The Political Gamut

From India to Indonesia, the first international airplane is taking off. Fasten your seatbelts because his diplomatic winnings might cause turbulence of reverence.

The powerhouse of political India. Image Source: Rajya Sabha

A dignitary alluding resilience, a legacy of varied merit, an envoy of the free country and its free men, P. Subbarayan Gounder is an antique, priceless paragon of the history of India after independence. On September 1, he was born in Kumaramanglam, in an elite family of zamindars. He studied in Presidency College and received LLD from the University of Dublin. In 1918, he started his noble career as an advocate in the Madras High court.

Subbarayan entered the Madras Legislative Council as an independent candidate, but performed his task as a Council Secretary. He plumped for the Swarajist Party, in opposition to Raja of Panagal in the Assembly Elections, 1923. Not only did the Swaraj Party triumph with a majority of 41 seats (out of 80), it surfaced as the only largest party. However, both the Swaraj Party and the Justice Party (led by Raja of Panagal) was called to negotiate a coalition government. Subbarayan, as the Governor’s beacon light and a mutual non-member, clasped the responsibility to set up an independent cabinet.

The compactness of his cabinet wasn’t as durable as Fevicol ki mazbooti; the Simon Commission acted as the hammer. The Swaraj Party, together with ministers of Subbarayan cabinet, presented an opposition to greet the Simon Commission in the country, whereas Subbarayan was in favour of it. A vengeful Subbarayan left his seat of the Chief Minister; checked that his ministers too walked out. He shook hands with the Raja of Panagal and welcomed the Simon Commission.

The groundbreaking jiff in Subbarayan’s vocation was when he put forward the Temple Entry Bill in 1932. According to this bill, the Hindus and Dalits belonging to the lower strata of the caste ladder, the prohibition on them to enter the temple is called off, and if caught, the person is liable to punishments. In 1933, that bill brought Gandhiji in a close association with Subbarayan, and him affixing his name with the Indian National Congress (INC).

An eminent INC leader, Chakravarti Rajagopalachari ****took the authority as the Chief Minister of Madras Presidency, hand-picking Subbarayan as the Minister of Law and Education. He contributed his active participation in the Quit India Movement. He was asked to serve as a member of the independent India’s Constituent Assembly in 1947.

The most dynamic point in Subbarayan’s tenure was his leap as the first ambassador of the liberated India to ensure the signing of a peace treaty with Mohammed Roem, the Indonesian Foreign Minister on 1951.

Interestingly, Subbarayan was in the official troop of First Language Commission, led by the then Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru in 1955. In its final report, the Commission read out, that Hindi will replace English on the throne of the official language of India. But, Subbarayan and Suniti Kumar Chatterji threw opposition to this decision and its findings.

Apart from the political arena, Subbarayan’s attentiveness peeked into the fields of sports. He was selected as the President of the Board of Control for Cricket during the trepidation of the Second World War. His presidentship followed the route of Madras Olympic Association and Madras Hockey Association as well.

Subbarayan passed away on October 6, 1962. He left behind his bequest upon his children, Mohan Kumaramangalam (A minister serving in Indira Gandhi led Cabinet), P P Kumaramangalam (India's Chief in Army staff in Second World War) and Parvathi Krishnan (a member of the Communist Party of India, representing Coimbatore thrice in Lok Sabha)

Subbarayan in Indonesia. Image Source: Google Arts & Culture.