J. B. Kripalani, popularly
known as Acharya Kripalani, was born at Hyderabad
(Sind) in 1888 in an upper middle-class Hindu
Kshatriya Amil family. His father, Kaka Bhagwandas,
was a Tahsildar (Revenue and Judical officer)
in Government service. He was a staunch Vaishnava,
who lived an austere life in his cottage built
in front of the main family house. He was respected
by his family and his neighbours, but there was
a large element of fear in that respect. For,
with a venerable figure he had a quick temper
that spared no one.
He had seven sons and one daughter, J. B. Kripalani
being the sixth among the children. The second
and the third brother of Kripalani became converts
to Islam. One died as an absconder during the
Khilafat movement and was believed to have intrigued
with Afganistan for the Invasion of India. The
other died in Turkey while defending it against
the Greeks before the First Great War. The eldest
brother was the first Amil Hindu to open a Swadeshi
shop and later a leather shop.
The seventh brother put on the robe of a Sanyasi,
with so much fire in it that Kripalani feared
him (if he feared anybody). Kripalani's sister
Kikiben devoted herself to the national cause.
It was a family of high strung individuals, with
thin lips, pinched faces, but alert eyes and warm
hearts. All of them slept very little, had sharp
tongues, but strong likes along with dislikes.
It was fundamentally a religious-minded family
in a community which had little value for religion.
Having passed the Matriculation examination in
Sind, Kripalani joined Wilson College, Bombay,
for higher studies. He was, however, not very
serious about his studies (the present Contributor
was his class-mate at the time) and detested all
subjects of study except English poetry. He devoted
on English poets as much as he later hated the
English rulers. Those were days of the Bengal
partition when there was a ferment among students.
Kripalani also caught the spirit and raised enough
trouble for the authorities of the Wilson College
to be forced to migrate to the quieter atmosphere
of the D. J. Sind College at Karachi.
Here too he got himself involved in trouble. It
was in 1907 and Kripalani was then in the B. A.
class. The Principal of the College made an indiscreet
remark about Indians being liars. Immediately
there was a strike in which Kripalani and his
fellow students got their first lesson in political
agitation. Kripalani was rusticated, and since
he could not get admitted in any of the Colleges
in Bombay, he went to Poona and joined the Fergusson
College run by a group of nationalists. Kripalani
was warned by the authorities of the College not
to get involved in agitations.
In 1908 he graduated from the Fergusson College.
Later he took his M. A. in History and Economics.
Although he was bookish person, Kripalani chose
teaching as his career. From 1912 to 1917 he worked
as a Professor of English and History at Muzaffarpur
College in Bihar. For a short period, he taught
the Benares Hindu University (1919-20) and from
1920 to 1927 he served as the Principal of the
Gujarat Vidyapeeth founded by Mahatma Gandhi.
From 1927 he became fully engrossed in the Ashram
work and in the political movements of the Indian
National Congress. It was during his days at the
Gujarat Vidyapeeth that he came to be called as
Acharya which struck to his name ever since. Among
his political co-workers he was known as 'Dada'
or elder brother.
Kripalani first came into contact with Gandhiji
in 1917 during the Champaran Satyagraha and that
proved to be a turning point in his life. He had
met Gandhi earlier at Santiniketan in 1915 but
did not think much of his ideas. It was the Champaran
Satyagraha which completely converted him to Gandhian
ideology. |
Since then Kripalani
had been an ardent and devoted follower of Gandhi
and an exponent on Gandhian philosophy.
He was, however, not a Gandhite in the ordinary
sense. Probably he loved the man Gandhi more than
the creed known as Gandhism. Gandhiji had many
followers who had adopted his creed. Generally
the followers of a great man soon reduce the living
master to a dead idol. Kripalani was live enough
to keep the master living even after his death.
Another turning point in his life was his marriage
with Sucheta in 1936. She was then teaching in
the Women's College at the Benares Hindu University.
Her cousin was the Secretary of the Gandhi Ashram
at Benares started by Kripalani, and it was through
him that he came to know his wife-to-be. The marriage
was celebrated with the blessings of Gandhiji
and there was also a special ceremony at the Anand
Bhavan of the Nehru family.
It turned out to be the happiest partnership in
life. For nearly four decades there had been the
closest understanding between the husband and
the wife; and although in the post Independence
period the two differed in their political ideas
and party affiliations, it did not in the least
touch their home life.
From the late twenties Kripalani devoted himself
wholly to Congress work. He steadily built up
his position in the organisation, and from 1934
to 1945 he served as the General Secretary. He,
however, always kept himself in the background
and never tried to push himself into prominence
like many others in the Congress. As Bapuji's
disciple, he was content with being a silent worker.
During the Congress rift in 1938 over the election
of Subhas Chandra Bose as President, Kripalani
sided with Gandhi.
He took part in all the Congress movements since
1921 and had his quota of jail-life on different
occasions. During the Quit India movement in 1942
he was arrested and was released along with the
other Congress leaders in 1945. He was elected
President of the Indian National Congress in November
1946 and steered the organisation through the
critical days of the transfer of power.
In November 1947 he presided over a very crucial
meeting of the A.I.C.C. Where he differed sharply
from many of his former colleagues. Kripalani
insisted on retaining the supremacy of the organisational
wing of the Congress over the Parliamentary wing,
which was resisted by Nehru, Patel and others
who were now in the Government. To prevent disharmony
and rift within the Congress Kripalani finally
tendered his resignation as President, being succeeded
by Dr. Rajendra Prasad.
Though he remained a member of the Constituent
Assembly, Kripalani gradually drifted away from
his old comrades until he resigned from the Congress
Party itself in 1951. He then started a weekly
called the vigil and a new political party known
as the Krishak Mazdoor Praja Party which subsequently
merged into the Praja Socialist Party. But in
1954 he resigned from the P.S.I. and became an
independent for the rest of his parliamentary
life. Really was an 'Independent' not only politics
but in his very nature, for he disliked the rules
and the obligations of party life which irked
him.
He had grown into an old experienced parliamentarian
who was a distinguished opposition leader without
being a member of any opposition party. His parliamentary
career came to an end in 1971 as no party wanted
to support him during elections. Kripalani had
written a number of books on Gandhian philosophy,
the more important being: 'Non-Violent Revolution',
'The Gandhian Way', 'The Indian National Congress',
"The Fateful Years', 'The Politics of Chakra',
'The Father of the Congress' and 'The Gandhian
Critique'.
|