Jayaprakash Narayan

Jayaprakash Narayan, also known as JP or Lok Nayak (Hindi for “People’s leader”), was an Indian independence activist, theorist, socialist, and political figure. He was born on October 11, 1902, and he passed away on October 8, 1979. In the middle of the 1970s, he led the opposition against Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, whose overthrow he had called for a “total revolution,” and for this, he is remembered. Rambriksh Benipuri, a nationalist and author of Hindi literature, wrote his biography, Jayaprakash. In 1999, in honour of his contributions to society, he received the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian honour in India. The Magsaysay award for Public Service from 1965 is among the other honours.

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About Jayaprakash Narayan

In the village of Sitabdiara in the Saran district of the erstwhile Bengal Presidency of British India (currently the Saran district is in Bihar), Jayaprakash Narayan was born. Located in two states (Bihar’s Saran and Bhojpur and Uttar Pradesh’s Ballia), Sitabdiara is a sizable village that spans three districts and two states. His residence was close to the Ghaghara River’s flood-prone banks. The home would eventually suffer minor damage every time the river was swollen, forcing the family to relocate a few kilometres away to a community that is now known as Jay Prakash Nagar and is located in Uttar Pradesh.

Early Life

He was a Kayastha by birth. He was Harsu Dayal and Phul Rani Devi’s fourth child. His father Harsu Dayal frequently travelled the area as a junior officer for the State government’s Canal Department. Narayan left his village when he was 9 years old to enrol in the seventh grade of the collegiate school in Patna. He had never left the village before. JP stayed at Saraswati Bhawan, a dorm where the majority of the boys were a little older. Some of Bihar’s future leaders were present, including the state’s first chief minister Krishna Singh, his deputy Anugrah Narayan Sinha, and a number of other people who would go on to become well-known figures in politics and academia.

Prabhavati Devi, an independent freedom fighter in her own right, was the older daughter of Braj Kishore Prasad when Narayan wed her in October 1918. Because it was difficult for Narayan’s wife to live with him after their wedding because he worked in Patna, Prabhavati accepted Gandhi’s invitation to join him as a resident of Sabarmati Ashram (Ahmedabad). Along with a few friends, Jayaprakash attended a lecture by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad on Gandhi’s non-cooperation movement against the passage of the Rowlatt Act of 1919. The Maulana was a master orator, and when he urged people to stop studying English, Jayaprakash was “swept away and briefly lifted to the skies” as he put it. The momentary sensation of riding on a strong wind of a great idea left imprints on his inner being”. With only 20 days left until his exams, Jayaprakash took Maulana’s advice to heart and left Bihar National College. Jayaprakash enrolled in the Rajendra Prasad-founded Bihar Vidyapeeth and became one of Anugraha Narayan Sinha’s original students.

Education

Jayaprakash made the decision to continue his education in the United States after finishing the courses at the Vidyapeeth. At the age of 20, Prabhavati stayed at Sabarmati, and Jayaprakash boarded the cargo ship, Janus. On October 8, 1922, Jayaprakash arrived in California. He was accepted to Berkeley in January 1923. Jayaprakash worked as a mechanic at a garage and a slaughterhouse, as well as picking grapes, laying them out to dry, packing fruits at a canning factory, washing dishes, selling lotions, and teaching to support his education. Jayaprakash gained insight into the struggles of the working class through all of these jobs. Jayaprakash spent a semester studying chemistry at UC Berkeley before being forced to transfer to The University of Iowa due to a fee increase. Later, he was compelled to transfer to numerous universities. He studied sociology, his favourite subject, with Professor Edward Ross’s assistance.

Das Kapital by Karl Marx was first introduced to Jayaprakash in Wisconsin. Jayaprakash came to the conclusion that Marxism was the best strategy for easing the suffering of the masses after hearing news of the Bolsheviks’ victory in the Russian Civil War. He read extensively from the works of Indian intellectual and Marxist theorist M. N. Roy. The best sociology paper of the year was his, titled Cultural Variation. He earned a B.A. in Behavioral Science from Ohio State University and an M.A. in Sociology from the University of Wisconsin.

Awards

• Bharat Ratna, 1999 (Posthumous) for Public Affairs.
• Rashtrabhushan Award of FIE Foundation, Ichalkaranj
• Ramon Magsaysay Award, 1965 for Public Service.

Death

Three days before his 77th birthday, on October 8, 1979, Narayan passed away in Patna, Bihar, from complications of diabetes and heart disease. Erroneously declaring his death in March 1979 while he was still in the hospital, Indian Prime Minister Morarji Desai sparked a wave of national mourning that included the suspension of parliament and regular radio broadcasts, as well as the closing of schools and businesses. A few weeks later, when he learned about the error, he grinned.

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Political Life of JP Narayan

As a Marxist, Narayan returned to India from the US in the latter half of 1929. Jawaharlal Nehru invited him to join the Indian National Congress, and Mahatma Gandhi served as his mentor there. With his close friend and nationalist Ganga Sharan Singh (Sinha), with whom he had the warmest and longest friendship, he shared a home in Kadam Kuan, Patna. During the Quit India movement, he gained particular notoriety. Narayan was incarcerated in Nasik Jail for his role in the civil disobedience movement against British rule in 1930. There, he made friends with Ram Manohar Lohia, Minoo Masani, Achyut Patwardhan, Ashok Mehta, Basawon Singh, Yusuf Desai, C K Narayanaswami, as well as other national figures.

Following his release, the Acharya Narendra Deva-led Congress Socialist Party (CSP), a left-leaning faction within the party, was established with Narayan serving as general secretary. Yogendra Shukla, Jayaprakash Narayan, Suraj Narayan Singh, Gulab Chand Gupta, Pandit Ramnandan Mishra, Shaligram Singh, and Shyam Barthwar scaled the wall of Hazaribagh Central Jail when Mahatma Gandhi began the Quit India Movement in August 1942 with the intention of launching an underground freedom movement. Many young socialist leaders, including Chhotubhai Puranik, Aruna Asaf Ali, and Ram Manohar Lohia, participated in the underground movement. Yogendra Shukla travelled 124 kilometres (approximately 56 miles) to Gaya while carrying Jayaprakash Narayan because of his illness. He was also the organization’s chairman, Anugrah Smarak Nidhi (Anugrah Narayan Memorial Fund). The largest labour union in the Indian Railways, the All India Railwaymen’s Federation, was presided over by Jayaprakash Narayan from 1947 to 1953.

Total Revolution and Bihar Movement

In the late 1960s, Narayan rose to prominence once more in state politics. 1974 was a year marked by high inflation, high unemployment, and a shortage of supplies and necessities. Gujarat’s Nav Nirman Andolan movement requested Jayaprakash to organise a nonviolent protest. in response to Jayaprakash Narayan’s call for social justice and a demand that the Bihar assembly be dissolved. The JP movement, also known as the Bihar Movement, was an anti-corruption political movement started by students in the Indian state of Bihar in the year 1974. It was led by veteran Gandhian socialist Jayaprakash Narayan, also known as JP. Later, it shifted to oppose the central government led by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. It was also known as the JP Movement and Sampoorna Kranti (Total Revolution Movement).

During the Emergency

The Allahabad High Court determined that Indira Gandhi broke electoral laws and found her guilty. Narayan demanded that the military and police disregard unlawful and immoral orders and that Indira and the CMs resign. He promoted a social change agenda that he called Sampoorna Kranti, or “total revolution.” Gandhi then issued a national emergency proclamation at midnight on June 25, 1975. On that day, arrests were made of Desai, opposition leaders, and dissidents from her own party. 100,000 people gathered at the Ramlila grounds to hear Jayaprakash Narayan thunderously recite the beautifully evocative poem “Singhasan Khaali Karo Ke Janata Aaati Hai” by Rashtrakavi Ramdhari Singh “Dinkar”. Even after Narayan requested one-month parole to help mobilise relief efforts in flooded areas, he was kept in detention at Chandigarh.

His condition suddenly deteriorated on October 24. He was diagnosed with kidney failure at Jaslok Hospital in Bombay and released on November 12; he would require dialysis for the rest of his life. Surur Hoda started the “Free JP” campaign for Jayaprakash Narayan’s release in the UK, which is led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Noel Baker. On January 18, 1977, Indira Gandhi declared the emergency to be over and called for elections. Under JP’s direction, the Janata Party was created as a vehicle for the diverse Indira Gandhi opposition. The Janata Party was elected into office and established the first centrally located non-Congress government. Upon Narayan’s call, a large number of young people joined the JP movement.

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