09 February in History of India: Remembering C. P. Krishnan Nair, A. R. Antulay, M. C. Chagla, O.P. Dutta , and  Baba Amte

OV Digital Desk
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Baba Amte, right, with India’s president, K. R. Narayanan | Source : AFP

Today, 9 February, India celebrates the birth anniversary of C. P. Krishnan Nair, an Indian businessman, founded The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts. Captain Chittarath Poovakkatt Krishnan Nair (9 February 1922 – 17 May 2014) was an Indian businessman who founded The Leela Group.

He was born in a village in Kannur District in Kerala on 09 Feb 1922. During a visit by the Maharaja of Chirakkal to his school, Nair wrote and recited a poem in the Maharaja’s honour. The poem impressed the Maharaja and he awarded Nair a lifetime scholarship.

Nair joined the Indian independence movement at the age of 13. He traveled to Bangalore in 1942 to join the Indian Army and became an aid of Netaji Shubhash Chandra Bose and later came in close contact with leaders of the Indian Freedom Movement. He was popularly known as Captain Nair due to his service in the Indian Army. He had also invented the “bleeding madras.” 

He was a 2010 recipient of the Padma Bhushan, given by the Government of India.

Today, 9 February, is also the celebrated birth anniversary of  A. R. Antulay a social worker and politician. He was the 8th Chief Minister of Maharashtra .  Indian social worker and politician,

Abdul Rahman Antulay (9 February 1929 – 2 December 2014) was also union minister for Minority Affairs and a Member of Parliament in the 14th Lok Sabha of India.

He published numerous remarkable works.

Today is also the death anniversary of  M. C. Chagla. He was an Indian jurist, the politician.

Mohammadali Carim Chagla (30 September 1900 – 9 February 1981) was an Indian jurist, diplomat, and Cabinet Minister who served as Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court from 1947 to 1958.

He was educated at St. Xavier’s High School and College in Bombay, after which he went on to study Modern History at Lincoln College, Oxford from 1918–21. In 1922, he was admitted to the Bar of the Bombay High Court, where he worked with luminaries as  Mohammed Ali Jinnah.

Today, 9th February is also the death anniversary of O. P. Dutta, Indian director, producer, and screenwriter. O.P. Dutta (1922 – 9 February 2012) an Indian filmmaker and writer, was born in Gujranwala, British India.

He began his career in 1948, as director for the film, ‘Pyar Ki Jeet’, which starred actress-singer, Suraiya. He wrote most of the films for his director son, J.P. Dutta, notably Border and LOC Kargil. In 2001, he won the International Indian Film Academy Award and the Filmfare Award for the film Refugee. In 2006, he won a Lifetime Achievement Award from Filmfare. Dutta died from pneumonia in Mumbai on 9 February 2012.

Today, 9th February is also the death anniversary of Murlidhar Devidas Amte, commonly known as Baba Amte (26 December 1914 – 9 February 2008). He was an Indian social worker and social activist known particularly for his work for the rehabilitation and empowerment of people suffering from leprosy.

He was born on 26 December 1914 in Maharashtra. His father, Devidas Amte, was a British government officer working for the district administration and revenue collection departments.

Trained in the law, he developed a successful legal practice in Wardha. He soon became involved in the Indian independence movement from the British Raj and, in 1942, began working as a defense lawyer for Indian leaders imprisoned by the British for their involvement in the Quit India movement. He spent some time at Sevagram, at the ashram started by Mahatma Gandhi and became a follower of Gandhism.

He has received numerous awards and prizes including the Padma Vibhushan, the Dr. Ambedkar International Award, the Gandhi Peace Prize, the Ramon Magsaysay Award, the Templeton Prize, and the Jamnalal Bajaj Award. He is also known as the modern Gandhi of India.

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