Swaraj and Sweepers: the JP Movement and the Future Of
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Swaraj and Sweepers: The JP Movement and the Future of Transformational Politics Thesis submitted to meet the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL INQUIRY AND COMMUNITY STUDIES FACULTY OF ARTS VICTORIA UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY ROBERT GRAEME SALTER 2000 CONTENTS Abstract iii Declaration vi Acknowledgements vii Author's Note x 1Introduction 1 2A Review of Literature on Civil Organisations 32 3The JP Movement, Lok Shakti and Raj Shakti 103 4How the 'Second Liberation Movement' Fell Short 165 5The Limits of 'Non-Partyism' 232 6Towards Swaraj for All 304 7Spade, Vote and Prison 397 Appendix A: Biographical Notes on Interviewees 414 Appendix B: Interview Schedule for Third Field Visit 431 Glossary 433 Bibliography 436 ii ABSTRACT The thesis examines the question of how democracy might be deepened, particular so that it becomes more inclusive of currently marginalised groups and can thus meet their needs more fully. It focuses on India, drawing on interviews and visits to organisations, as well as on secondary sources, but it also utilises empirical and theoretical material from outside India, and it is suggested that the conclusions of the thesis may be applicable beyond India. From the 1960s, across the world, the 'new politics' - the politics of protest, local level action, new questions, new participants and specific- issue campaigns - has also sought to deepen democracy. It is argued, however, that while this kind of politics is a necessary component of effective democracy, it is not in itself sufficient to achieve the transformational goals to which it aspires. In rejecting or underemphasising the possibility of achieving change through more conventional political institutions, especially through governments and political parties, the new politics risks political ineffectiveness, for reasons that are identified in the thesis. It is argued that what is required is a combination of the old and new politics, and a particular model that embodies this is advanced. Major political change - such as the attainment of independence or formal democracy or the deepening of democracy - has often been achieved through broad alliances of organisations, termed 'aggregated civil bases', iii in the thesis, and examples of these are cited. The thesis focuses on the scope for change through what are termed 'democratic-deepening aggregated civil bases' - alliances of organisations that come to an electoral arrangement with a party or coalition willing to implement a particular political program in exchange for electoral support. Examples of these are identified - including the link between trade union movements and social democratic parties in many Western countries, and some emerging examples in the Third World - but the thesis concentrates on India's JP Movement in the 1970s. This movement, named after its leader, Jayaprakash (or JP) Narayan, challenged the mainstream politics of the time, and in particular Congress Party governments nationally and in the state of Bihar. Though it managed, indirectly, to bring these governments down and replace them with governments of the newly created Janata Party, these changes were not seen to generate significant change. Consequently, for many in the movement their faith in mainstream politics was even further reduced by this experience. However, an analysis of why the movement failed to meet its objectives reveals specific flaws in its composition, ideological foundations, leadership, organisation and strategies. On the basis of this analysis the thesis identifies a set of requirements for a democratic- deepening aggregated civil base to be effective: it needs to mobilise sufficiently, particularly among the marginalised; it must reconcile interest and ideological differences among iv constituent organisations and sectors, and overcome organisational problems that may obstruct alliance-building; and accountability mechanisms need to be incorporated into any arrangement with a party or coalition. v DECLARATION I declare that this thesis is my own work and has not been submitted previously, in whole or in part, in respect of any other academic work. Robert Salter vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS While I have declared that this thesis is ultimately my own work, it would not, of course, have been possible had I not been able to draw on the assistance and the knowledge of a large number of people. In this regard I would first like to thank Julie Stephens and Michael Hamel-Green, my supervisors at different times, for their balanced and constructive appraisals of my work as it progressed, their many useful suggestions, and their general support and patience. As well, I am very grateful to the following people: Robin Jeffrey, particularly for suggesting that I focus on the JP Movement, and for his comments on my ideas in the early stages; Simon Combe, for being so generous with his time, his resources and his hospitality, and for giving me a greater understanding of non-party political action in India; Sue Blackburn, for her early guidance and suggestions; Kamal Malhotra and Bruce Eady from Community Aid Abroad in Melbourne, and Augustine Ulatil from CAA in India, for giving me access to organisations and individuals in India, and for sharing their knowledge of the country; Allan and Wendy Scarfe for their assistance and hospitality, and for their stories about JP, with whom they had a long-time friendship; and Helen Hill, Tom Weber, Ron Adams, Sue Chaplin, Meg Gurry, Connie Lenneberg, Russell Wright and Les Terry for their comments, suggestions and information. vii I would also like to thank all those in India who generously gave of their time to answer my questions in person or by letter. I won't list them here because they are too numerous and are listed separately in Appendix A, but I will mention those who extended their hospitality when I was in India: Rajagopal and Gopinath from Ektaparishad; Narinder Bedi from the Young India Project; Rama Krishna from RISE; Dr Sudarshan from Vivekananda Girijana Kalyana Kendra; John Abraham from Asha Kendra; Ghanshyam from Judav; Arbind Kumar from Lok Jagriti Kendra; Kumar Ranjan from Chetna Vikas; Girija Satish from Nav Bharat Jagriti Kendra; Rajdeo Choudhary from Shikchan Kendra; Shivanan Bhai from Gram Bharti; Acharya Ramamurti from Shramabharati; and Dr Ramjee Singh from the Gandhian Institute of Studies. As well, I am grateful to Suresh Bhatt for being my guide and arranging interviews in Patna. I am also appreciative of the assistance of the administrative staff at Victoria University of Technology and the library staff at various universities, and of the VUT Postgraduate Research Scholarship that helped me to get by financially. Finally, I could not have survived the thesis production process practically and emotionally without the support I received from family and friends, and here I acknowledge: my father and late mother, Graeme and Alice Salter, for their great generosity; my sisters and brother, other family members, and friends, including Cathie Roby and Marg Clausen, viii for their interest and encouragement; my mother-in-law, Dorothy Gow, for her invaluable practical assistance; my daughters, Sharna and Iona, for their tolerance of an often preoccupied and impecunious father; and last - and of course very far from least - my wife Helen Gow, for accepting and generously supporting, at some personal cost, my pursuit of this strange endeavour. ix AUTHOR'S NOTE I have footnoted references. For second and subsequent references to a source already cited in a chapter I have used abbreviated references, as recommended in the Style Manual for Authors, Editors and Printers (5th edn, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, 1994, p 169). This involves providing the minimum information necessary to distinguish the source from all others cited in the thesis (including those by the same author). Full reference details can be obtained by referring to the first citation in the chapter or to the bibliography at the end of the thesis. I have followed a similar procedure with regard to material sourced from interviews. For the first citation of an interviewee in each chapter I include the interviewee's name and the date of the interview, while subsequent citations include the name only. Biographical information about the interviewees, as well as the dates and locations of interviews, is contained in Appendix A. With regard to references in the text to Indian public figures, I have generally referred to them in the way that they are commonly referred to in India. Thus, Jayaprakash Narayan is 'JP', Vinoba Bhave is 'Vinoba', Mohandas K. Gandhi is 'Gandhi', and Indira Gandhi's name is used in full. x CHAPTER ONE:INTRODUCTION On 5th June, 1974, at the Gandhi Maidan in Patna, capital of the Indian state of Bihar, the veteran Indian political leader, Jayaprakash Narayan, addressed a crowd of half a million to one million people, perhaps the largest political rally in India since Independence. In his two-hour speech, the ailing, seventy-one year old Narayan (or JP, as he was popularly known) called for "total revolution", the transformation of Indian society along essentially Gandhian lines. Prior to the rally, those present had marched through the streets of Patna in the intense heat of an Indian summer, and had stopped en route at the State Parliament to present the Governor with a petition of ten million signatures calling for the dissolution of the Bihar Assembly. The events of 5th June were a part of what was known as the 'JP Movement', a movement that started as a student agitation against certain policies of the Bihar Government, and in fifteen months - under the leadership of Jayaprakash Narayan - grew into a national force that changed Indian politics in a number of important ways. However, to a significant degree its objectives were not achieved - either during this period or in the years that followed. The JP Movement was a coalition of organisations and individuals with very diverse beliefs, preoccupations, life circumstances and objectives, and so one has to be careful 1 when making generalisations about Movement participants.