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| {{Indian name|Mathai|Mundapallil Oommen}} | {{Indian name|Mathai|Mundapallil Oommen}} | ||
| '''Mundapallil Oommen Mathai''' (1909 – 28 August 1981<ref name=":5">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/08/31/obituaries/mo-mathai-a-top-official-in-india-during-nehru-s-rule.html|title=M.O. Mathai, a Top Official In India During Nehru's Rule|last=Associated Press|author-link=Associated Press|date=1981-08-31|work=]|access-date=2020-01-08|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>) was the Private Secretary to India's first Prime Minister ] before he was forced to quit in 1959 following the charges of corruption.<ref name="s019" |
'''Mundapallil Oommen Mathai''' (1909 – 28 August 1981<ref name=":5">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/08/31/obituaries/mo-mathai-a-top-official-in-india-during-nehru-s-rule.html|title=M.O. Mathai, a Top Official In India During Nehru's Rule|last=Associated Press|author-link=Associated Press|date=1981-08-31|work=]|access-date=2020-01-08|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>) was the Private Secretary to India's first Prime Minister ] before he was forced to quit in 1959 following the charges of corruption.<ref name="s019">{{cite book | last=Gopal | first=S. | title=Jawaharlal Nehru: A Biography Volume 3 1956-1964 | publisher=Random House | year=2014 | isbn=978-1-4735-2189-6 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8pd-BAAAQBAJ&pg=PT188 | page=188}}</ref> He has written memoirs such as ''Reminiscences of the Nehru Age'' (1978) and ''My Days with Nehru'' (1979). | ||
| == Early life == | == Early life == | ||
| Line 12: | Line 12: | ||
| == Career == | == Career == | ||
| Mathai used to work for the ] in India, before becoming the Private Secretary to Nehru in 1946.<ref name=":5" /><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/420018398|title=Ottawa Social Notes|date=24 October 1949|work=]|access-date=8 January 2020|page=18}}</ref> He resigned from his post in 1959, after the Communists accused him of misusing his power to commit financial fraud.<ref name=":5" /><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/259595049|title=Nehru's secretary answers attack by Communists|last=Special Correspondent|date=17 January 1959|work=]|access-date=8 January 2020}}</ref> | Mathai used to work for the ] in India, before becoming the Private Secretary to Nehru in 1946.<ref name=":5" /><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/420018398|title=Ottawa Social Notes|date=24 October 1949|work=]|access-date=8 January 2020|page=18}}</ref> He resigned from his post in 1959, after the Communists accused him of misusing his power to commit financial fraud.<ref name=":5" /><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/259595049|title=Nehru's secretary answers attack by Communists|last=Special Correspondent|date=17 January 1959|work=]|access-date=8 January 2020}}</ref> | ||
| ==Controversies== | |||
| ===CIA connection=== | |||
| Mathai is noted to have worked for the ] (CIA). In 1959, Mathai was forced to quit as Nehru's secretariat following the charges of corruption.<ref name="s019">{{cite book | last=Gopal | first=S. | title=Jawaharlal Nehru: A Biography Volume 3 1956-1964 | publisher=Random House | year=2014 | isbn=978-1-4735-2189-6 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8pd-BAAAQBAJ&pg=PT188 | page=188}}</ref> The Cabinet Secretary Vishnu Sahay investigated the case and was convinced that Mathai had compromised every file since the days of the Interim Government of India.<ref name="a588">{{cite book | last=Akbar | first=M.J. | title=Nehru: The Making of India | publisher=Viking | year=1988 | isbn=978-0-670-81699-6 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eGCAAAAAIAAJ | page=513}}</ref> | |||
| ===Books=== | |||
| Mathai wrote two politically motivated books, ''Reminiscences of the Nehru Age'' and ''My Days with Nehru'', during the rule of the ] formed after ousting of ]'s government.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web|url=https://scroll.in/article/819697/time-to-lift-the-ban-on-what-nehrus-aide-wrote-about-him-and-his-contemporaries|title=Time to lift the ban on what Nehru's aide wrote about him and his contemporaries?|last=KK|first=Satyavrat|website=Scroll.in|date=23 October 2016 |language=en-US|access-date=2020-01-07}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/society-the-arts/books/story/19780228-book-review-reminiscences-of-the-nehru-age-by-m.o.-mathai-822868-2014-05-01|title=Book review: Reminiscences of the Nehru Age by M.O. Mathai|last=Joshi|first=Chand|date=28 February 1978|website=India Today|language=en|access-date=2020-01-07}}</ref> These books were released at the time when malinging the image of Indira Gandhi was profitable for the market.<ref name="o917">{{cite book | last=Malhotra | first=I. | title=Indira Gandhi: A Personal and Political Biography | publisher=Hay House | year=2014 | isbn=978-93-84544-16-4 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wRxnDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT316 | page=316}}</ref> | |||
| The book ''Reminiscences of the Nehru Age'' has a total 49 chapters, some on Nehru's work and personal life and some on the various people that Mathai met.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/1150922/jsp/frontpage/story_43908.jsp|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924234156/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1150922/jsp/frontpage/story_43908.jsp|url-status=dead|archive-date=24 September 2015|title='A chapter' with Indira|date=22 September 2015|work=]|access-date=9 August 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/258444237/|title=Nehru and The Lady|last=Akbar|first=M.J.|date=18 December 1988|work=]|access-date=2020-01-08|page=32|language=en|author-link=M. J. Akbar}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/121104866|title=Nehru and the in-built system of poverty|last=Grant|first=Bruce|date=12 July 1980|work=]|access-date=8 January 2020|page=25|author-link=Bruce Grant (writer)}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/471302090|title=Himself|last=Newsweek International|author-link=Newsweek International|date=8 February 1978|work=]|access-date=8 January 2020|page=5}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/437199908|title=Mountbatten Biography Alleges Lady-Nehru Affair|last=Associated Press|author-link=Associated Press|date=28 August 1980|work=]|access-date=8 January 2020|page=25}}</ref> Mathai had falsely proclaimed himself to be "Nehru's Special Assistant" in the book, and added that "the book is not history or biography, but chatty stuff containing my reminiscences".<ref name="w945"/> The chapter 29 named 'She' was blanked and a note was appended in place.<ref name=":1" /> The contents of the chapter has since birthed intense speculations.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/columns/a-missing-but-not-closed-chapter-in-the-life-of-indira/story-NsxA3Lw0MzvBfihZIM5XwJ.html|title=A missing but not closed chapter in the life of Indira|date=27 September 2015|newspaper=]|access-date=10 August 2017}}</ref> ], former chief of ] has since claimed of receiving a copy of the chapter from ] and duly submitting to then-Prime Minister ]; he claims to have not read the contents.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":1" /> The blanked chapter claimed affairs Indira Gandhi had with other people and chapter also concerned the Gandhi family in general.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.livemint.com/Sundayapp/2UkasJhFumT0Dyapf417BO/The-escapades-of-Indira-Gandhi-the-romance-of-Roger-Fed.html|title=The 'escapades' of Indira Gandhi, the 'romance' of Roger Federer|last=Assisi|first=Charles|date=2017-07-16|website=Livemint|language=en|access-date=2020-01-07}}</ref> Demands for the ban on the book were made during the Janata alliance rule but ] refused these suggestions.<ref name="w945">{{cite book | last=Niazi | first=Z. | title=The Web of Censorship | publisher=Oxford University Press | year=1994 | isbn=978-0-19-577543-3 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dgtlAAAAMAAJ | page=120}}</ref> His second book "My Days with Nehru" failed to gain any traction.<ref name="w945"/> ] noted that "Few books in India have got such bad reviews as Mathai's did."<ref name="t425">{{cite book | last=Falk | first=B. | title=Feroze The Forgotten Gandhi | publisher=Roli Books | year=2016 | isbn=978-93-5194-187-3 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6KohEAAAQBAJ| page=110}}</ref> | |||
| ==References== | ==References== | ||
Latest revision as of 09:52, 17 December 2024
Indian writer (1909–1981)In this Indian name, the name Mundapallil Oommen is a patronymic, and the person should be referred to by the given name, Mathai.
Mundapallil Oommen Mathai (1909 – 28 August 1981) was the Private Secretary to India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru before he was forced to quit in 1959 following the charges of corruption. He has written memoirs such as Reminiscences of the Nehru Age (1978) and My Days with Nehru (1979).
Early life
Mathai was born to a traditional Marthoma Syrian Christian family in central Travancore.
Career
Mathai used to work for the United States Army in India, before becoming the Private Secretary to Nehru in 1946. He resigned from his post in 1959, after the Communists accused him of misusing his power to commit financial fraud.
References
- ^ Associated Press (31 August 1981). "M.O. Mathai, a Top Official In India During Nehru's Rule". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
- Gopal, S. (2014). Jawaharlal Nehru: A Biography Volume 3 1956-1964. Random House. p. 188. ISBN 978-1-4735-2189-6.
- "Ottawa Social Notes". Montreal Gazette. 24 October 1949. p. 18. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
- Special Correspondent (17 January 1959). "Nehru's secretary answers attack by Communists". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
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