Dr. Rajendra Prasad,
son of Mahadev Sahai, was born in Zeradei, Bihar on December 3, 1884. Being the
youngest in a large joint family “Rajen” was greatly loved. He was
strongly attached to his mother and elder brother Mahendra. In Zeradei’s
diverse population, people lived together in considerable harmony. Rajendra
Prasad’s earliest memories were of playing “kabaddi” with his Hindu
and Muslim friends alike. In keeping with the old customs of his village and
family, Rajen was married when he was barely 12 years old to Rajvanshi Devi.
Rajen was a brilliant student; standing first in
the entrance examination to the University of Calcutta, he was awarded a
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 Rajen 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. Rajen 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,
Rajen 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, Rajen
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 Rajendra Prasad to come to Champaran with volunteers.
Dr. Prasad rushed to Champaran. Initially he was not impressed with Gandhiji’s
appearance or conversation. In time, however, Dr. Prasad 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.
Dr.Prasad 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 Dr.
Prasad’s views, most importantly on caste and untouchability. Gandhiji made Dr.
Prasad realize that the nation, working for a common cause, “became of one
caste, namely co-workers.” Dr. Prasad 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, Dr. Prasad was
present to help reduce the pain. In 1914 floods ravaged Bihar and Bengal. Dr.
Prasad 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. Dr. Prasad 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. Dr. Prasad
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. Dr. Prasad gave up his law
practice and started a National College near Patna, 1921. The college was later
shifted to Sadaqat Ashram on the banks of the Ganga. The non-cooperation
movement in Bihar spread like wildfire. Dr. Prasad toured the state, holding
public meeting after 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.”
Dr. Prasad stood by his mentor, seeing the
wisdom behind Gandhiji’s actions. Gandhiji did not want to set a precedent of
violence for free India. In March 1930, Gandhiji launched the Salt Satyagraha.
He planned to march from Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi seashore to break the salt
laws. A salt satyagraha was launched in Bihar under Dr. Prasad. Nakhas Pond in Patna
was chosen as the site of the satyagraha. Batch after batch of volunteers
courted arrest while making salt. Many volunteers were injured. Dr. Prasad
called for more volunteers. Public opinion forced the Government to withdraw
the police and allow the volunteers to make salt. Dr. Prasad then sold the
manufactured salt to raise funds. He was sentenced to six months
imprisonment.
His service on the various fronts of the
movement for independence raised his profile considerably. Dr. Prasad 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, Dr. Prasad 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 Dr. Prasad, “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 Dr. Prasad’s 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, Dr. Rajendra Prasad was elected
its President. Two and a half years after independence, on January 26, 1950,
the Constitution of independent India was ratified and Dr. Rajendra Prasad was
elected the nation’s first President. Dr. Prasad transformed the imperial
splendor of Rashtrapati Bhavan into an elegant “Indian” home. Dr.
Prasad 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,
Dr. Prasad recorded his life and the decades before independence in many books,
among the more noted of which are “Satyagraha at Champaran” (1922),
“India Divided” (1946), his autobiography “Atmakatha”
(1946), “Mahatma Gandhi and Bihar, Some Reminisences” (1949), and
“Bapu ke Kadmon Mein” (1954).
Within months of his retirement, early in
September 1962, his wife Rajvanshi Devi passed away. In a letter written a
month before his death to one devoted to him, he said, “I have a feeling
that the end is near, end of the energy to do, end of my very existence”.
He died on 28 February 1963 with ‘Ram Ram’ on his lips.