Jayaprakash Narayan
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Jayaprakash Narayan (जयप्रकाश नारायण; October 11, 1902 - October 8, 1979), widely known as JP, was an Indian freedom fighter and political leader.
He was born in Bihar, and completed his higher studies in the United States. He was converted to Marxism while living in Madison, Wisconsin. After returning to India, JP joined the Indian National Congress in 1929 with blessings from M.K. Gandhi. During the Indian independence movement, he was arrested and jailed several times by the British. He won particular fame during the Quit India movement.
After being jailed in 1932 for civil disobedience against British rule, he was imprisoned in Nasik Jail, where he met Ram Manohar Lohia, Minoo Masani, Achyut Patwardhan, Ashok Meta, Yusuf Desai and other national leaders. After his release he formed the Congress Socialist Party, a left-wing group within the Congress.
After independence, JP led the CSP out of Congress to become the opposition Socialist Party, which later took the name Praja Socialist Party.
After Mahatma Gandhi's death in 1948, JP joined Vinoba Bhave's Bhoodan campaign, which promoted distributing land to Harijans (untouchables). Initially a defender of physical force, JP was won over to Gandhi's position on nonviolence and advocated the use of satyagrahas to achieve the ideals of democratic socialism. Furthermore, he became deeply disillusioned with the practical experience of socialism in Nehru's India.
In 1957, JP formally broke with the Praja Socialist Party in order to pursue lokniti (politics of the people), as opposed to rajniti (politics of the State). By this time, JP had become convinced that lokniti should be non-partisan in order to build a consensus-based, classless, participatory democracy which he termed Sarvodaya. JP became an important figure in the India-wide network of Gandhian Sarvodaya workers.
JP returned to the prominence in State politics in the late 1960s. In 1974, he devoted himself to the peasants' struggle known as the Bihar movement, which demanded the resignation of the provincial government. When Indira Gandhi was found guilty of violating electoral laws by the Allahabad High Court, JP called for Indira to resign, and advocated a program of social transformation which he termed 'Total Revolution'. Instead she proclaimed a national Emergency in 1975 and arrested JP, opposition leaders, and members of her own party.
It was under JP's guidance that the socialist-leaning Janata Party was formed. Janata Party was voted into power in 1977, and was the first non-Congress party to form a government at the Centre.
JP also wrote several books, particularly promoting Hindu revivalism, although he was deeply critical of the form of revivalism promoted by the Sangh Parivar.
He died in October 1979. (Not long before this, his death was in fact erroneously announced by the Indian prime minister, causing a brief wave of national mourning, including the suspension of parliament and regular radio broadcasting, and closure of schools and shops.)
In 1998, he was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna award in recognition of his social work.
JP is sometimes referred to with the honorific title Lok Nayak (लोक नायक) or 'guide of the people'.
References
- Bimal Prasad (editor). 1980. A Revolutionary's Quest: Selected Writings of Jayaprakash Narayan. Oxford University Press, Delhi.