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.

References

• 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.