Writer: Paridhi Bahety
Freedom Fighter: Jay Prakash Narayan
Full Name: Jayprakash Narayan
Date of Birth: 11 October 1902
Place of Birth: Sitabdiara (Uttar Pradesh)
Died on: 8 October 1959
EARLY LIFE
Jayprakash Narayan was born to Kayastha family .He 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 was often touring the region. He has done his studies from Patna.
In October 1920, he married Braj Kishore Prasad’s 14-year-old daughter Prabhavati Devi, who was also a freedom fighter in her own right.
Jayaprakash joined the Bihar Vidyapeeth, a college founded by Rajendra Prasad and became among the first students of Gandhian Anugraha Narayan Sinha.
HIGHER STUDIES
Jayaprakash decided to continue his further studied in United States. He got admission into University of California, Barkeley. Due to financial problems he shifted to University of Lowa when the fee of Barkeley was doubled.
RETURN TO INDIA
Narayan returned from the US to India in late 1929 as a Marxist. He joined the Indian National Congress on the invitation of Jawaharlal Nehru in 1929; Mahatma Gandhi became his mentor in the Congress.
Between 1947 and 1953, Jayaprakash Narayan was President of All India Railwaymen’s Federation, the largest labour union in the Indian Railways.
BIHAR MOVEMENT
Narayan returned to prominence in State politics in the late 1960s. 1974 ushered in a year of high inflation, unemployment and lack of supplies and essential commodities.
The Bihar government used brutal force to suppress the movement and on 18 March 1974, police fired on unarmed demonstrators and eight people were killed in police firing. On 8 April 1974, aged 72, he led a silent procession at Patna. As, Jayaprakash Narayan crossed the barricaded area followed by Satyendra Narain Sinha, Shyam Nandan Mishra, Digvijay Narayan Singh & B.R. Chandwar, the procession was lathi charged. On 5 June 1974, Jayaprakash addressed a large crowd at Gandhi Maidan in Patna. He declared, “This is a revolution, friends! We are not here merely to see the Vidhan Sabha dissolved. That is only one milestone on our journey. But we have a long way to go… After 27 years of freedom, people of this country are wracked by hunger, rising prices, corruption… oppressed by every kind of injustice… it is a Total Revolution we want, nothing less!” In 1974, he led the students’ movement in the state of Bihar which gradually developed into a popular people’s movement known as the Bihar Movement.
EMERGENCY
Indira Gandhi was found guilty of violating electoral laws by the Allahabad High Court. Narayan called for Indira and the CMs to resign and the military and police to disregard unconstitutional and immoral orders. He advocated a program of social transformation which he termed Sampoorna kraanti, “total revolution”. Immediately afterwards, Gandhi proclaimed a national Emergency on the midnight of 25 June 1975.
Indira Gandhi revoked the emergency on 18 January 1977 and announced elections. The Janata Party, a vehicle for the broad spectrum of the opposition to Indira Gandhi, was formed under JP’s guidance. The Janata Party was voted into power and became the first non-Congress party to form a government at the Centre. On the call of Narayan, many youngsters joined the JP movement.
DEATH
Narayan died in Patna, Bihar, on 8 October 1979, three days before his 77th birthday, due to effects of diabetes and heart ailments.
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