Ahmad Bakhsh Sindhi

Sindhi’s first political achievement was being appointed to the position of Cabinet Minister for the independent state of Bikaner by its Maharaja, Sir Sadul Singh, in 1948.

Post independence, Sindhi contested in the first two Legislative Assembly elections from Bikaner seat under the banner of Indian National Congress. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru demonstrated personal interest in his election campaigns and visited Bikaner.

From 1949 till 1980, Sindhi practiced law in the Rajasthan High Court in Jodhpur. He was known for feeding the poor there as well as his overall social work for the lower class in the area. One notable instance was his campaign to help people get housing instead of living on the street by the Sardarpura and Sojati Gate Cemetery.

During a 1971 debate regarding the Indo-Soviet Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation, Sindhi is cited to have tried to add the amendment to the treaty.

"...If any country invades us [India], we shall depend solely on our own defensive resources and will try to obtain as much aid from other friendly countries as possible"^[1]

In 1980, he was elected to the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly (or Vidhan Sabha), representing the city of Jodhpur, India. Soon after, Mr.Sindhi was elected as the Deputy Speaker of the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly to serve till 14 October 1982.

It was in 1983 when he reached the pinnacle of his political career, when he became Law and Justice Minister in Shiv Charan Mathur’s ministry by Indira Gandhi. He retained this position until March 1985.

Sindhi spent the next few years of his life alternating between life in India and in the US to visit his children and grandchildren. By 1994, he eventually settled down in the US, living with his wife and their son.

Sindhi had a cardiac arrest in 2000, and was taken to William Beaumont Hospital in Detroit. He died on 28 April 2000 from complications of his cardiac arrest. At his bedside was his daughter, Naseem Salim. He is buried in Detroit's Woodmere Cemetery.