Henry Austin

Henry Austin (20 October 1920 – 15 May 2008) was an Indian politician, diplomat, and former state and federal government minister. He was also a veteran leader in the Indian National Congress, which is also known simply as the Congress Party. Austin was born on 20 October 1920. He attended school in Kollam before enrolling in St. Aloysius' College, a Jesuit college in Mangalore, Karnataka. He received his degree at the Arts College in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, before studying law at the Law College, which is also located in Thiruvananthapuram. Henry Austin did his doctorate in International Relations from the Washington University. Although he was offered a position at the United Nations he declined the offer and returned to India to pursue a career in Politics. Austin served as KPCC General Secretary and then went on to become one among the only two general secretaries of the All India Congress Committee in 1971 under Indira Gandhi. The other General Secretary was Sankar Dayal Sharma who later went on to become the President of India. He also traveled abroad as an Indian representative to lobby for support of India's position during the Bangladesh Liberation War. (India supported Bangladesh's secession from Pakistan). He earned the sobriquet "Giant Killer" in the 1965 assembly election after he defeated stalwart leader T.K. Divakaran at the hustings from Kollam assembly constituency. He was unable to swear in as an MLA since no government could be formed in 1965 as no party had a majority.