mother, Subhadramma, was active in the national movement as well. He completed his initial education at the Khallikote College in Berhampur.

               In 1913, he went to Ireland to study law at the University College, Dublin. The same year, Giri met Gandhiji who influenced him deeply, and finally made him realize that the freedom struggle was far more important than studying law. At college, Giri became involved with the Sinn Fein movement, which led to his expulsion from Ireland in 1916, leaving him unable to complete his law degree.

               Upon returning to India, he also became a member of the Congress party. In 1920, he participated in Mahatma Gandhi’s non-cooperation movement. In 1926, he was elected president of the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC). In 1942, he was imprisoned again for participating in the Quit India Movement.

               In May 1967, he was elected the third Vice President of India and remained in office for the next two years. After the death of the then President Zakir Husain, V.V. Giri became the Acting President and later, the President of India.

           After the death of Dr. Zakir Husain, V.V. Giri became the first ever Acting President of India in 1969. When President Zakir Husain died on 3rd May 1969, Giri was elevated to the  office of Acting President the same day.

         On 20th July 1969, he resigned from the post of Acting President to contest election as an independent candidate. He won the election, and held office for a full term of five years from 24th August 1969, to 24th August 1974. He became the only person to be elected President as an independent candidate.

          He was considered as one of the prominent figures behind the trade union movements in India. He not only organised the labour force of India and improved their condition, but also include them in the national struggle for independence. Along with his fellow Congress workers from different parts of the country, he succeeded in forming the All India Trade Union Congress. He served as its president in 1926 and 1942.

          V.V. Giri was honored by the Government of India with the Bharat Ratna in 1975.

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               Dr. Zakir Husain was the third President of India and the first Muslim to occupy the post. However, they could only occupy the position for a period of two years from 13th May 1967 until his death on 3rd May, 1969.

               Dr. Zakir Husain was nominated to the Rajya Sabha and thus, became a member of the Indian Parliament in 1956.

               However, he held this position only for a year, after which he became the Governor of Bihar, a post he occupied for five years from 1957 – 1962. Dr. Husain was honoured with the Bharat Ratna award in 1963.

               Dr. Zakir Husain died on 3rd May 1969, the first Indian President to die in office. He was buried on the campus of the Jamia Milia Islamia in New Delhi. Dr. Zakir Husain was one of the biggest exponents of education in India, and it was under his leadership that the National Muslim University was founded.

               During Dr. Zakir Husain’s last days, the issue of nationalization of banks was being hotly debated. The bill, at last, received presidential consent from Mohammad Hidayatullah, who served as the Acting President on 9th August 1969.

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            After returning to India from Germany, in 1927, he took over as the head of the Jamia Milia Islamia University, which was by then, facing the threat of closure due to financial constraints. He aimed to revive the university.

            The university was involved in India’s freedom movement. It was under his leadership that the education institution not only managed to stay afloat, but contributed to the Indian struggle for freedom from the British Rule. During this period, Husain emerged as one of the most prominent educational thinkers and practitioners of modern India. In 1948, he became the Vice Chancellor of the Aligarh Muslim University. In 1956, he was nominated to the Rajya Sabha. However, just after a year, he was appointed as the Governor of Bihar, a position he served in for five years from 1957 to 1962.

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            Dr. Zakir Husain was born on 8th February 1897, in Hyderabad. Dr. Husain was born to Fida Husain Khan and Naznin Begum. His father Fida Husain was a very popular advocate. His father died when he was only 10. The next year, Zakir and his family shifted to Etawah in Uttar Pradesh. He completed his school education from Islamic High School, Etawah. When he was 14, his mother too passed away leaving Husain and his six siblings orphaned.

            Later, he enrolled at the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College, which is now popularly known by the name of Aligarh Muslim University, where he was a prominent student leader.

            In 1918, he passed his BA Honours, and joined for the MA course, but the Khilafat and non-cooperation movement led by Mahatma Gandhi, inspired him to leave the government administered college. For two years, from 1920 to 1922, he took up the position of a teacher at Jamia Milia University. He translated Plato’s ‘Republic’, and Cannon’s ‘Elementary Political Economy’, into Urdu. He received his doctorate in economics from the Frederick William University of Berlin.

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            Dr. Zakir Husain was the third President of India. He was a freedom fighter and educational reformer. He held office from 13th May 1967, until his death on 3rd May, 1969.

            Dr. Husain was the country’s first Muslim President, and also the first to die in office. He occupied the office for the shortest period. He was elected as a member of the Rajya Sabha in 1952 for the first time. He was elected for one more time in 1956. He became the Governor of Bihar in 1957. In 1962, he was elected as the second Vice President of India.

            He was someone who relentlessly worked for nationality, educational progress and secularism in India. The nation honoured him with the Padma Vibhushan in 1954, and then the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian honour in the country, in 1963.

            He was also the co-founder of the Jamia Milia Islamic University. Jamia Milia was very much involved in the freedom struggle of India. The colonial British government soon imprisoned many of its teachers and students. The university faced financial crisis and Dr. Zakir Husain, along with his friends, helped Jamia Milia to resolve the problems. He served as its Vice Chancellor for approximately 21 years.

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