| Sir Arcot Ramaswamy Mudaliar KCSI | |
|---|---|
| Arcot Ramaswamy Mudaliar in 1934 | |
| Diwan of Mysore | |
| In office January 1947 – August 15, 1947 |
|
| Monarch | Jayachamaraja Wodeyar Bahadur |
| Preceded by | N. Madhava Rao |
| Succeeded by | post abolished |
| President of the United Nations Economic and Social Council | |
| In office January 23, 1946 – January 23, 1947 |
|
| Preceded by | None |
| Succeeded by | Jan Papanek |
| Member of the Imperial War Cabinet | |
| In office 1942–1945 |
|
| Monarch | George VI of the United Kingdom |
| Prime Minister | Winston Churchill |
| Succeeded by | War Cabinet disbanded |
| Member of the Viceroy's Executive Council | |
| In office 1939–1942 |
|
| Monarch | George VI of the United Kingdom |
| Governor General | Victor Hope, 2nd Marquess of Linlithgow |
| Personal details | |
| Born | October 14, 1887 Kurnool, Madras Presidency |
| Died | July 17, 1976 (aged 88) Madras |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Political party | Justice Party |
| Alma mater | Madras Christian College |
| Occupation | politician |
| Profession | lawyer |
| Religion | Hindu |
Diwan Bahadur Sir Arcot Ramaswamy Mudaliar, KCSI (Tamil: ஆற்காடு ராமசாமி முதலியார்)[1][2](b. October 14, 1887 - d. July 17, 1976) was an Indian lawyer, politician and statesman who served as a senior leader of the Justice Party and in various administrative and bureaucratic posts in pre-independence and independent India.
Arcot Ramaswamy Mudaliar was born on October 14, 1887 in the town of Kurnool and had his schooling in Kurnool. He graduated from the Madras Christian College and studied law at the Madras Law College. On completion of his studies, practised as a lawyer before joining the Justice Party and entering politics. Mudaliar was nominated to the Madras Legislative Council in 1920 and served from 1920 to 1926 and as a member of the Madras Legislative Assembly from 1931 to 1934, losing to S. Sathyamurthy in the 1934 elections. He served as a member of the Imperial Legislative Council from 1939 to 1941 and as a part of Winston Churchill's war cabinet from 1942 to 1945. He was India's delegate to the San Francisco Conference and served as the first President of the United Nations Economic and Social Council. He also served as the last Diwan of Mysore kingdom and occupied the seat from 1946 to 1949.
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Ramasamy Mudaliar was born on October 14, 1887 in Kurnool in a Tamil-speaking Tuluva Vellalar family. He was the eldest of a pair of identical twins, the other being Arcot Lakshmanaswamy Mudaliar.[3] He studied at Municipal High school, Kurnool and graduated in arts from Madras Christian College.[3] On graduation, Mudaliar studied law and was nominated to the Madras Legislative Council.[3]
Ramaswamy Mudaliar was a part of the Justice Party ever since its inception in 1917 and served as its General Secretary.[4] In July 1918, Arcot Ramasamy Mudaliar went to England along with Dr. T. M. Nair and Kurma Venkata Reddy Naidu as a part of the Justice Party delegation to argue in favor of communal representation and give evidence before the Reforms Committee.[5] The evidence was taken just before Dr. Nair's death on July 17, 1919.
Ramasamy Mudaliar rose in stature gradually and began to be regarded as the "brain of the Justice Party".[6] He assisted in coordinating between non-Brahmins in different parts of India and organizing non-Brahmin conferences.[6] Mudaliar was a prominent orator and was known for his inspiring speeches.[6]
In the elections to the Madras Legislative Council held on November 8, 1926, the Justice Party lost the elections winning just 21 of the 98 seats in the Council.[7] Mudaliar was one of the many who met with failure in the elections. Mudaliar took a temporary retirement from politics and replaced P. N. Raman Pillai as the editor of Justice, the mouthpiece of the Justice Party.[6] Under Mudaliar, there was a tremendous growth in circulation and the Justice became widely popular.[6] On March 1, 1929, Mudaliar appeared before the Simon Commission along with Sir A. T. Paneerselvam another important leader of the Justice Party, to provide evidence on behalf of the Justice Party.[6] Mudaliar served as the mayor of Madras from 1928 to 1930. In 1935, Mudaliar resigned as the Chief Editor of Justice following his appointment to the Tariff Board.[6] Mudaliar was knighted in the 1937 Coronation Honours List, by which time he was a member of the Council of the Secretary of State for India.[8] He received the accolade at Buckingham Palace on 25 February 1937.[9]
Mudaliar maintained friendly relations with Shahu Maharaj and non-Brahmin leaders from Maharashtra and parts of North India and helped in coordinating between and uniting leaders from different parts of India and in organizing non-Brahmin conferences.[10] Mudaliar was a participant in the Satara non-Brahmin Conference held on December 18, 1922.[10] Rajaram II presided over this conference.[10] He also participated in the All-India Non-Brahmin Conference held at Belgaum on December 26, 1924 where Mudaliar's oratory was appreciated. At the Seventh Non-Brahmin Conference held on February 8, 1925, he appealed for unity amongst non-Brahmins.[10][11]
Following the death of Sir P. T. Theagaroya Chetty in 1925, Ramaswamy Mudaliar functioned as the sole link between Shahu Maharaj's Satya Shodhak Samaj and the Justice Party. He assisted the Raja of Panagal in organizing an All-India Non-Brahmin Confederation at Victoria Hall, Madras on December 19, 1925. Mudaliar supported the candidature of B. V. Jadhav who was eventually appointed President. On December 26, 1925, he organized a second conference at Amaravati. The conference comprised two sessions. The Maharaja of Kolhapur presided over the first while the Raja of Panagal presided over the second. In the second session of the Conference, Mudaliar said:
It was too late in the day for me to defend what was the Non-Brahmin movement. When its activities had spread from Bombay to Madras, from the Vindhya mountains to Cape Comorin, its very extent and the lightning rapidity with which its principles have pervaded the country will be the best justification of the Movement
Mudaliar's utterances at this conference became the target of The Hindu which criticized him by saying that "the Speaker was desiring to produce an effect in another province, forced him to draw rather freely on his imagination".
Shortly before the Second World War broke out in 1939, Ramaswamy Mudaliar was appointed member of the Viceroy's Executive Council.[12][13] In June 1942, he was knighted again as a KCSI. In July 1942, Ramasamy Mudaliar was appointed to Prime Minister Winston Churchill's War Cabinet, one of the two Indians nominated to the post,with equal rights and privileges as representatives from Britain's dominions.[14] I
Mudaliar served as India's delegate to the United Nations at the San Francisco Conference between April 25 and June 26, 1945 where he chaired the committee which discussed economic and social problems.[15] Mudaliar was elected as the First President of the Economic and Social Council during its session at Church House, London, on January 23, 1946.[16][17] Under his presidency, the Economic and Social Council passed a resolution in February 1946 calling for an international health conference.[18] At the health conference which was eventually held on June 19, 1946, inaugurated by Sir Arcot Ramasamy Mudaliar, the World Health Organization came into being and the constitution for the new organization was read out and approved by delegates from 61 nations.[19] On the expiry of his one-year term, he returned to India and took over as the Chief Minister of Mysore.
Arcot Ramaswamy Mudaliar was appointed as the Diwan or Chief Minister of Mysore in 1946.[20] He was the last Diwan of Mysore and presided over its accession to the Indian Union. Though, initially, Arcot Ramaswamy Mudliar was against the accession of Mysore state to the Indian Union and so advised the Maharaja, Jayachamarajendra Wodeyar, later he changed his mind in face of opposition from the Mysore wing of the Indian National Congress.[21][22] During his tenure as Diwan of Mysore, Mudaliar organised a number of Tamil music concerts in the Mysore kingdom in order to raise money for the restoration of Carnatic musician Tyagaraja's samadhi or tomb at Tiruvaiyaru.[23]
Mudaliar was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1954 and the Padma Vibhushan in 1970.[24] In his later years, Mudaliar served as the Chairman of the India Steamship Company and of the Tube Investments of India, until his death in 1976;
VARIOUS POSITIONS HELD: 01. 1911 Enrolled as the member of the Madras Bar Council. 02. 1917 Joined with the Justice Party. 03. 1921 Secretary to the Parliament Education Minister. 04. 1920 Elected as the Member of the Madras Legislative Council. 05. 1927 Honorary Editor, "Justice" News Paper.
-1935
06. 1928 Mayor, Corporation of Madras.
-1930
07. 1936 Member, Council of the Reserve Bank of India.
-1937
08. 1942 Chairman, C.S.I.R.(Madras). 09. 1945 President, Indian Delegation to the U.N. Council Meeting at Sanfrancisco. 10. 1946 Chairman, United Nation's Economic & Social Council. 11. 1946 Divan, Mysore State.
-1949
12. 1947 Chairman, Indian Shipping Corporation. 13. 1950 Chairman, Sethu Samudram Plan 14. 1951 Vice Chancellor, University of Travancore (Kerala).
-1957
15. 1952 Member, Delhi Legislative Council.
-1962
TITLES: 01. 1937 "SIR" title from George V, King of England. 02. 1942 K.C.S.I.(England) 03. 1945 L.L.D. from Usmania University, Hydrabad. 04. 1946 D.C.L. from Oxford University, London. 05. 1946 D.C.L. from Universities of Mysore and Tiruvancore. 06. 1953 D.C.L. from Durham University. 07. 1957 Doctor of Law, from University of Madras. 08. 1970 Padma Vibhushan, from the President, Govt. of India.
-Natesan Kailasam, Biograher of Arcot Twins in Tamil, "Agilam Viyakkum Atralmigu Irattaiyar" (2001).
Despite his violent tirades against Varnashrama dharma and Hindu scriptures in his writings and editorials in the Justice, Ramasamy Mudaliar was known to be a staunch Vaishnavite. He regularly sported the Vaishnavite namam. Once while offered beef during a visit to England, he refused it with horror.[25]
Searchlight was the debates and speeches of A.Lakshmanasamy Mudaliar in the Madras Legislative Assembly. He was nomonated as a member, later he became the Chairman of the above council.
Natesan Kailasam (Biographer of Arcot Twins in Tamil titled "AGILAM VIYAKKUM ATRALMIGU IRATTAIYAR" (2001)
Dr.Lakshmanasamy Mudaliar is the younger twin brother of Sir A.Ramasamy Mudaliar.
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