|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
HINDI REVIEW Poochte hai vo ki JP kaun hai by Dr Chandra
Trikha. JP was a socialist who was not
enamoured either of Western socialist dogma or of communism. As a
campaigner for Vinoba Bhave’s Bhoodan movement and in getting
thousands of dacoits of the Chambal region to lay down arms, he showed
his commitment to social reform. Many years later, after death of his
wife Prabhawati in 1973, he decided to launch a "total
revolution" movement to involve the youth of this country to hasten
the process of development. Initial successes of the JP movement gave
jitters to the ruling establishment and led to imposition of the
Emergency. His role in the battle against the despotic Emergency regime
of Indira Gandhi made him the tallest mass leader in the country. If
India is a free, vibrant and dynamic democracy today, a major part of
credit goes to JP’s selfless role. He may be called a modern-day sanyasi,
committed to common good of the society at large, who even after
renouncing politics, was prepared to take up fight with the mightiest
without caring about his own well-being. Chandra Trikha, who met the
Lok Nayak thrice and had two long conversations with him, has recorded
his impressions of JP in this volume. Giving a rationale for another
book on this much-chronicled leader, he says people like JP, who was far
ahead of his time, need constant re-evaluation. He refutes the commonly
held notion that JP was a failed leader and instead reminds that no
government since the Emergency has tried holding on to power after
losing an election. A leader should be judged by the touchstone of his
objectives. Pakistan President Field Marshal Ayub Khan’s wish that
"Pakistan should have had a few people like JP" vindicated JP
much before he came to be the defender of democracy. If the
poet-journalists’ narration looks somewhat unstructured at times, we
must remember that this is an emotional book, written as a reaction to
the query by some students’ in a journalism class, "Who was
JP". That the quality of Hindi books can be improved by using the
services of editors and proofreaders is evident at places.
|
That the acclaimed hero of the Emergency is becoming a forgotten
"JP who?" for the 20-something young men and women of today is
enough to shock any witness to that era. Jayaprakash Narayan, who as a
poor student in Chicago had to sell fairness cream to take care of his
expenses, rose to dizzy heights in the Indian political firmament. He
was a selfless freedom fighter in Gandhi’s mould but his role as a
leader of independent India makes JP even more memorable. Though he left
active politics without ever holding public office, for many years he
was considered prime minister material and a potential successor to
Nehru. He who could have become Prime Minster or President of the
Republic never aspired for public office and was content to live like an
ordinary Indian in his house in Patna. 