- Also called:
- Acharya Kripalani
- Died:
- March 19, 1982, Ahmadabad (aged 93)
- Title / Office:
- Lok Sabha (1951-1962), India
- Political Affiliation:
- Indian National Congress
Jivatram Bhagwandas Kripalani
-
Who was Jivatram Bhagwandas Kripalani?
Jivatram Bhagwandas Kripalani (1888–1982) was an Indian educator, social activist, and politician prominent in both pre- and post-independence India. A close associate of Mohandas K. Gandhi, he was a longtime supporter of Gandhi's ideology and a leading figure in the Indian National Congress during the 1930s and 40s. Kripalani also helped found the Praja Socialist Party (PSP). Called Acharya ("Teacher"), Kripalani participated in acts of civil disobedience and was imprisoned multiple times. After Gandhi’s assassination in 1948, Kripalani became a champion of Gandhian principles and a spiritual leader for Indian socialists, criticizing the policies of Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi.
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What role did Kripalani play in Indian society?
Jivatram Bhagwandas Kripalani, born in 1888, was a prominent figure in Indian society as an educator, social activist, and politician. A close associate of Mahatma Gandhi, he championed Gandhian principles and social and environmental causes.
Kripalani was deeply involved in the Indian National Congress, serving as general secretary and later as president. He advocated for the party's active role in governance, leading to clashes with Jawaharlal Nehru. After leaving Congress, he helped form the Praja Socialist Party. Kripalani was a critic of Nehru's policies and Indira Gandhi's authoritarian rule, promoting nonviolent protest. He remained a spiritual leader for socialists in India until his death in 1982.
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How was Kripalani involved in India's independence movement?
Jivatram Bhagwandas Kripalani, also known as Acharya Kripalani, was a prominent figure in India's pre- and post-independence era. A close associate of Mahatma Gandhi, he joined the Indian National Congress and actively participated in acts of civil disobedience against British rule, resulting in multiple imprisonments.
Rising to become a senior leader within Congress, Kripalani served as general secretary of the All India Congress Committee (1928-29) and of the party (1934-1945). In 1946, he was elected president of the Congress Party. Kripalani was also a member of the Constituent Assembly that drafted India’s new constitution (1946–51).
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What positions did Kripalani hold in Indian politics after independence?
After India's independence, Jivatram Bhagwandas Kripalani, also known as Acharya Kripalani, was a member of India’s interim government from 1946 to 1947 and of the Constituent Assembly that drafted the country’s new constitution from 1946 to 1951. In 1946, he was elected president of the Indian National Congress, but he resigned in late 1947.
In 1951, Kripalani was elected to the Lok Sabha (the lower chamber of the Indian parliament). He won reelection to that chamber in 1957, 1963, and 1967.
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Why is Kripalani considered an important social activist?
Jivatram Bhagwandas Kripalani (1888-1982) was an Indian educator, social activist, and politician. As a student and teacher, Kripalani participated in social and political activism and became associated with Gandhi by 1917. After Gandhi's assassination in 1948, Kripalani became the standard-bearer for Gandhian principles. He championed social and environmental causes and became a spiritual leader of the socialists in India. In the 1970s, he urged nonviolent protest and civil disobedience against Indira Gandhi's government and was briefly held in custody after the nationwide state of emergency in 1975.
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How did Kripalani's beliefs and actions impact education and society in India?
Jivatram Bhagwandas Kripalani, an Indian educator, social activist, and politician, significantly impacted Indian society through his association with Mahatma Gandhi and his work in education and social reform. As principal of Gujarat Vidyapith, a school founded by Gandhi, Kripalani, who acquired the nickname "Acharya" ("Teacher"), influenced education from 1922 to 1927. After Gandhi’s assassination, Kripalani became a leading voice for Gandhian principles, advocating for social and environmental causes and championing nonviolent protest and civil disobedience. He criticized governmental policies that deviated from Gandhi's vision of village republics, reflecting his commitment to Gandhian ideals in shaping society.
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Jivatram Bhagwandas Kripalani (born November 11, 1888, Hyderabad, India [now in Pakistan]—died March 19, 1982, Ahmadabad) was a prominent Indian educator, social activist, and politician in both pre- and post-independence India, who was a close associate of Mohandas K. Gandhi and a longtime supporter of his ideology. He was a leading figure in the Indian National Congress (Congress Party) during the 1930s and ’40s and later was a founder of the Praja Socialist Party (PSP).
Kripalani was born in Hyderabad (now in Sindh province, Pakistan) and was raised in the Sindh and Gujarat regions in a middle-class Hindu family. His father was a minor government official. He earned a master’s degree in history and economics from Fergusson College in Pune. In 1912 he embarked on a teaching career.
As a student, Kripalani had participated in social and political activism. It was during his time as a teacher that he first encountered Gandhi, and he was associated with Gandhi by 1917, after Gandhi had taken up the cause of indigo workers in Gujarat. Kripalani subsequently joined the Congress Party and worked on Gandhi’s ashrams (religious retreats) in Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Bihar. From 1922 to 1927 he was the principal of Gujarat Vidyapith in Ahmadabad, a school founded by Gandhi, and it was during his tenure there that he acquired the nickname Acharya (“Teacher”). After 1920 Kripalani also participated in many of the acts of civil disobedience associated with Indian opposition to British rule, in the process earning several prison terms.
Kripalani rose to become a senior leader within Congress. His first major post was as general secretary of the All India Congress Committee in 1928–29, and from 1934 to 1945 he served as general secretary of the party. In 1946 he was elected president of the party, but his tenure in that post was controversial. Jawaharlal Nehru, independent India’s first prime minister, objected to the high level of involvement that Kripalani wanted the party to play in governing the country. In My Times, his autobiography published posthumously in 2004, Kripalani strongly condemned nearly the entire Congress leadership—Gandhi being one of the few exceptions—for allowing a united India to be partitioned in 1947. Late that year he resigned as party president..
While that drama was unfolding, he was a member (1946–47) of India’s interim government and (1946–51) of the Constituent Assembly that drafted the country’s new constitution.. In 1951 Kripalani resigned from Congress, a year after he was defeated in a bid to become president of the party again, and he helped form the Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party that in 1952 became the core of the Praja Socialist Party (PSP); he later resigned from the PSP. Also in 1951 he was elected to the Lok Sabha (the lower chamber of the Indian parliament) and won reelection to that chamber in 1957, 1963, and 1967. His only electoral defeats came in 1962, when he lost his seat to V.K. Krishna Menon (then minister of defense), and in 1971, his last bid for public office.
Kripalani was an avowed follower of Gandhi. After Gandhi’s assassination in 1948, he took upon himself the task of standard bearer for Gandhian principles in a world he thought was losing respect for idealism. Kripalani later included in his autobiography this passage that he had once written to Gandhi, “I cannot live in the light of the doctrines I have learnt from you. But intellectually I am convinced that humanity’s salvation lies that way.” He long championed social and environmental causes and became a spiritual leader of the socialists in India.
Kripalani was a harsh critic of both Nehru and Nehru’s daughter, Indira Gandhi. He opposed Nehru’s policies, which he thought went against the Gandhian ideal of village republics, and he strongly denounced Indira Gandhi’s authoritarian rule as prime minister. In 1972–73 he, Jaya Prakash (or Jayaprakash) Narayan, and other socialist leaders toured the country urging nonviolent protest and civil disobedience against Indira Gandhi’s government. Kripalani was among the first lot of political leaders to be arrested in June 1975 after she had imposed a nationwide state of emergency, but because of his prominence he was only briefly held in custody. Kripalani was the author of several books, including Gandhi: His Life and Thought (1970).
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