John Thivy (Tamil: ஜான் திவி)(1904–1959) was a Malayan Indian politician and former lawyer who was the founding president of the Malayan Indian Congress.

John Thivy
1st President of Malayan Indian Congress
In office
4 August 1946 – 1947
MonarchGeorge VI
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byBaba Budh Singh Ji
Personal details
Born1904
Kuala Kangsar, Perak, Federated Malay States, British Malaya
Died1959
Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Federation of Malaya
Nationality Malaya
 Indian
Political partyMalayan Indian Congress
John Thivy
 Indian
Commissioner
to  Mauritius
In office
2 September 1950 – 10 September 1953
Preceded byDharam Yash Dev
Succeeded byA. M. Sahay
 Indian
Ambassador
to  Syria
In office
10 September 1953 – 1955
Succeeded byde:V. M. Madhavan Nair
 Indian
Ambassador
to  Italy
In office
19551955
Preceded byBinay Ranjan Sen
Succeeded byes:Khub Chand
 Indian
Ambassador
to  Netherlands[1]
In office
6 December 1957 – 4 June 1959
Preceded byBirendra Narayan Chakravarty
Succeeded byRaj Krishna Tandon

Thivy finished schooling at St. Michael's Institution in Ipoh, Perak. He studied law in London, before returning to practise in Malaya. In London, Thivy had a chance to meet Mohandas Gandhi and came to be interested in the Indian independence movement. On his return to Malaya, after getting his law degree in 1932, he became involved with the Indian nationalist movements.

Later, after the fall of Malaya to the Japanese, Thivy's interest was rekindled by a speech given by Subhas Chandra Bose at one of his rallies in 1943. Thivy joined the Indian National Army in 1943 and served on the Burma Front. He also served in a ministerial cabinet post under Bose's Provisional Government of Free India, the Azad Hind.[2]

After Japan's surrender, John Thivy was held at Changi Prison for collaboration and was only released after India's independence.

On 4 August 1946, Thivy became the 1st and founding President of the Malayan Indian Congress (MIC), which represented Indian interests in Malaya. He was helped in the establishment of the party by other notable individuals such as Janaky Athi Nahappan. The MIC was modelled after the Indian National Congress. The party participated in the Malayan Independence movement.

In 1948, Thivy was appointed as an official to represent India in Southeast Asia by the Nehru Government.

See also

edit

Notes

edit
  1. ^ Thivy, presents in Huis ten Bosch palace Juliana of the Netherlands an eight-volume biography of Mahatma Gandhi, [1]
  2. ^ Pettibone, Charles, The Organization and Order of Battle of Militaries in World War II, vol. VII, Germany's and Imperial Japan's Allies & Puppet States, p. 412. Trafford Publishing, 2012. ISBN 978-1-4669-0350-0

References

edit