When the Vision of Sampoorna kranti has slipped into irretrievable hibernation. The nation in all its majesticity has given a decent burial to India’s greatest figure in the post independence phase, one and only great Jayaprakash Narayan.
Vivekanand Jha, Ranchi: Today the birth anniversary of Loknayak Jayaprakash Narayan, unequivocally India’s greatest figure in the Post-independence phase. In fact, it would hardly be an exaggeration to say that Jayaprakash and Martin Luther King junior, both were contemporaries. The memorable speech of the great Martin Luther King junior: ‘I have a dream’, finds its inevitable eloquence in the Vision of Sampoorna Kranti of immortal Jayaprakashjee. No wonder in my book Delhi Beckons RaGa for NaMo, launched by the Prime Minister, I had encapsulated therein ‘ We have our dreams, Modijee’, based on the greatest speech of last century of Martin Luther King. Significantly, both the eternal speech and the Sampoorna kranti are parallel to each other, for both, without the least of exaggeration, were universal in their outlook. Moreover, Sampoorna kranti, if dissected in its entirety, it is the doubtless extension of Swami Vivekananda’s vision of bringing change at the individual level; transformation happening at the individual level.
Ironically, India has never learnt to covet its prodigious sons-Netajee Subhas Chandra Bose and Jayaprakash Narayan–former being India’s greatest figure in the pre-independence while the latter being the greatest face of post-independence. Paradoxically though, Indira Gandhi, the authoritarian face of this nation, despite her humongous commissions, especially bringing the nation under the totalitarianism, still remains a venerable figure, however the man who gave us our second independence, blowing the mighty arrogance of Indira Gandhi into smithereens, finds himself in the backyard of the nation’s memory. Worse still, even Ataljee cannot escape the blame of ignoring the great legacy of the immortal leader–Yashwant Sinha writes that how he had conveyed to Ataljee about the centenary celebration of the immortal leader falling in 2003, yet Ataljee, despite showing his enthusiasm, was lukewarm. The Centenary celebration was allowed to pass off unnoticed. Contrast this with Mahatma Gandhi’s centenary or even that of lesser mortals, the stark difference becomes all the more palpable. Significantly, Ataljee, who personally held the immortal Jayaprakashjee in great esteem, was hobbled by the RSS’ lack of green signal to go ahead, for RSS, notwithstanding its public postures, has an irrepressible anathema for those who held or championed the contractions ideology or set of values. Jayaprakash Narayan was universal: he had embraced one and all to his bosom, which Sangh might have inwardly resented. Worse still, those who were with Students movement spearheaded by Jayaprakashjee, like Nitish Kumar, Laloo Yadav too, in their hubris brought about by the tasting of power, gave the priceless legacy of Jayaprakashjee a decent burial. This, unequivocally can be attributed to Jayaprakashjee’ public articulation against dynasty and authoritarianism.
Nation today needs Jayaprakashjee as never before when authoritarianism in the polity has once again raised its ugly spectre. Regrettably, the institutions that provided checks and balances to the democracy, appears to have been kept in abeyance, suspended animation. When Opposition too, in the state of disarray, equally unscruppous as the leaders in government, left much to be desired; when media being bribed to sing panegyeics for those in power for 24 hours; when the fragility of the polity would hardly have been as brittle as it stands today; when India, in the wake of spectacular policy failures –both domestic as well as foreign–stands domestically defiled and externally encircled, the clarion call of Sampoorna Kranti could never given a short shrift by all the mainstream political parties, it is invariably left for Rashtriya Lokneeti Party to be the palanquin bearers of this priceless legacy of immortal Jayaprakashjee. Hence in this backdrop, the inauguration of Satwik, a unique restaurant in Shimla, which providentially coincides with the birth anniversary of immortal Jayaprakashjee, should celebrate this great occasion placing the photograph of the immortal leader and speaking few words about the great man’s vision of Sampoorna kranti. Let this be the first, yet definitive, step towards the thousand miles journey ahead for Rashtriya Lokneeti Party to usher in Lokneeti in the republic.
Vivekananda Jha, author of an upcoming book A Journey from Rajneeti to Lokneeti, a soldier of Rashtriya Lokneeti Party offers his heart felt salutations to India’s greatest figure in the post-independence phase, one and only Loknayak Jayaprakash Narayan.
