Early Life:
L. Krishnaswami Barathi was born in Tinnevelly, Tamil Nadu on 26 July 1904. He completed his education from Hindu College, Tinnevelly and Presidency College, Madras. He studied law at Trivandrum Law College and Madras Law College. In 1928, he enrolled as an advocate at the Madras High Court.
Role in India’s Independence Movement:
Bharathi joined the Indian National Congress in 1930. He was an active freedom fighter and was imprisoned for participating in the Satyagraha Movements in 1932 and 1940. In 1937, Bharathi was elected to the Madras Legislative Assembly.
Contribution to Constitution Making:
Bharathi joined the Constituent Assembly from Madras through a Congress Party ticket. He intervened in debates around provincial languages and Gandhianism.
Later Contributions:
We know from an obituary speech made by the Speaker of the House (1999), that Bharathi was a part of the All-India Language Expert Conference and helped translate the Constitution into Tamil in 1951. He was elected to the 1950 Provisional Parliament as a representative of the then Madras State. He also served on the Road Traffic Board and Debt Conciliation Board for the Government of Madras.
Bharathi passed away on 31 October 1999.
- During the end of constitution-making, Bharathi pointed out that although the Constitution had a few special features, ideals of Gandhi such as decentralization of democracy and economic self-sufficiency were more or less absent.
- He supported the idea of establishing linguistic provinces. He felt that it was important to carry out administration of a state in the language of the people.
- Bharathi opposed the use of English in the proceedings of all High Courts.
- Who’s Who 1950 (Parliament of India)