The
Lenin of Bihar , Babu Jagdeo Prasad’s 99th birthday falls 2-2-2020
Shri Jagdeo Prasad the Lenin of
Bihar was born on February 02, 1922 at Kurtha of Jehanabad district of Bihar. His father Prayag
Narayan Kushwaha was a teacher in a primary school in the neighbourhood while
his mother Raskali was illiterate. They belonged to Kushwaha caste who are vegetable
growers. The Kushwaha have richly contributed to the struggle for social
justice and democracy. Jagdeo Prasad passed matriculation from Jehanabad High School. The born
radical that he was he slapped his school teacher who had earlier beaten him
for no fault, when teacher went fast asleep in class room and was snoring
loudly.. He was called by School Headmaster where Jp said all must get
punishment for their faults wheather he is teacher or a student. He opposed
social caste and undesirable social customs..,He prevailed upon his grandfather to not perform
‘Shraddh ’ of his father. Instead of ‘Shraddh’ rituals,
there was a condolence meeting and a
small meal was held, all without any Brahmin priest. This was not the only
incident of caste-based exploitation. When he was a teenager, Jagdeo Prasad
succeeded in putting an end to the “Panchkatthiya” system prevalent in
the area. Under the system, the farmers were supposed to provide five katthas
(one kattha equals 933 grams) of their crop for the elephants of landlords. Jagdeo
along with his collegues beat the Landlords elephant along with its Mahavat.
When his father was taken seriously ill. His
mother was deeply religious. She performed pujas and begged to the gods to
spare her husband’s life. But his father passed away. This made Jagdev Babu
revolt against the Hindu religion. He collected all the photographs and idols
of gods and goddesses in his home and put them on his father’s pier. His
disillusionment with the brahmanical Hindu religion lasted his lifetime. He countered
Brahmanism with humanism.
In 1950 he graduated later he postgraduated both from Patna University. He
started taking part in Socialist Movement of Bihar. When Jayaprakash a
great socialist leader of his times and Lohia parted ways, Jagdev Prasad sided
with Lohia. He strengthened the organizational structure of the Socialist Party
and indigenized the socialist ideology so as to make its reach wider. JP quit
active politics and joined the Bhoodan Movement of Vinoba Bhave. JP was a sham
revolutionary who served the interests of the socialists of the forward castes.
The land that the landlords donated after a “change of heart” was largely
barren. It was distributed among the poor and the landless, who, through their
industry and toil, turned it fertile. But once that happened, the landlords
started staking a claim on the land and assaulting and forcibly evicting Dalits
and OBCs from their fields. At that time, Karpoori Thakur openly flayed Vinoba
Bhave and described him as a “Havai Mahatma” (an airy Mahatma). ( Ref.:-Karpoori Thakur Aur Samajwad;
Narendra Pathak).
In 1967, Jagdev Babu contested the assembly
polls as a candidate of the Samyukta Socialist Party (formed by the merger of
Praja Socialist Party and Socialist Party in 1966).
The famous slogan then
was Manvvad kee kya pehchan,
Brahmin, Bhangi ek samaan,
Punarjanm aur bhagyavaad, inse janma Brahmanvad
[ Meaning:- In
humanism, Brahmins and Bhangis are equal,Fatalism and (belief in) rebirth has
given birth to Brahmanism].
.
He along with 6 of his colleagues won Bihar State Assembly Bye Elections-1969
on –Shoshit Dal Party. Shoshit means oppressed and exploited. His efforts elevated
Kapoori Thakur as Dy Chief Minister in an
OBC leader in 1967. Credit goes to Jagdeo Prasad for breaking the monopoly of
upper castes on the post of Chief Minister of Bihar. Bihar saw first
non-Congress government in 1967 under the leadership of Mahamaya Prasad Sinha.
Subsequently Kapoori Thakur was chief
Minister of Bihar(1970-71 & 1977-79).Shri. Satish Prashad Singh and shri B.P.Mandal another OBC Leaders was also chief Minister
of Bihar in 1968. This practice is continuing intermittently with Lalu Prasad,
Rabridevi , Manji, Satish Kumar as chief Ministers of Bihar. Jagdeo Prasad a
master politician pulled down government of Mahamaya Prashad Sinha run with the
support of Jansang and CPI for making space for Backward class Chief Minister.
This brave son of Bihar was shot at and killed on September 05, 1974 in a
conspiracy had been hatched by the feudal lords to kill him His funeral was
attended by lakhs and condolence meeting on 7th Sep,1974 was
attended among others by JP Narayan, Kapoori Thakue,and R.S.Verma .
Jagdeo
Prasad’s coined slogan sums up many ideals.
“ We the exploited are
ninety, ninety is our share in land, wealth and power, the ninety will not
allow the rule of the ten.”
Er.H.R.Phonsa,Jammu
Contact:- hrphonsa@gmail.com Mobile:-09419134060
Ref:- Wikipedia.
Forward Press
Karpoori Thakur Aur Samajwad; Narendra Pathak).
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