History and Art and Culture
Context: Recently, the Prime Minister of India has paid tributes to Acharya Kripalani on his Jayanti.
About J B Kripalani:
- He was born on 11th November 1888 in Hyderabad, Sindh.
- His original name was Jivatram Bhagwandas Kripalani but was popularly known as Acharya Kripalani.
- Educationist: From 1912 to 1927, he taught at various places before becoming wholly involved in the freedom movement.
- He earned the moniker ‘Acharya’ around 1922 when he was teaching at the Gujarat Vidyapith, founded by the Mahatma a couple of years before.
- An Environmentalist: He, along with Vinoba Bhave, was involved in preservation and conservation activities throughout the 1970s.
- Books: My Times, his autobiography published posthumously in 2004 and Gandhi: His Life and Thought (1970).
Association with Indian Independence:
- He was associated with Gandhi by 1917 after Gandhi had taken up the cause of indigo workers in Gujarat.
- He was part of the Non-Cooperation Movement (1920-22) and the Civil Disobedience movements (started in 1930) and Quit India Movement (1942).
- He was the President of Indian National Congress (INC) at the time of independence. He served in the Interim government of India (1946–1947) and the Constituent Assembly of India.
Post-Independence political career:
- He became one of the founders of the Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party (KMPP) after independence leaving congress.
- He was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1952, 1957, 1963 and 1967 as a member of Praja Socialist Party.
- He moved the first-ever No confidence motion in Lok Sabha in 1963, immediately after the India-China War (1962).
- In 1963, Sucheta Kripalani, a Congress leader became the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, a first for any woman in the country while her husband Acharya remained an opponent to the Congress.
- He was a critic of Nehru’s policies and Indira Gandhi’s rule. He was arrested during Emergency (1975).
Source: PIB
