Jayaprakash Narayan: Selected Works: Volume Three (1939-1946)

Jayaprakash Narayan (1902-79) was one of the most prominent leaders and thinkers produced by India in modern times. Although never seeking power for himself, he played a major role not only in the struggle for independence, but also in the Socialist and Sarvodaya movements and finally in the movement against authoritarianism (1974-7), popularly known as the J.P. movement. This series of volumes has been planned with a view to presenting as full a picture as possible of the evolution of J.P.’s political life and thought through his writings, speeches and letters. As he was in many ways a mirror of his times, it is hoped that the series will also provide an idea of the main currents of ideas and movements during the times in which he lived and worked. The items included in this volume, among other things, illumine the nature of J.P.’s role in our struggle for freedom during the period of the Second World War. Particularly noteworthy in this regard are his letters to his comrades addressed from his cell in the special camp jail at Deoli (Rajasthan) in 1941 and his two letters to all freedom fighters sent from the underground in 1943, after his daring escape from the Hazaribagh Central Prison. Many of these items, particularly J.P.’s jottings, comments on books and letters while imprisoned in the Lahore Fort and Agra Central Prison (1943-6) also provide us an insight into the significant changes then taking place in his socio-political thinking—a precursor of the later shift in his credo, first from Marxism to democratic socialism and then to Gandhism or Sarvodaya.