Jayprakash Narayan Srivastava popularly known as JP and Lok Nayak, freedom fighter, theorist, socialist and political leader was born on 11 October 1902 in the village of Sitabdiara, Saran district, erstwhile Bengal Presidency, British India (present-day Ballia district, Uttar Pradesh, bordering Bihar). Sitabdiara is a sizable village that spans three districts and two states (Chhapra and Arrah in Bihar and Ballia in Uttar Pradesh). Narayan’s residence was close to the Ghaghara River’s flood-prone banks.
Education
Narayan came from a Srivastava Kayastha family and was the fourth child of Harsu Dayal and Phul Rani Devi. His father Harsu Dayal was a junior official in the canal department of the state government and often was on tours. When Narayan was nine years old, he left his village to enrol in the seventh class of the collegiate school at Patna. In October 1918, Narayan married Braj Kishore Prasad’s(a lawyer who took active part in independence movement) elder daughter and freedom fighter Prabhavati Devi.
After their wedding, because Narayan was working in Patna and it was difficult for his wife to stay with him, Mahatma Gandhi invited Prabhavati to become an inmate at Sabarmati Ashram (Ahmedabad). Inspired by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad’s speeches, Narayan left Bihar National College with just 20 days before his final examinations. Narayan joined the Bihar Vidyapeeth, a college founded by Rajendra Prasad, and became among the first students of Gandhian Anugraha Narayan Sinha.
After completing the course at the Bihar Vidyapeeth, Narayan decided to continue his studies in the United States. Narayan reached California on 8 October 1922 and was admitted to University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley) in January 1923.To pay for his education, Narayan picked grapes, packed fruits at a canning factory, washed dishes, and worked as a garage mechanic and at a slaughterhouse, sold lotions and undertook tuitions. These jobs gave Narayan deep insight into the difficulties of the working class.
After a semester studying chemistry at UC Berkeley, his fees doubled and Narayan was forced to shift to The University of Iowa and later to other universities. He pursued his favourite subject, sociology, and received much help from Professor Edward A. Ross (University of Wisconsin-Madison) who was considered to be the father of sociology. In Wisconsin, Narayan was introduced to Karl Marx‘s book Das Kapital. News of the success of the Bolsheviks in the Russian Civil War (1917-1922) made Narayan conclude Marxism was the way to alleviate the suffering of the masses. He studied books by Indian intellectual and Communist theoretician M. N. Roy. Narayan’s paper on sociology Cultural Variation was declared the best of the year. Narayan graduated from Ohio State University with a BA in behavioural science in 1928 and from University of Wisconsin with a MA in Sociology in 1929. Despite having being awarded a scholarship for pursuing a Ph.D., he was forced to return to India in October 1929 since his mother was seriously ill.
Independence movement
The same year, he joined the Indian National Congress (INC or Congress) on the invitation of Jawaharlal Nehru; Mahatma Gandhi became Narayan’s mentor in the Congress. He began work in the Labor Research Cell of the Congress at Allahabad. After being jailed in 1930 for civil disobedience against British rule, Narayan was imprisoned in Nasik Jail, where he met Rammanohar Lohia, Minoo Masani, Achyut Patwardhan, Asoka Mehta, Basawon Singh, Yusuf Desai, C K Narayanaswami and other national leaders. He was released from the jail in 1933 and in 1934, the Congress Socialist Party (CSP), a left-wing group within the Congress, was formed with Acharya Narendra Deva as president and Narayan as general secretary.
In 1936, JP published his first and most systematic analysis of socialism, Why Socialism? In this text, he equated Gandhi’s views with those of international reformism, and commented that it was un-revolutionary. Narayan tried to find rapprochement between Gandhi and Subash Chandra Bose when they had serious ideological differences but could not succeed. Bose left the Congress party and formed Forward Block in May, 1939.
Narayan was imprisoned in February, 1940 and sent to Deoli detention camp in Rajasthan, for opposing Indian participation in the Second World War II on Britain’s side. The poor living conditions in Deoli forced Narayan to organize a hunger strike to protest in 1941. The Government immediately released him. He was again arrested in 1942 for participating in the Quit India movement. In November 1942, Diwali night, Narayan along with Yogendra Shukla, Suraj Narayan Singh, Gulab Chand Gupta, Pandit Ramnandan Mishra, Shaligram Singh and Shyam Barthwar escaped the prison (Hazaribagh central jail) by scaling the 17 feet high wall while the guards remained distracted by the festivities. A Rs. 10,000 reward was offered for Narayan’s capture, dead or alive. When Narayan went underground (in 1942-1943) for some time he came to Madras and stayed in B Jagannadh Das’ s house in disguise. During this time B Jagannadh Das’s daughter was born and she was named after Narayan’s wife Prabhavati. B.Jagannadh Das was a practicing advocate at Madras High Court and took part in the nationalist movement and was a close associate of Gandhi and Nehru. He subsequently became the second Chief Justice of Orissa High Court in 1951 and Supreme Court Judge in 1953. (This author’s paternal grandfather and B Jagannadh Das are cousins and the author’s paternal grandmother and B Jagannadh Das’s wife are own sisters.)
Narayan escaped to Nepal and organized a guerilla army called the “Azad Dasta”. Narayan and Ram Manohar Lohia were captured briefly but were rescued by the Azad Dasta members, who set fire to a hut to distract the guards. Both freedom fighters escaped to Bihar. Finally, the British closed in on Narayan in Amritsar when he was on his way to Rawalpindi to meet Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan. Narayan was taken to Lahore Fort, notorious as a “Torture chamber” on September 18, 1943. Narayan was put in solitary confinement for the first month. Then came interrogations, physical torture and humiliation.
In January, 1945, the British Government transferred Narayan to Agra Jail due to the public outcry. Gandhi in the meantime made it clear to the Cabinet Mission that unless both JP and Dr. Lohia were unconditionally released the negotiations would not start. Narayan and Lohia were released from jail on April 12, 1946. After his release, a proposal was made by Gandhiji to make J.P. as the congress president which was in turn not accepted by the working committee. When Narayan returned from jail the talk of partition and riots between Hindu and Muslims dominated the atmosphere. Narayan rushed to Bihar to assist in curbing the riots. He pleaded with the Congress Working Committee not to accept the partition plan.
Post Independence
After Independence, in 1948, Narayan who was considered heir apparent to Nehru, left the Congress Party and formed Socialist Party in 1952. He was invited by Pt. Nehru to join his cabinet (when the socialists lost to the congress in the 1952 elections). When Nehru could give no assurances on the implementation of Narayan’s 14-point plan to reform the Constitution, the Administration and Judicial system, nationalization of the banks, redistribution of land to the landless, revival of Swadeshi, and setting up of cooperatives, Narayan refused the offer. Later, in 1952 his Socialist party merged with J B Kripalani’s Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party and was called the Praja Socialist Party. Between 1947 and 1953, Narayan was President of All India Railwaymen’s Federation, the largest labour union in Indian Railways. He, along with the labour unions was able to get a minimum wage, pension, medical relief and housing subsidy introduced. At the same time, Narayan was keenly watching events in Russia and the bloody purges and imprisonment convinced Narayan that communism was not for India. He realized that Gandhiji’s success in the freedom struggle had showed that it was possible to bring about change without sacrificing one’s values.
Becoming dissatisfied with party politics, he announced on 19, April, 1954 that he would thenceforth devote his life exclusively to the Bhoodan Yajna Movement, founded by Vinoba Bhave, which called for voluntary distribution of the land among the landless. He renounced all self-interest, gave up his land in Sitabdiara, and decided to devote the rest of his life to the movement. His wife Prabhavati was delighted at this declaration. Narayan set up an ashram at Hazaribagh, a poor and backward village. He gave Gandhian concepts a new dimension by using modern technology to uplift the village.
Communitarian democracy
In 1959 he argued for a “reconstruction of Indian polity” by means of a four-tier hierarchy of village, district, state, and union councils. He advocated for communitarian democracy as he had lost faith in political parties. Communitarian democracy believes that integration into a community is a basic requirement of humanity and that life is meaningfully human only when lived and felt to be lived as part of an organic community. Narayan believed that every village should be like a small republic – politically independent and capable of taking its own decisions. It was a combination of Gandhian concepts and modern Western democracy.
He worked successfully to bring the cease-fire in Nagaland in 1964. His thoughtful, well-researched and brilliant book, “The Reconstruction of Indian Polity,” won him the Ramon Magsaysay Award for public service in 1965. During an address in the Convocation event of Delhi University on 23 rd December, 1966 he said “The Hindu religion was a strange mixture of good and bad, sublime and low, the most emancipated thought and bigoted obscurantism. What happens to the future of Hindu society depends upon which of these strains are to be selected, nourished and propagated”.
In June 1971, Sarvodaya workers in Muzaffarpur, Bihar, received death threats. The area was continuously threatened by Naxalites, which was made up of young men. Narayan knew that the cause of the violence was that the youth was frustrated because of poverty and unemployment. He lived in Musahari block for many months and strived to alleviate the problems of the Naxals. Narayan was also a key person in acquiring the surrender of dacoits in the Chambal Valley. On April 15, 1973, Prabhavati died of cancer, leaving Narayan alone.
Sarvodaya movement
He established two non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to support and protect civil rights, Citizens for Democracy in 1974 and the People’s Union for Civil Liberties in 1976. During a speech in 1974 JP Narayan presented the idea of Total Revolution (Sampooran Kranti). It is a combination of seven revolutions: political, social, economic, cultural, intellectual, educational, and spiritual. The main aim of the revolution is to bring about a shift in society in accordance with the Sarvodaya ideals.
The Sarvodaya movement was started by Gandhi, later it was led by Vinoba Bhave and Narayan. The term “Sarvodaya” was coined by Mahatma Gandhi after reading John Ruskin’s book “Unto the Last.” The main features of Sarvodaya include Trusteeship, Economic equality, all-around development of all. According to Narayan’s Sarvodaya, society should be class- and state-free. He advocated that Lokniti should take the place of Rajneeti in the democratic system. JP desired that the system should be a “people’s socialism” that ensures not only independence and equality but also harmony.
Bihar movement
1974 was a year marked by high inflation, high unemployment, and a shortage of supplies and necessities. Gujarat’s Nav Nirman Andolan movement requested Narayan to organise a nonviolent protest. In response to Narayan’s call for social justice and a demand that the Bihar assembly be dissolved the JP movement, also known as the Bihar Movement, an anti-corruption political movement was started by students in Bihar in the year 1974.
Emergency and birth of Janata Party
On June 12, 1975, the Allahabad High Court held the Prime Minister, Mrs. Indira Gandhi, guilty on charge of corrupt practices in the election. Narayan advised her to resign until her name was cleared by the Supreme Court. Instead, she clamped Emergency on June 26. Narayan was arrested and sent to Chandigarh where he was kept prisoner in a hospital. More than 600 opposition leaders were arrested and the government-imposed censorship of the press. In prison, Narayan’s health collapsed.
After five months, he was released. In 1977, thanks largely to Narayan’s efforts in uniting of opposition forces, Indira Gandhi was defeated in the general elections. The united opposition (mainly consisting of Jana Sangh Socialist Party, Congress (O) and the Bharatiya Lok Dal ) formed Janata Party on 23 rd January, 1977, won the general elections in March, 1977 and came to power at the centre but collapsed in July, 1979. Narayan declined to lead the new Janata government as prime minister, or to accept any other public office, epitomizing the combination of Gandhi’s philosophy with the practice of Western democracy.
Narayan died at his home in Patna on Oct. 8, 1979, from the effects of diabetes and a heart ailment. People hailed him as “Lok Nayak” or leader of the people. Vinoba Bhave said after Narayan’s death that Narayan considered himself only a “Lok-sevak,” or servant of the people. Narayan practiced servant leadership throughout his life much before the concept of servant leadership model was developed in 1970s by management expert Robert K. Greenleaf.
Naryan was honoured with Rashtrabhushan Award of FIE Foundation, Ichalkaranji in 1977. He was awarded Bharat Ratna in 1999 posthumously. On 11, October, 2001,The Department of Posts released a commemorative postage stamp honouring Nayaprakash Narayan on his birth anniversary.
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