I. K. Gujral

Former Prime Minister of India

December 4, 1919 Jhelum, Punjab, British India (now in Punjab, Pakistan)

November 30, 2012 Gurgaon, Haryana, India

Sheila Gujra

Inder Kumar Gujral, also known as I.K. Gujral, was an Indian politician and served as the thirteenth Prime Minister of India. He was a poetic person who found his true calling in politics from his college days. He belonged to a family of true patriots; his father and mother were actively involved in the freedom struggle and even his sister and brother were known as freedom fighters during that time. Gujral himself followed the footsteps by taking part in the Quit India Movement. His college politics expeditions took him to join the Communist Party of India but not for long, he switched to the Indian National Congress after the Indo-Pak war. His brilliance in administration and other political duties earned him the special attention of the then Prime Minister of India, Smt. Indira Gandhi, who appointed him as the Minister of Information and Broadcasting during the Emergency in 1975. Besides his love for his country and politics, Gujral spent most of his time writing poetry in Urdu as he was a big fan of the language and admired many Urdu poets and writers. In his book, ‘The Foreign Policies of India’ he has talked in depth about the aspirations that he had for India, how he wanted India to have warm and welcoming relations with the neighboring countries.