Narendra Deva
Acharya Narendra Deva (
1889-
1956) was one of the leading theorists of the
Congress Socialist Party. 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 also 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 various times a member of the
Uttar Pradesh legislative assembly, and after
1948 served as vice-chancellor of
Lucknow University.
Narendra Deva advocated the abolition of poverty and exploitation not just through his belief in 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 was also an atheist, rejecting the glorification of God which, he argued, by implication denigrated humankind.
He remained associated with the
Socialist Party and its successor, the
Praja Socialist Party, until his death in
1956.
The
Narendra Deva University of Agriculture and Technology was named in his honour in
1975.
* Chowdhuri, Satyabrata Rai, 1976.
Leftist Movements in India: 1917-1947. Calcutta: Minerva Associates.
* Gupta, Asha, 1987.
Socialism in Theory and Practice: Narendra Deva's Contribution. New Delhi: Gitanjali Publishing House.
