Syed Ali Zaheer

Syed Ali Zaheer Biography

Syed Ali Zaheer was an Indian politician and congress leader who was a member of first cabinet formed by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Born into a family of Syeds, his father Sir Syed Wazir Hasan was an Indian jurist and Secretary and later President of the All-India Muslim League. His brother Sajjad Zaheer was an Urdu writer and a leading member of the Communist Party of India. Noted politician and historian Saiyid Nurul Hasan is his nephew. Ali Zaheer also served as India's Ambassador to Iran.

Syed Ali Zaheer was born in 1927 in Lucknow into an affluent Muslim family of Syeds who were rich, and believed to be the descendants of Prophet Muhammad. His father Sir Syed Wazir Hasan was a barrister. Zaheer's mother’s name is Sakina-tul-Fatima and he had 6 siblings. His brother Syed Sajjad Zaheer was a Communist leader in India and Pakistan. Noted politician and congress leader Nurul Hasan is his nephew. His niece Nadira Babbar is a theatre artist, who is married to actor-politician Raj babbar.

Ali Zaheer married his distant cousin at a young age, as arranged by parents. In the pre-independent period itself Ali earned a prominent position as a Muslim leader within the Congress Party. His wife Aliya was appointed chairperson of the Central Social Welfare Board. The couple had two children. Ali served as a barrister before he actively got involved in politics. He served as a barrister in the Chiefs Court of Oudh, Lucknow then.

He joined Indian National Congress when independence movement was going on in India. He joined the Muslim League and was rewarded for this expedient loyalty in 1946. When the provisional government of India was formed, in 1946, he became law minister. Thus he became one of the ministers of Jawaharlal Nehru’s first ministry post-independence. He later served as India's ambassador to Iran, and resumed legal practice after he returned. He was briefly associated with Congress for Democracy in 1977. He passed away in 2014.  

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Updated: June 08, 2018