Biography of ‘J. B. Kriplani’
Jivatram Bhagwandas Kriplani was born on 11th November 1888 in Hyderabad, Sind (presently in Pakistan) to an upper-middle-class Hindu Kshatriya Amil family. His father, Kaka Bhagwandas was a Tehsildar (revenue and judicial officer) in government service. It was in Sind itself that Jivatram completed his matriculation and moved to Bombay for further education from the Wilson College. As there was a state of unrest among the students due to the partition of Bengal and the troubles created by Jivatram at that time forced him to move to a quieter atmosphere of D.J. Sind College at Karachi. But here too he could not keep himself away from causing a situation when the principal of that college indiscreetly called Indians as liars. The strike that followed after that comment had Jivatram rusticated from the college. After the incident, he couldn’t get admission in any other college in Bombay and had to move to Pune to pursue his studies. It was in 1908 that he completed his B.A from Fergusson College in Pune and later took up M.A in History & Economics. For the following years, he worked as the professor of English and history at the Muzaffarpur College in Bihar, taught at the Banaras Hindu University, and also served as the Principal of Gujarat Vidyapeeth founded by Mahatma Gandhi. It was here that the title of Acharya was popularly attached to him.
It was Jivatram’s second meeting with the Mahatma in 1917 during the Champaran Satyagraha that he came to hold Mahatma Gandhi and his ideologies in the highest regards and even converted himself into a Gandhian and remained so till the last breath. Though he had got involved in mild upheavals during his college days, it was in 1920 that his political career took a turn when he participated in the Non-Cooperation movement led by none other than Mahatma Gandhi.
It was in the year 1936 that Jivatram got married to Sucheta Majumdar and the two shared the most understanding relationship for more than four decades. Sucheta Kriplani also went on to become the first female Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.
Jivatram Kriplani died on 19th March 1982 at the age of 94.
