[Letter to Mr Minoo Masani]

Summary

This brief typed letter, sent from 44-Western Court, New Delhi on January 22, 1963 by Prof. N. G. Ranga, Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha), is a covering note to Minoo Masani at 143, Mahatma Gandhi Road, Bombay. Ranga tells Masani that he is enclosing a copy of a letter he has written to Rajaji, along with a copy of a wire he had sent the same day.

The substantive line thanks Masani for the political groundwork he has been laying: Ranga writes that he is glad Masani has been “creating a helpful atmosphere in Bombay for our opposition to the Colombo proposals.” The Colombo proposals — the six-nation (Ceylon, U.A.R., Ghana, Indonesia, Burma, Cambodia) plan for Sino-Indian disengagement after the 1962 border war — were being contested by the emerging Swatantra bloc in Parliament, and this note shows the coordination among Ranga, Masani and Rajagopalachari at that moment. The office stamp records receipt on 25 January 1963 under No. 01855.

Key points

• One-page typed letter from Prof. N. G. Ranga (M.P., Lok Sabha) at 44-Western Court, New Delhi to M. R. Masani at 143, Mahatma Gandhi Road, Bombay, dated 22 January 1963.
• Ranga encloses a copy of a letter he has written to Rajaji and a copy of a wire he sent the same day.
• Ranga commends Masani for “creating a helpful atmosphere in Bombay for our opposition to the Colombo proposals.”
• Situates the Ranga–Masani–Rajaji correspondence within the Swatantra Party’s public campaign against the six-nation Colombo proposals following the 1962 Sino-Indian war.
• Office endorsement stamp records receipt on 25 January 1963, No. 01855.