I.K. Gujral Biography

About I.K. Gujral

Born on the 4^th of December in the year 1919, Indra Kumar Gujral, popularly known as I.K. Gujral was the 12^th prime minister of India, who had also served as the Minister of Finance, and the Minister of External Affairs.

Born in Jhelum (now located in Pakistan), Gujral was intrigued by politics during his youth days when he was studying in college. Initially, he became a part of the Communist party, but once the Indo-Pak war was over, he joined the Congress Party.

His qualities and potential were appreciated by Indira Gandhi, who was the second and then prime minister of India, and hence, she allotted under him different government sectors to look after.

He became the Minister for Information and Broadcasting during 1975, and apart from being a politician with a vision to improve the society, he also had the knack of being a part of social causes, writing as well as being the head of various sports clubs.

A socialist, he had been prominent in history for being the first prime minister who had been elected from the Rajya Sabha.

Throughout his life, apart from his political ventures, he had been a voracious admirer of Urdu poetry, and apart from being fond of reading them.

He had himself penned down a number of Urdu poems. His poems reflected his vision of how he wanted India to have good terms with its neighboring states and countries.

Born into a family of freedom fighters who themselves fought for India’s independence, Gujral was raised with a mindset that had the ideas of nationalism imbibed in it.

During the 1942 Quit India Movement, along with other leaders he too was arrested. Among his many contributions to the society, the most significant one for which he is remembered is his structure and designing of the Gujral Doctrine, which are a set of rules according to which India must follow a code of conduct to maintain good and healthy relations with its neighboring countries in order to flourish and prosper.

He became the prime minister of India in the year 1997, and has many awards and appreciations to his credit. He passed away on November 30^th, 2012, after battling prolonged illness.