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Indian Express
11 hours ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
Call for ‘sampoorna kranti' shook Indira govt: How a semi-retired Jayaprakash Narayan stirred student protests into a storm
The JAYAPRAKASH Narayan Movement which began 51 years ago this month left an indelible mark, shaping the course of not only Bihar but also national politics. In Bihar, the imprint of the movement led by the socialist icon, known better as JP, is illustrated by the fact that two of its products, Lalu Prasad and Nitish Kumar, have governed the state for 35 years, with only Jitan Ram Manjhi providing a brief break in between. As Bihar goes to the polls later this year, leaders in both the socialist and NDA camps moulded by the JP Movement continue to be at the thick of things in Bihar. The beginning While the defining moment of this important chapter of Indian political history was JP's 'Sampoorna Kranti (Total Revolution)' call from Patna's Gandhi Maidan on June 5, 1974, the seed was planted a few months earlier when, on March 18, students gheraoed the Bihar Assembly. The protests against the then Congress-led state government of Abdul Ghafoor were over high college fees, bus fares, and alleged mismanagement of university administration. They came at a time of high poverty, challenges on the economic front, and allegations of corruption and nepotism against the Indira Gandhi government, that had started mounting right after her win in 1971. The late Sushil Kumar Modi, former Deputy CM and another product of the JP Movement, once told this correspondent, 'When the 5-km protest march started from the Science College to the Vidhan Sabha, there were barely 30-odd people. But as we started walking, the crowd started building up… The government was caught unawares and the police had to open lathicharge.' There were incidents of arson — the printing presses of two newspapers were torched — and three students were killed. As the situation threatened to spiral out of control, some students and young leaders, including Modi and Shivanand Tiwari (later a Rajya Sabha MP), approached JP to request him to lead the movement. Though the veteran socialist had been away from active politics for over two decades, the month before, he had visited college students in Gujarat protesting over mess fee hikes. 'Dissent is not just an intellectual luxury but a necessary catalytic agent to which society owes its revolution, its progress,' says a book on JP, quoting him According to former RSS ideologue K N Govindacharya, JP was angry over the violence, but calmed down when he was told that the students were not behind it. According to Govindacharya, on April 8, JP addressed a meeting of students in Patna and placed a few conditions before them, including that they wouldn't engage in violence. The students agreed and JP came to lead the movement. Mrs Gandhi was already alarmed and, at a public meeting in Bhubaneswar on April 1, labelled JP a 'fascist', and said he was walking on the path of 'violence'. At Gandhi Maidan Then came the Gandhi Maidan meeting and the 'Sampoorna Kranti' call, in which JP demanded changes on all fronts, from the economic and social to the political. Former MLC and socialist litterateur Prem Kumar Mani recalled: 'The Gandhi Maidan had not seen such a crowd before. There was no bridge over the Ganga those days, and yet, people arrived using whatever means of transport they could find. JP talked of 'Sampoorna Kranti', adding it was nothing but the 'sapta kranti (seven revolutions framework)' of Dr Ram Manohar Lohia.' JP also invoked Jawaharlal Nehru. 'I am not going to use angry language. But what I am going to say will contain the ideas of a revolutionary. It will not be easy to act upon them. You will have to make sacrifices, undergo sufferings… Friends, this is a revolution, a total revolution. This is not a movement, not merely for the dissolution of the Assembly. We have to go far, very far… Millions of countrymen filled the jails again and again to attain freedom, but after 27 years of that freedom, the people are groaning. Hunger, soaring prices and corruption stalk everywhere.' In their book The Dream of Revolution, Bimal Prasad and Sujata Prasad quote JP as saying, 'Dissent is not just an intellectual luxury but a necessary catalytic agent to which society owes its progress, its revolution, and its technological and scientific advances.' As the political situation continued to simmer, JP's call for another public meeting in Patna on November 4 made Mrs Gandhi open a communication channel with him, and three days before the rally, the two met in Delhi. While the PM requested him not to hold the rally, JP demanded the dismissal of the Ghafoor government in Bihar and drew her attention to the mishandling of democratic institutions. JP went ahead with the rally, and the Centre deployed paramilitary forces in Patna. During a lathicharge, JP narrowly escaped injury when Jana Sangh leader Nanaji Deshmukh shielded him. Chandra Shekhar, who later became PM, wrote in his weekly Young Indian, 'JP is not fighting for political power; he cannot be defeated by deploying State power.' 'We need to shake India' The situation in Gujarat took a sharp turn starting in March 1975 after Morarji Desai undertook hunger strikes in support of the Navnirman Movement of students and called for fresh elections in the state. Things came to a head on June 12, when the Allahabad High Court set aside Mrs Gandhi's election from Rae Bareli. This led to JP intensifying the movement and he met the national committees of the Akali Dal, the Congress (Organisation), and the Lok Dal, all of whom called on Mrs Gandhi to resign as PM. The non-Congress and non-Left parties held a meeting on June 12 at the Ramlila Maidan in Delhi, but JP could not attend it as his flight was diverted. He called another meeting at the same venue two days later. Mrs Gandhi's biographer Pupul Jayakar has written that on being confronted with the escalating situation, the PM told her key advisor and West Bengal CM Siddhartha Shankar Ray, 'Siddhartha, we cannot allow this… I feel that India is like a baby and just as one should sometimes take a child and shake it. I feel we need to shake India.' Within hours of Emergency being imposed on June 25, top Opposition leaders, including JP, Morarji Desai, Raj Narain, Chandra Shekhar, and L K Advani, were jailed. So were young leaders shaped in the cauldron of those turbulent times, such as Lalu, Nitish, Ram Vilas Paswan, Ravi Shankar Prasad, and many others. Santosh Singh is a Senior Assistant Editor with The Indian Express since June 2008. He covers Bihar with main focus on politics, society and governance. Investigative and explanatory stories are also his forte. Singh has 25 years of experience in print journalism covering Bihar, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka. ... Read More
Indian Express
11 hours ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
How a semi-retired Jayaprakash Narayan stirred student protests into a storm
The JAYAPRAKASH Narayan Movement which began 51 years ago this month left an indelible mark, shaping the course of not only Bihar but also national politics. In Bihar, the imprint of the movement led by the socialist icon, known better as JP, is illustrated by the fact that two of its products, Lalu Prasad and Nitish Kumar, have governed the state for 35 years, with only Jitan Ram Manjhi providing a brief break in between. As Bihar goes to the polls later this year, leaders in both the socialist and NDA camps moulded by the JP Movement continue to be at the thick of things in Bihar. The beginning While the defining moment of this important chapter of Indian political history was JP's 'Sampoorna Kranti (Total Revolution)' call from Patna's Gandhi Maidan on June 5, 1974, the seed was planted a few months earlier when, on March 18, students gheraoed the Bihar Assembly. The protests against the then Congress-led state government of Abdul Ghafoor were over high college fees, bus fares, and alleged mismanagement of university administration. They came at a time of high poverty, challenges on the economic front, and allegations of corruption and nepotism against the Indira Gandhi government, that had started mounting right after her win in 1971. The late Sushil Kumar Modi, former Deputy CM and another product of the JP Movement, once told this correspondent, 'When the 5-km protest march started from the Science College to the Vidhan Sabha, there were barely 30-odd people. But as we started walking, the crowd started building up… The government was caught unawares and the police had to open lathicharge.' There were incidents of arson — the printing presses of two newspapers were torched — and three students were killed. As the situation threatened to spiral out of control, some students and young leaders, including Modi and Shivanand Tiwari (later a Rajya Sabha MP), approached JP to request him to lead the movement. Though the veteran socialist had been away from active politics for over two decades, the month before, he had visited college students in Gujarat protesting over mess fee hikes. 'Dissent is not just an intellectual luxury but a necessary catalytic agent to which society owes its revolution, its progress,' says a book on JP, quoting him According to former RSS ideologue K N Govindacharya, JP was angry over the violence, but calmed down when he was told that the students were not behind it. According to Govindacharya, on April 8, JP addressed a meeting of students in Patna and placed a few conditions before them, including that they wouldn't engage in violence. The students agreed and JP came to lead the movement. Mrs Gandhi was already alarmed and, at a public meeting in Bhubaneswar on April 1, labelled JP a 'fascist', and said he was walking on the path of 'violence'. At Gandhi Maidan Then came the Gandhi Maidan meeting and the 'Sampoorna Kranti' call, in which JP demanded changes on all fronts, from the economic and social to the political. Former MLC and socialist litterateur Prem Kumar Mani recalled: 'The Gandhi Maidan had not seen such a crowd before. There was no bridge over the Ganga those days, and yet, people arrived using whatever means of transport they could find. JP talked of 'Sampoorna Kranti', adding it was nothing but the 'sapta kranti (seven revolutions framework)' of Dr Ram Manohar Lohia.' JP also invoked Jawaharlal Nehru. 'I am not going to use angry language. But what I am going to say will contain the ideas of a revolutionary. It will not be easy to act upon them. You will have to make sacrifices, undergo sufferings… Friends, this is a revolution, a total revolution. This is not a movement, not merely for the dissolution of the Assembly. We have to go far, very far… Millions of countrymen filled the jails again and again to attain freedom, but after 27 years of that freedom, the people are groaning. Hunger, soaring prices and corruption stalk everywhere.' In their book The Dream of Revolution, Bimal Prasad and Sujata Prasad quote JP as saying, 'Dissent is not just an intellectual luxury but a necessary catalytic agent to which society owes its progress, its revolution, and its technological and scientific advances.' As the political situation continued to simmer, JP's call for another public meeting in Patna on November 4 made Mrs Gandhi open a communication channel with him, and three days before the rally, the two met in Delhi. While the PM requested him not to hold the rally, JP demanded the dismissal of the Ghafoor government in Bihar and drew her attention to the mishandling of democratic institutions. JP went ahead with the rally, and the Centre deployed paramilitary forces in Patna. During a lathicharge, JP narrowly escaped injury when Jana Sangh leader Nanaji Deshmukh shielded him. Chandra Shekhar, who later became PM, wrote in his weekly Young Indian, 'JP is not fighting for political power; he cannot be defeated by deploying State power.' 'We need to shake India' The situation in Gujarat took a sharp turn starting in March 1975 after Morarji Desai undertook hunger strikes in support of the Navnirman Movement of students and called for fresh elections in the state. Things came to a head on June 12, when the Allahabad High Court set aside Mrs Gandhi's election from Rae Bareli. This led to JP intensifying the movement and he met the national committees of the Akali Dal, the Congress (Organisation), and the Lok Dal, all of whom called on Mrs Gandhi to resign as PM. The non-Congress and non-Left parties held a meeting on June 12 at the Ramlila Maidan in Delhi, but JP could not attend it as his flight was diverted. He called another meeting at the same venue two days later. Mrs Gandhi's biographer Pupul Jayakar has written that on being confronted with the escalating situation, the PM told her key advisor and West Bengal CM Siddhartha Shankar Ray, 'Siddhartha, we cannot allow this… I feel that India is like a baby and just as one should sometimes take a child and shake it. I feel we need to shake India.' Within hours of Emergency being imposed on June 25, top Opposition leaders, including JP, Morarji Desai, Raj Narain, Chandra Shekhar, and L K Advani, were jailed. So were young leaders shaped in the cauldron of those turbulent times, such as Lalu, Nitish, Ram Vilas Paswan, Ravi Shankar Prasad, and many others.
The Print
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Print
Emergency was ‘ominous' for country: K N Govindacharya
'The Sangh Parivar gave stability to that movement, kept it going and a ban was also imposed on it and finally there was a change of power,' he told PTI Videos in an interview. The former BJP functionary asserted that the Sangh Parivar gave stability to that movement. New Delhi, Jun 22 (PTI) The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) played an important role in public awakening during the 'ominous' Emergency period with 65,000 people associated with it going to jail, former Sangh pracharak and political thinker N Govindacharya has said. Responding to a question about the role of the RSS in the 'Sampoorna Kranti' movement ahead of the Emergency, Govindacharya said the Sangh had a very big role in that movement. 'Just like Kurma had played a role in maintaining balance during the 'samudra manthan' with Basuki Nag and Mandara Parvat, the RSS had a similar role. In such a situation, Sangh played an important role in public awakening,' he said. According to mythology, Kurma, the tortoise avatar of Lord Vishnu, played an important role during the 'samudra manthan' (churning of ocean) to obtain the nectar of immortality. He said the Emergency imposed by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on June 25, 1975 was an outcome of her 'lust for power'. 'The Constitution was violated, fundamental rights and freedom of expression were crushed, forced sterilisation took place, censorship was imposed, human freedom and system were attacked. The Emergency was completely ominous and could have been avoided. But such a situation arose due to lust for power,' he said. In response to a question about the circumstances leading to the Sampoorna Kranti movement, Govindacharya said such a situation arose due to issues like inflation, unemployment, bad governance, corruption, poor education. 'It started with the Bihar movement and at that time the students demanded arrangements for better studies, hostel facilities etc. But the then Education Minister of Bihar lathi-charged the students, chased them away and neglected them due to vote bank,' he recalled. Govindacharya said with the arrival of Jayaprakash Narayan, the movement got leadership, gained stature and its credibility was established. Asked about the reasons for imposing Emergency, Govindacharya said Indira Gandhi's insecurity within her party, the atmosphere created by some close people spreading wrong information and her objective of remaining in power by hook or by crook must have been the main reasons and for that morality was set aside. Attacking the then Indira Gandhi led government, he said there was a stagnation in the system. The entire public was against insensitivity, irresponsibility and lack of accountability in the system and this was expressed during the students' movement. In response to a question about his experience during the Emergency, he said he was in jail for two months during the Bihar movement (students' movement) and at the end of the Emergency he also had to go to jail. The former Sangh Pracharak said during the movement, people associated with the Sangh Parivar used to go among the people with different names so that they could avoid arrest. The Sampoorna Kranti movement against the Emergency was an unusual act of ordinary people, he stated. When asked whether the objectives of the Emergency were achieved, Govindacharya said, 'The opposite happened. There was a change of power but the prohibitions were not followed.' Socialist leader Jayaprakash Narayan gave the call for Sampooran Kranti in 1974. The demand for resignation of the then Ghafoor ministry in Bihar ultimately turned into a larger demand for the dismissal of the Indira Gandhi government. PTI DR DIV DV DV This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
