Dr. Rajendra Prasad
Dr. Rajendra Prasad, son of Mahadev Sahai, was born in Zeradei, siwan, Bihar on December 3, 1884.
Being the youngest in a large joint family he was greatly loved. He was strongly
attached to his mother and elder brother Mahendra. In Zeradei's diverse
population, people lived together in onsiderable harmony. His earliest memories
were of playing "Kabaddi" with his Hindu and Muslim friends alike. In
keeping with the old customs of his village and family, he was married when he
was barely 12 years old to Rajvanshi Devi.
He was a brilliant student; standing first in the
entrance examination to the University of Calcutta, he was awarded Rs.30/month scholarship. He joined
the famed Calcutta Presidency College in 1902. His scholarship, ironically,
would pose the first test of his patriotism. Gopal Krishna Gokhale had started
the Servants of India Society in 1905 and asked him to join. So strong was his
sense of duty toward his family and education that he, after much deliberation,
refused Gokhale. But the decision would not rest easy on him. He recalled,
"I was miserable" and for the first time in his life his performance
in academia declined, and he barely cleared his law examinations.
Having made his choice, however, he set aside the
intruding thoughts, and focused on his studies with renewed vigor. In 1915, He
passed the Masters in Law examination with honors, winning a gold medal.
Subsequently, he completed his Doctorate in Law as well.
As an accomplished lawyer, however, he realized it
would be only a matter of time before he would be caught up in the turmoil of
the fight for independence. While Gandhiji was on a fact finding mission in
Chamaparan district of Bihar to address grievances of local peasants, he called
on Dr. Rajendra Prasad to come to Champaran with volunteers. He rushed to
Champaran. Initially he was not impressed with Gandhiji's appearance or
conversation. In time, however, he was deeply moved by the dedication,
conviction and courage that Gandhiji displayed. Here was a man alien of the
parts, who had made the cause of the people of Champaran his own. He decided
that he would do everything he could to help, with his skills as a lawyer and
as an enthusiastic volunteer.
Gandhiji's influence greatly altered many of his
views, most importantly on caste and untouchability. Gandhiji made Dr. Rajendra
Prasad realize that the nation, working for a common cause, "became of one
caste, namely co-workers." He reduced the number of servants he had to
one, and sought ways to simplify his life. He no longer felt shame in sweeping
the floor, or washing his own utensils, tasks he had all along assumed others
would do for him.
Whenever the people suffered, he was present to help
reduce the pain. In 1914 floods ravaged
Bihar and Bengal. He became a volunteer distributing food and cloth to the
flood victims. In 1934, Bihar was shaken by an earthquake, which caused immense
damage and loss of property. The quake, devastating by itself, was followed by
floods and an outbreak of malaria which heightened misery. He dove right in
with relief work, collecting food, clothes and medicine. His experiences here
led to similar efforts elsewhere too. In 1935, an earthquake hit Quetta. He was
not allowed to lend a hand because of Government restrictions. Nevertheless, he
set up relief committees in Sind and Punjab for the homeless victims who
flocked there.
Dr. Prasad called for non cooperation in Bihar as part of
Gandhiji's non-cooperation movement. He gave up his law practice and started a
National College near Patna, 1921. The college was later shifted to Sadaqat Ashramon
the banks of the Ganga. The non-cooperation movement in Bihar spread like
wildfire. Dr. Prasad toured the state, holding public meeting fter another,
collecting funds and galvanizing the nation for a complete boycott of all
schools, colleges and Government offices. He urged the people to take to
spinning and wear only khadi. Bihar and the entire nation was taken by storm,
the people responded to the leaders' call. The machinery of the mighty British
Raj was coming to a grinding halt. The British India Government utilized the
one and only option at its disposal-force. Mass arrests were made. Lala Lajpat
Rai, Jawaharlal Nehru, Deshbandhu Chittranjan Das and Maulana Azad were
arrested. Then it happened. Peaceful non- cooperation turned to violence in
Chauri Chaura, Uttar Pradesh. In light of the events at Chauri Chaura, Gandhiji
suspended the civil disobedience movement. The entire nation was hushed. A
murmur of dissent began within the top brass of the Congress. Gandhiji was
criticized for what was called the "Bardoli retreat."
His service on the various fronts of the movement
for independence raised his profile considerably. He presided over the Bombay
session of the Indian National Congress in October 1934. Following the
resignation of Subhash Chandra Bose as the President of the Congress in April
1939, He was elected President. He did his best to heal the rifts created
between the incompatible ideologies of Subhash Chandra Bose and Gandhiji.
Rabindranath Tagore wrote to him, "I feel assured in my mind that your
personality will help to soothe the injured souls and bring peace and unity
into an atmosphere of mistrust and chaos..."
As the freedom struggle progressed, the dark shadow
of communalism which had always lurked in the background, steadily grew. To his
dismay communal riots began spontaneously burst all over the nation and in
Bihar. He rushed from one scene to another to control the riots. Independence
was fast approaching and so was the prospect of partition. Dr. Prasad, who had
such fond memories of playing with his Hindu and Muslim friends in Zeradei, now
had the misfortune of witnessing the nation being ripped into two.
In July 1946, when the Constituent Assembly was
established to frame the Constitution of India, he was elected its President.
Two and a half years after independence, on January 26, 1950, the Constitution
of independent India was ratified and he was elected the nation's first
President. Dr. Prasad transformed the imperial splendor of Rashtrapati Bhavan
into an elegant "Indian" home.
He visited many countries on missions of goodwill, as the new state sought to
establish and nourish new relationships. He stressed the need for peace in a
nuclear age.
In 1962, after 12 years as President, Dr. Prasad
retired, and was subsequently awarded
the Bharat Ratna, the nation's highest civilian award. With the many tumults of
his vigorous and accomplished life, he recorded his life and the decades before
independence in manybooks, among the more noted of which are "Satyagraha
atChamparan" (1922), "India Divided" (1946), his autobiography
"Atmakatha" (1946), "Mahatma Gandhi and Bihar, Some
Reminisences" (1949), and "Bapu ke Kadmon Mein" (1954).
Dr. Rajendra Prasad spent the last few months of his
life in retirement at the Sadaqat Ashram in Patna. He died on February 28,
1963. In her first citizen, India had imagined a life of possibilities, and
seen an unsurpassed dedication to making them real.
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