https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Minoo_MasaniMinoo Masani - Revision history2026-09-07T01:51:41ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.43.6https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?title=Minoo_Masani&diff=292363&oldid=prev->BD2412: clean up punctuation and spacing issues, primarily spacing around commas, replaced: ,P → , P, , → , (2)2021-06-17T06:26:34Z<p>clean up punctuation and spacing issues, primarily spacing around commas, replaced: ,P → , P, , → , (2)</p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{short description|Indian politician}}<br />
{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}<br />
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}<br />
{{Infobox officeholder<br />
| name = Minoo Masani<br />
| image = Minoo Masani.jpg<br />
| caption =<br />
| birth_name = Minocher Rustom Masani<br />
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1905|11|20}}<br />
| birth_place = [[Bombay]], [[Bombay Presidency]], [[British India]]<br />
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1998|05|27|1905|11|20}}<br />
| death_place = Mumbai, India<br />
| occupation = Journalist, Politician, Writer, Diplomat<br />
| party = [[Swatantra Party]]<br />
| otherparty = [[Indian National Congress]]<br />
| ambassador_from = India<br />
| country = Brazil<br />
| term_start = May 1948 <br />
| term_end = May 1949<br />
| predecessor = <br />
| successor = Joginder Sen Bahadur<br />
| president = [[Rajendra Prasad]]<br />
| constituency_MP1 = [[Ranchi (Lok Sabha constituency)]]<br />
| parliament1 = Indian<br />
| term_start1 = 1957<br />
| term_end1 = 1962<br />
| predecessor1 = Abdul Ibrahim<br />
| successor1 = P. K. Ghosh <br />
| prior_term1 =<br />
| constituency_MP2 = [[Rajkot (Lok Sabha constituency)]]<br />
| parliament2 = Indian<br />
| term_start2 = 1967<br />
| term_end2 = 1971<br />
| predecessor2 = U. N. Dhebar<br />
| successor2 = Ghanshyambhai Oza<br />
| prior_term2 =<br />
| known_for = Promotion of [[liberal economy]]<br />
}}<br />
{{Liberalism sidebar}}<br />
'''Minocher Rustom''' "'''Minoo'''" '''Masani''' (20 November 1905 – 27 May 1998) was an Indian politician, a leading figure of the erstwhile [[Swatantra Party]]. He was a three-time Member of Parliament, representing Gujarat's [[Rajkot (Lok Sabha constituency)|Rajkot constituency]] in the [[2nd Lok Sabha|second]], [[3rd Lok Sabha|third]] and [[fourth Lok Sabha]]. A [[Parsi people|Parsi]], he was among the founders of the [[Indian Liberal Group]] think tank that promoted [[classical liberalism]].<ref name="PFriedrich_1999">{{cite book | editor=Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung | title=Liberal priorities for India in the 21st century | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PQkNAQAAMAAJ | access-date=27 May 2013 | year=1999 | publisher=Project for Economic Education | page = 18 }}</ref><br />
<br />
He served as a member of the [[Constituent Assembly of India]], representing the [[Indian National Congress]]. He introduced the proposal for a [[uniform civil code]] to be included in the [[Constitution of India]] in 1947, which was rejected.<ref>{{cite book|title=Gender and Community: Muslim Women's Rights in India By Vrinda Narain|year=2001|pages=57|isbn=9780802048691|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TxBEQpqFy7cC&q=minoo+masani&pg=PA57|last1=Narain|first1=Vrinda}}</ref><br />
<br />
His public life began in the [[Bombay Municipal Corporation]], where he was elected as Mayor in 1943. He also became a member of the [[Imperial Legislative Assembly|Indian Legislative Assembly]].<ref name="Express"/> In August 1960, he along with [[C. Rajagopalachari]] and [[N. G. Ranga]] formed the [[Swatantra Party]], while international Communism was at its peak.<br />
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He died, aged 92, in his home at [[Breach Candy]], Mumbai. His funeral was held at [[Chandanwadi, Mumbai|Chandanwadi]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Minoo Masani dead|url=http://www.rediff.com/news/1998/may/27misani.htm|access-date=24 February 2018|work=[[Rediff.com]]|date=27 May 1998}}</ref><br />
<br />
==Early life==<br />
Minocher (Minoo) Rustom Masani was born to Sir Rustom Masani who was a municipal commissioner of erstwhile Bombay and Vice chancellor of Bombay University. Masani was educated in Bombay before he moved to [[London]] where he studied at the [[London School of Economics]]<ref name="Barnett2014">{{cite book|author=Vincent Barnett|title=Routledge Handbook of the History of Global Economic Thought|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Sm5eBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT572|date=27 August 2014|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-317-64411-8|pages=572–}}</ref> and he obtained his [[Bachelor of Laws|bachelor's degree in law]] before training as a barrister at the [[Lincoln's Inn]] in 1928.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Reed|first1=Stanley|author-link1=Stanley Reed (British politician)|title=The Indian And Pakistan Year Book And Who's Who 1950|date=1950|publisher=[[The Times Group|Bennett Coleman and Co. Ltd.]]|page=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.15206/page/n746 712]|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.15206|access-date=24 February 2018}}</ref><br />
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== Political life ==<br />
<br />
He 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. He was arrested several times by British for his participation in the movement. He was in the Nashik jail in 1932, when [[Jayaprakash Narayan]] came in contact with him and together they launched the [[Congress Socialist Party]] in 1934. He participated in Quit India Movement in 1942 and was jailed again.<ref name="CADIndia 1905">{{cite web | title=CADIndia | website=CADIndia | date=1905-11-20 | url=https://cadindia.clpr.org.in/constituent_assembly_members/m__r__masani | access-date=2019-07-02}}</ref> After his jail term was over he entered legislative politics, He got elected mayor of Bombay Municipal Corporation.<ref name="Rediff.com 1998">{{cite web | title=Rediff On The NeT: Minoo Masani dead | website=Rediff.com | date=1998-05-27 | url=https://www.rediff.com/news/1998/may/27misani.htm | access-date=2019-07-02}}</ref> Masani was a close friend of [[Jawaharlal Nehru]].<ref>{{cite book|title=The Book on Trial: Fundamentalism and Censorship in India By Girja Kumar|year=1997|pages=453|isbn=9788124105252|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n-KUICFfA00C&q=minoo+masani&pg=PA453|last1=Kumar|first1=Girja}}</ref><br />
He also became a member of the [[Imperial Legislative Assembly|Indian Legislative Assembly]].<ref name="Express"/><br />
<br />
After [[Stalin's Great Purge]] and [[Eastern Bloc|takeover of Eastern Europe]], Masani moved away from Socialism and became a supporter of [[free market economics]]. Post-independence, Masani's political convictions propelled him to support "[[democratic socialism]]" in India as it "avoided monopoly, private or public".<ref name="Express">''[[The Indian Express]]'' dated Thursday, 8 April 1948, ''[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=GsA-AAAAIBAJ&sjid=ZUwMAAAAIBAJ&dq=industrial%20policy%20free%20enterprise&pg=2061%2C756877 Advance Towards Democratic Socialism]'' online</ref> He withdrew from politics for a while. He was India's representative to UN Sub-Commission on Minorities. He 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.<ref name="Liberals India 1905">{{cite web | title=M.R. Masani | website=Liberals India | date=1905-11-20 | url=http://www.liberalsindia.org/mr-masani.html | access-date=2019-07-04}}</ref> After his stint in Brazil, He returned to India and became the chef de cabinet to the Chairman of Tata group [[J.R.D Tata]].<ref name="Bhagat 2012">{{cite web | last=Bhagat | first=Rasheeda | title=A walk through the loves and lives of the Masanis | url=https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/variety/A-walk-through-the-loves-and-lives-of-the-Masanis/article20412857.ece | date=2012-03-25 }}</ref> In 1950 he founded 'Freedom First', a monthly magazine in cause of liberal policy and politics.<ref name="Ghose 2018 p. 386">{{cite book | last=Ghose | first=S. | title=Why I Am a Liberal: A Manifesto for Indians Who Believe in Individual Freedom | publisher=Penguin Random House India Private Limited | year=2018 | isbn=978-93-5305-354-3 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9fR5DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT386 | access-date=2019-07-04 | page=386}}</ref> He went back to electoral politics and got elected to Loksabha in 1957 from Ranchi as an independent candidate. In 1959 he founded Swatantra Party along with C Rajagopalachari . He won a by election from Rajkot as a Swatantra party candidate. He represented Rajkot till 1971. He was one of the few politicians who opposed the [[Banking in India#Nationalisation in 1969 and 1980|nationalisation of banks]] by Prime Minister [[Indira Gandhi]].<ref name="Express"/> Swatantra party was India's single-largest opposition party in Parliament and Masani being its leader in Loksabha, initiated debate on finance bills and forced the Congress government to work rigorously. He also headed the [[Public Accounts Committee (India)|PAC]]. A collection of his speeches was published as ''Congress Misrule and Swatantra Alternative''.In 1971 general elections Swatantra party did not perform well and he resigned the position of the party president.<ref name="Rediff.com 1998"/><br />
Post 1971 he kept writing and editing his magazine ''Freedom First''. This put him against the Congress Government when the government issued the censorship order on the magazine.<ref name="Economic and Political Weekly 1976 pp. 7–8">{{cite journal | title=THE PRESS- Censorship Scope and Limitations | journal=Economic and Political Weekly | volume=11 | issue=9 | date=1976-02-28 | pages=7–8 | url=https://www.epw.in/journal/1976/9/our-correspondent-columns/press-censorship-scope-and-limitations.html | access-date=2019-07-04}}</ref> He fought the order in court and won.<ref name="Datta-Ray 2016">{{cite web | last=Datta-Ray | first=Sunanda K. | title=Fighting the giant | website=Telegraph India | date=2016-01-30 | url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/opinion/fighting-the-giant/cid/1444633 | access-date=2019-07-04}}</ref><br />
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== Personal life ==<br />
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Masani married three times. His first wife was English and the marriage ended in divorce. His second marriage also ended in divorce. Minoo met Shakuntala Srivastava the daughter of J. P. Srivastava, an influential British loyalist during the Quit India movement. They married despite opposition from their respective families.<ref name="Bhagat 2012"/> They had a son Zareer Masani.<ref name="Masani 2012 p. ">{{cite book | last=Masani | first=Z. | title=And All is Said: Memoir of a Home Divided | publisher=Penguin Books | year=2012 | isbn=978-0-14-341760-6 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6A3hDRIgqcMC | access-date=2019-07-02 }}</ref> This marriage too ended in divorce in 1989.<br />
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==Works==<br />
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Masani was also an author and has written many books. His first book, ''Our India'', was a best seller and even a prescribed text book in pre-independence India.<ref name="Liberals India 1905"/><br />
<br />
* ''Zoroastrianism: The Religion Of The Good Life'' (1938)<br />
* ''Our India'' (1940)<ref name="Masani 1953 p. ">{{cite book | last=Masani | first=M.R. | title=Our India--1953 | publisher=Oxford University Press (Indian Branch) | year=1953 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P-gyAAAAIAAJ | access-date=2019-07-03 }}</ref><br />
* ''Socialism Reconsidered'' (1944)<ref name="Masani 1988 p. ">{{cite book | last=Masani | first=M.R. | title=Socialism Reconsidered | publisher=Padma | year=1988 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sMEsAAAAIAAJ | language=de | access-date=2019-07-03 }}</ref><br />
* ''Picture of a Plan'' (1945)<br />
* ''A Plea for a Mixed Economy'' (1947)<ref name="Masani 1947 p. ">{{cite book | last=Masani | first=M.R. | title=A Plea for the Mixed Economy | publisher=National Information & Publications | year=1947 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZclHAAAAIAAJ | access-date=2019-07-03 }}</ref><br />
* ''Our Growing Human Family'' (1950)<ref name="Masani 1950 p. ">{{cite book | last=Masani | first=M.R. | title=Our growing human family: from tribe to world federation | publisher=Indian Branch, Oxford University Press | year=1950 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=boonAQAAIAAJ | access-date=2019-07-03 }}</ref><br />
* ''Neutralism in India'' (1951)<br />
* ''The Communist Party of India: A Short History'' (1954)<ref name="Masani 1954 p. ">{{cite book | last=Masani | first=M.R. | title=The Communist Party of India, a Short History, by M. R. Masani. With an Introd. by Guy Wint. In Association with the Institute of Pacific Relations | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YCK_wgEACAAJ | access-date=2019-07-03 }}</ref><br />
* ''Congress Misrule and Swatantra Alternative'' (1967)<ref name="Masani p. ">{{cite book | last=Masani | first=M.R. | title=Congress misrule and the Swatantra alternative, Foreword by C.Rajagopalachari | publisher=publisher not identified | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9GwqnQEACAAJ | access-date=2019-07-03 }}</ref><br />
* ''Too Much Politics, Too Little Citizenship'' (1969)<ref name="Masani 1968 p. ">{{cite book | last=Masani | first=M.R. | title=Too Much Politics: Too Little Citizenship | publisher=Gokhale Institute of Public Affairs | series=Public affairs pamphlet | year=1968 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gCGtGQAACAAJ | language=de | access-date=2019-07-03 }}</ref><br />
* ''Liberalism'' (1970)<br />
* ''Folklore of wells: being a study of water-worship in East and West'' (1974)<br />
* ''The Constitution, Twenty Years Later'' (1975)<br />
* ''Bliss was it in that Dawn ...'' (1977)<ref name="Masani 1977 p. ">{{cite book | last=Masani | first=M.R. | title=Bliss was it in that Dawn: A Political Memoir Upto Independence | publisher=Arnold-Heinemann Publishers (India) | year=1977 | isbn=9780842610872 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lai6vAEACAAJ | access-date=2019-07-03 }}</ref><br />
* ''Against the tide'' (1981)<br />
* ''We Indians'' (1989)<br />
* {{cite book | last=Masani | first=M.R. | title=The Future of Free Enterprise in India: Forum of Free Enterprise | publisher=Forum of Free Enterprise | year=1961 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=svLSPgAACAAJ | access-date=2019-07-03}}<br />
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==Bibliography==<br />
* {{cite book|author=B. K. Karanjia|author-link=B. K. Karanjia|title=Rustom Masani: Portrait of a Citizen|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kIsfAAAAMAAJ|year=1970|publisher=[[Popular Prakashan]]}}<br />
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==References==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
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==External links==<br />
* {{cite web|title=Freedom First Magazine|url=http://www.freedomfirst.in/}}<br />
* [http://www.kamat.com/database/biographies/m_r_masani.htm Biography: Minocher Rustom Masani]<br />
* {{cite web|title=Minoo Masani brief biography|url=http://www.liberalsindia.com/indianliberals/profiles/minoomassani.php|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010809230349/http://www.liberalsindia.com/indianliberals/profiles/minoomassani.php|archive-date=9 August 2001}}<br />
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{{Authority control}}<br />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Masani, Minoo}}<br />
[[Category:1905 births]]<br />
[[Category:1998 deaths]]<br />
[[Category:Indian anti-communists]]<br />
[[Category:Parsi people from Mumbai]]<br />
[[Category:Members of Central Legislative Assembly of India]]<br />
[[Category:2nd Lok Sabha members]]<br />
[[Category:3rd Lok Sabha members]]<br />
[[Category:4th Lok Sabha members]]<br />
[[Category:Indian classical liberals]]<br />
[[Category:Indian libertarians]]<br />
[[Category:English-language writers from India]]<br />
[[Category:Members of the Constituent Assembly of India]]<br />
[[Category:Prisoners and detainees of British India]]<br />
[[Category:Indian independence activists from Gujarat]]<br />
[[Category:Swatantra Party politicians]]<br />
[[Category:Lok Sabha members from Gujarat]]<br />
[[Category:Indian barristers]]<br />
[[Category:20th-century Indian lawyers]]<br />
[[Category:Indian legal writers]]<br />
[[Category:Writers from Gujarat]]<br />
[[Category:20th-century Indian non-fiction writers]]<br />
[[Category:Politicians from Mumbai]]<br />
[[Category:Scholars from Mumbai]]<br />
[[Category:Writers from Mumbai]]<br />
[[Category:Lok Sabha members from Bihar]]<br />
[[Category:Politicians from Ranchi]]<br />
[[Category:Alumni of the London School of Economics]]</div>->BD2412