JAYAPRAKASH NARAYAN IN UNDERGROUND MOVEMENT

Jayaprakash Narayan was a freedom fighter and political leader of India. Popularly called JP,
Narayan played a pivotal role in the Quit India movement and earned a lot of fame and respect
for this. During the Quit India Movement too in 1942, JP was at the helm of the agitation.

Jayaprakash was an Indian freedom fighter and political leader of India. Popularly called JP by
his allies, Narayan is remembered for spearheading the opposition to Indira Gandhi during the
1970s era. This biography traces out the political life history of Jayaprakash Narayan who was
born in the Sitabdiara village in the Saran district of Bihar. Being a bright student, he went on to
complete his BA and MA in politics and sociology from the United States in 1922.

Once in the United States, Jayaprakash Narayan studied the political science, sociology and
economics at the Universities of Berkeley, Iowa, Wisconsin and Ohio State. He was really
impressed by Marxism during his study at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. The ideas
and writings of M.N. Roy also equally impressed him. But financial problems and his mother's
health caused him to give up his dreams of securing a PhD.

It was while Narayan was returning to India that he got the chance to meet revolutionaries like
Rajani Palme Dutt in London on his way back to India. As such, he joined the Indian National
Congress in 1929 upon receiving an invitation from Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. In the time to
come, the great Mahatma Gandhi turned out to be the mentor and guide of Jayaprakash
Narayan. Narayan was jailed and tortured by the British forces several times during the war for
Independence.

Jayaprakash Narayan played a crucial role in the Quit India movement and earned a lot of fame
and respect for this. JP wedded freedom fighter Prabhavati Devi, who was a follower of
Kasturba Gandhi. She resided at the Sabarmati Ashram while Jayaprakash Narayan was
studying abroad. Though she nurtured viewpoints that contradicted JP's, yet her husband
always respected her independence.

Jayaprakash Narayan met Ram Manohar Lohia, Minoo Masani, Ashok Mehta, Yusuf Desai and
other national leaders when he was put behind bars in 1932 because of the civil disobedience
movement. After JP came out of jail, the Congress Socialist party was set up. While Acharya
Narendra Deva was elected as its President, JP was chosen its general secretary. During the
Quit India Movement in 1942, JP was again at the helm of the agitation.

Ram Manohar Lohia
Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia was born on March 2, 1910 in Akbarpur in Faizabad disrict. After
graduation from Vidyasagar College, Calcutta in 1929, he proceded to England and Germany
for higher studies and took a Doctorate degree from Humboldt University in Berlin. Lohia
returned to India in 193. He became a founder member of the Congress Socialist Party in 1934
and was the first Editor of the wekly "Congress Socialist". He also became secretary of the
Foreign Department of the Indian National Congress. The approaching shadows of World War II
led him, along with some other younger leaders to propose the launching of a Satyagraha for
Indian independence, He was arrested by the British Government for obstructing the supply of
the material for the war. Ram Manohar Lohia took an active part in the Quit India Movement in
1942 and was one of the leaders who went underground. He set up secet radio stations in
Bombay and Calcutta and also worked for "Azad Daste" in Nepal territory. He was arrested in
1944. On release from prison in 1946, he was offered the Secretaryship of the Congress Party
but he declined as he did not gree that the Congress President should also be the Prime
Minister or that any member of the Working Committee should be a minister. He. along with
certain other socialist leaders, finally left the Congress in 1948. In 1952 they merged with the
Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party and formed the Praja Socialist Aprty. However, he resigned the
Secretaryship of the party as a protest against the refusal of Pattom Thanu Pillai, Chief Minister
of Travancore-Cochin, to quit office on the issue of police firing on language agitators in 1954.
He formed the Socialist Party at Hyderabad and himself became Chairman and Editor of its
organ, "mankind", in 1956. He was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1963. In 1964, the Socialist
Party merged with the Praja Socialist Party, which then came to be known as Samyukta
Socialist party. However, strong difference continued to account of insistece of the followers of
Ram Manohar Lohia on Hindi as the national language, the rights of untouchables and the
principle of no compromise with either the Congress or the Communists. Ram Manohar Lohia
died on October 12, 1967, at Willington Nursing Hom, New Delhi, following an operation. A
staunch advocate of socialism, Lohia was a crusader for social justice and always had
uppermost in his mind the cause of the weak and the downtrodden. The high-light of his
personality wa his refuasl to compromise with his basic principles for tha sake of political
expediency. He believed on his idealogical purity, he was serving the nation, though the results
may not be achieved in his life time. The Posts and Telegraphs Department is proud to bring out
a commemorative postage stamp in honour of this great son of India.