Great Freedom Fighter & Leader of ‘Sampoorna Kranti Andolan’ Magsaysay Award Winner & Bharat Ratna LOKNAYAK JAYA PRAKASH NARAYAN Brief Introduction Of A Great Leader ➢ Loknayak Jayaprakash Narayan generally known as JP was an Indian independence activist and political leader with brilliant mind, idealist thinking and fierce determination to serve the weaker section of society. ➢ JP through his life laid down a living example of the Gandhian Principles. A leader who pioneer in the cause for weaker section of society, advocated Socialism for India. ➢ A great freedom fighter who participated in Civil Disobedience, Quit India Movement and was recognized as Congress Brain. The zeal of patriotism lead JP to raise an army known as ‘Azad Dasta’ ➢ A champion for the cause of poor and backward class, he declared Jeevan Daan for the Bhudaan Movement organised by Achraya Vinobha Bhave. JP dedicated rest of his for the movement. ➢ None the less JP like a Saint, was far away from the reach of lust for power never accepted any position/ designation offered to him on several times. Though till date JP rules the heart of people and is fondly addressed as ‘Loknayak’- the leader of people. AN INTELLECT BY BIRTH ! Born on October 11, 1902, at Sitabdiara, Saran Chhapra, Bihar, in a middle class family as the fourth child to Shri Harsu Dayal and Smt. Phul Rani Devi. ! JP has an interest in literature since childhood and had won best essay award from school for his essay “The present state of Hindi in Bihar”. JP read magazines like Saraswati, Prabha and Pratap, books like Bharat- Bharati, and derived from the poems of Maithilsharan Gupta and Bharatendu Harishchandra which described the courage and valour of the Rajput kings. Jayaprakash also read the Bhagwad Gita and Mahabharat among others. ! JP, a brilliant student, by 1918 had completed school and undertaken the ‘State Public Matriculation Examination’ and won a District Merit Scholarship to Patna College. ! As customary in Bihar, JP got married at an early age of 18 to an equally high spirited girl Prabhavatidevi, daughter of prominent lawyer and nationalist Shri. Braja Kishore Prasad, at the age of 14, in October 1920. Family Photo of JP 1ST ENCOUNTER ! Jayaprakash, listened to Maulana Abul Kalam Azad about the Non- cooperation movement launched by Gandhiji against the passing of the Rowlatt Act of 1919. ! Maulana Azad gave a call to all the Indian Youth to give up English education. The speech of this great orator ignited JP’s mind and he left Patna College with just 20 days remaining for his examinations and joined the Bihar Vidyapeeth, a college run by the Congress. ! After completing his studies in India, JP decided to go to America to pursue higher studies in the year 1921. SELF MADE MAN ! JP at age of 20, went to America while Prabhavati remained at Sabarmati. JP reached California on October 8, 1922 and obtained admission to Berkeley in January 1923. He went to study science but pursued his favorite subject, Sociology in Wisconsin and received great help from Professor Edward Ross, the father of Sociology. JP’s paper on Sociology, “Social Variation”, was declared as the best journal of the year. ! To pay for his education, JP did odd jobs like worked as a mechanic at garages, packed fruits at canning factories, washed dishes, sold lotions, did teaching jobs and also worked in slaughter house. All these jobs made JP understand the ground realities of the working conditions and difficulties faced by working class. ! JP was forced to join in Iowa State when fees at Berkeley were doubled. He was forced to further transfer to many universities thereafter. ! JP got inspired from Karl Marx’s “Das Capital” and the news of success of the Russian revolution of 1917 and JP believed that Marxism was the way to alleviate the suffering masses. He read books written by Indian intellectual and Communist writer Mr. M.N. Roy. ! However JP succeeded to overcome all the difficulties but had to leave to India in November 1929, without completing his doctorate due to poor health condition of his mother. BETTER HALF ! JP’s wife Prabhavati Devi was an independent minded lady and upon Mahatma Gandhiji’s invitation stayed at Sabarmati ashram with Kasturba Gandhi while JP was away for higher studies. ! Prabhavati Devi was influenced by the teachings at the Ashram, following the Gandhian principles, she became an ardent Gandhian. ! She established Mahila Charkha Samiti in Patna to involve deserted and abandoned women in the charkha or the spinning wheel movement on the Gandhian model. ! After JP’s return to India, Prabhavati Devi along with her husband decided not to have children until India gains freedom. ! Prabhavati Devi was a constant motivation for her husband to join the Sarvodaya movement and actively participated in peace overtures in India. JP with along his wife Prabhavati Devi THE BEGINNING ! JP came back to India with an ignited mind to free the nation, the freedom not only limited to political freedom, but also, freedom from hunger, poverty and ignorance. ! In 1929, JP and his wife left for the Congress session at Lahore under Jawaharlal Nehru’s Presidentship, where, Nehru invited JP to join the Congress, and JP gladly accepted. He began to work in the Labour Research Cell of the Congress at Allahabad. ! Following the arrest of most of the top Congress leaders in 1930 during ‘Dandi March’. JP immediately set up an underground office at Bombay to continue Congress work. He travelled all over the nation, printing, distributing and organizing secret meetings. After an underground meeting of the Congress Working Committee in Banaras, JP went to Madras where he was arrested. JP was better recognized as the ‘Brain of Congress’ as declared by the newspaper after his arrest. SHAKING THE PRISON ! In the Nasik jail, JP met co thinkers like Asoka Mehta, Minoo Masani, P. Dantwala, Ram Manohar Lohia, Achyut Patwardhan, Aruna Ashaf Ali, Archrya Narandra Dev and S. M. Joshi who were equally impatient for freedom and agreed to steer Congress towards the goal of Socialism by forming the Congress Socialist Party under the Presidentship of Acharya Narendra Deva and Secretaryship of JP in the year 1934 afetr their release from the jail. ! During the time Russia witnessed bloodshed and imprisonment under the communist government, which made JP mind that socialism was perfect for India. In a book “Why Socialism?” released in 1932 JP explained why socialism would be right for India. This book was appreciated by all in general and by the youth in particular. ! Congress Socialist Party functioned as the Socialist wing within the Congress party which aimed to make socialism the goal of the Congress. GANDHIAN TURNED REVOLUTIONARY ! Arrest in 1940 JP was arrested by the British for speaking against participation of Indian soldiers in the Second World War in February 1940 and sent to Deoli detention camp in Rajasthan. Where he organized a hunger strike to protest in 1941. The Government immediately released him. ! Arrest in 1942 For participating in the Quit India movement. In November 1942, Diwali night, Jayaprakash along with five others escaped the prison by scaling a 17 feet high wall while the guards remained distracted by the festivities. A Rs.10,000 reward was offered for Jayaprakash’s capture, dead or alive. ! Raising an Army – ‘Azad Dasta’ Jayaprakash escaped to Nepal and organized an army called the “Azad Dasta”. Jayaprakash and Ram Manohar Lohia were captured briefly but were rescued by the Azad Dasta members. Both freedom fighters escaped to Bihar. REFUSED TO BE MINISTER OF CABINET ! Nehru invited JP to join the Cabinet, that JP refused because no assurances on the implementation of JP’s 14 point plan to reform the Constitution, the Administration and Judicial system, nationalize the banks, redistribute land to the landless, revive Swadeshi, and setup cooperatives was given. ! Jayaprakash along with the trade unions was able to get a minimum wage, pension, medical relief and housing subsidy introduced. ! JEEWAN DAAN ! On April 19, 1954, JP announced to dedicating his life (jeewan daan) to Vinoba Bhave’s Sarvodaya movement which aimed at giving away land to the landless peasant. JP renounced all self- interest, gave up his land in Sitabdiara, and withdrew from all personal activity to devote the rest of his life to the movement. Prabhavati was delighted at this declaration. ! JP set up an ashram at Hazaribagh, a poor and backward village where he gave Gandhian concepts a new dimension by using modern technology to uplift the village. ! Jayaprakash believed that every village should be like a small republic - politically independent and capable of taking its own decisions. ! His well-researched and brilliant book, “The Reconstruction of Indian Polity,” won him the Ramon Magsaysay Award. JP & Prabhavati Devi along with Sachdayandya Watsayan Agyay A POLICE MAN IN KHADI ! JP was aware that poverty and unemployment frustrated the youth and lead them to violence and was the root cause of naxalism. ! JP work at the Musahari block for many months and experimented to alleviate the problems of the Naxals. ! JP was also a key person in acquiring the surrender of dacoits in the Chambal Valley. ! On April 15, 1973, Prabhavati died of cancer, leaving JP alone. TOTAL REVOLUTION ! The year 1974 marked an year of high inflation, unemployment and lack of supplies and essential commodities. ! JP led a peaceful. On April 8, 1974, at the age of 72, JP led a silent procession at Patna agitation by the Navanirman Andolan of Gujarat. The procession was lathi charged. ! On June 5, 1974, JP addressed a massive crowd at Gandhi Maidan in Patna where he declared that that was a revolution, after 27 years of independence people of this country are wracked by hunger, rising prices, corruption and every kind of injustice.