Narendra Deva

Acharya Narendra Dev's Family Mansion in Faizabad, UP

Acharya Narendra Deva (; 1889–1956) was one of the leading theorists of the Congress Socialist Party in India. His democratic socialism renounced violent means as a matter of principle and embraced the satyagraha as a revolutionary tactic.

Deva was first drawn to nationalism around 1915 under the influence of B G Tilak and Aurobindo Ghosh. As a teacher he became interested in Marxism and Buddhism. He was active in the Hindi language movement. He was a key leader of Congress Socialist Party from its founding in 1934 and was imprisoned several times during the freedom struggle. He was at times a member of the Uttar Pradesh legislative assembly. From 6 December 1951 to 31 May 1954 he served as Vice Chancellor of Faizabad University. He was one of the most respected vice chancellors of that University. Helped by Nirmal Chandra Chaturvedi, Executive Councillor and a prominent educationist of the state, he started a number of projects for the expansion of the University}

Narendra Deva advocated the abolition of poverty and exploitation not just through the Marxist materialist dialectic but especially on moral and humanistic grounds. Furthermore, he insisted that "without political democracy social democracy was a sham". Deva was active in the peasant movement and served as president of the All-India Kisan Congress.

He remained associated with the Socialist Party and its successor, the Praja Socialist Party, until his death in 1956.

Legacy

Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi has said: "Acharya Narnedra Dev was one of the greatest sons of India and the nation owes a great debt to him."

The Narendra Dev University of Agriculture and Technology was named in his honour in 1975.

In an emotional obituary in Rajya Sabha, Jawaharlal Nehru said:

The death of Acharya Narendra Deva is something much bigger for many of us and, I think, for the country than just the passing away of an important person. He was a man of rare distinction--distinction in many fields--rare in spirit, rare in mind and intellect, rare in integrity of mind and otherwise. Only his body failed him. I do not know if there is any person present here in this House who was associated with him for a longer period than I was. Over 40 years ago we came together and we shared innumerable experiences together in the dust and heat of the struggle for independence and in the long silence of prison life where we spent--I forget now--four or five years together at various places, and inevitably got to know each other intimately; and so, for many of us, it is a grievous loss and a grievous blow, even as it is a grievous loss for our country. There is the public sense of loss and there is the private sense of loss and a feeling that somebody of rare distinction has gone and it will be very difficult to find his like again.

References

Books and publications on Acharya Narendra Deva:

• Acharya Narendra Deva, Socialism and the National Revolution, edited by Yusuf Meherally (Bombay, 1946).
• Acharya Narendra Deva: Birth Centenary Volume, edited by Prem Bhasin, Madhu Limaye, Haridev Sharma, Vinod Prasad Singh published by Radiant Publishers. New Delhi.
• Acharya Narendra Deva: Commemorative Volume, Centre of Applied Politics. New Delhi.
• Selected Works of Acharya Narendra Deva: 1928-1956, four volumes, edited by Haridev Sharma. Radiant Publishers, New Delhi.
• Acharya Narendra Deva: A Commemorative Volume, edited by B V Keskar and VKN Menon, New Delhi, 1971.
• Acharya Narendra Deva, Towards Socialist Society, edited by Brahmanand.
• Acharya Narendra Deva by Jagdish Chandra Dikshit.
• Acharya Narendra Deva — Concept of Socialism, by S.R Bakshi. New Delhi: Anmol Publishers.
• Socialism in Theory and Practice: Narendra Deva's Contribution, by Asha Gupta, 1987. New Delhi: Gitanjali Publishing House.
• Acharya Narendra Dev: His Age and Ideals, by Jagdish Chandra Dikshit, Information & Public Relations Department, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, 1989.
• Leftism in India: 1917-1947, by Satyabrata Rai Chowdhuri, 2008. London and New Delhi: Palgrave Macmillan.