India's political activist. Fighting for the independence of India from the British rule was the hallmark of Maulana Shafi Daudi. He was in the forefront of the Movement and was hand in hand with the founding fathers of the Indian sub-continent. 'A staunch supporter of non-co-operation' and 'a firm believer in Hindu-Muslim unity', Shafi Daudi 'played a vital role in shaping the history of the freedom movement in Bihar' under Mahatma Gandhi. He joined the Congress in 1920 and remained committed to the cause. He was the secretary of the Bihar Khilafat Committee that was founded to advise the Provincial Congress Committee. Maulana Shafi Daudi resigned the Congress Party in 1928 when Nehru's Report on constitutional reform failed to provide safeguards to the minorities especially Muslims. Maulana formed the All India Muslim Conference (AIMC) in 1928 at Delhi that included other Muslim legislatures of the Indian Parliament and remained general secretary (1930 - 32). He resigned when AIMC and All India Muslim League merged into one. In 1928, Shafi Daudi published the Urdu daily, Itehad, from Patna and called the masses for national unity. Maulana attended the Second Round Table Conference in London, in 1931, as a delegate from Bihar. He visited several countries including France, Italy, Egypt and Palestine with Allama Iqbal. In the 1937 election Shafi Daudi contested on the Ahrar Party ticket from Muzaffarpur and lost against the Independent Party candidate. That brought the end of his political career. Born into a middle class rural family at Daudnagar, Vashali district of Bihar Shafi Daudi, a law graduate, joined the Muzaffarpur Bar and practised as a lawyer till 1920. He suspended his work during the Non-Cooperation Movement and was sentenced to a one-year imprisonment. (A book entitled 'Life and Times of Maulana Shafi Daudi: A valiant freedom fighter' compiled by Obaid ur Rahman Daudi and edited by Akhtar Payami is published by Zain Publication, Karachi, Pakistan).