Prem Kumar Mani (born 25 July 1953) is a writer, thinker and a political activist from
Bihar
Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...
India. He is well-known for his writings, both fiction and nonfiction, meant for the upliftment of the lower strata of society. He also worked as a journalist in the past.
Early life
Mani was born to Valmiki Mani, a freedom fighter of Bihar. During the initial part of his life, he came in the contact of
Buddhist
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
monk Jagdish Kashyap and spent some time getting
baptism
Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...
at
Nalanda
Nalanda (, ) was a renowned ''mahavihara'' (Buddhist monastic university) in ancient Magadha (modern-day Bihar), India.
Writer
Prem Kumar Mani started writing short stories from 1977. His four short story collections are ''Andhere Me Akele'' (1990), ''Ghas Ke Gehne'' (1993), ''Khos Thatha Anya Kahaniyan'' (2000), and ''Upsanhar'' (2000). He also wrote a novel titled ''Dhalan'' in 2000.
Thinker
As a social and political thinker Mani has written more than 500 articles on contemporary issues with a deep sense of commitment to social justice. His writings have influenced the people at large in society.
One of his articles titled ''Why this celebration of Death'' published in an online magazine named ''Countercurrents'' became a topic of intense debate in the Indian Parliament.
He has compiled a work on the life and time of social reformer Jyotiba Phule.
Awards
Mani has been awarded with ''Srikant verma smriti puruskar'' for his essays as well as with ''Vishesh Sahitya Seva Samman'' (in 1993) by Government of Bihar.
He received the first ''Satrachi Puraskar'' in 2021 for his writings dedicated to social justice by ''Satrachi Foundation''.
Political career
Mani was nominated to the Bihar legislative council as a member of
Janata Dal (United)
Janata Dal (United) ("People’s Party (United)”) abbreviated as JD(U) is an Indian political party with political presence mainly in eastern and north-eastern India. JD(U) is recognised as a state party in the states of Bihar , Arunachal Pra ...
in 2006 and was ousted from the party for anti-party activities in 2011. In the meantime, he was suspended from the Bihar legislative council by the sitting chairman. Mani however filed a suit challenging the council chairman's jurisdiction over his suspension order. Mani was ousted from the party following the complaint from JD (U) chief
whip
A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally e ...
on the charge of collusion with
Upendra Kushwaha
Upendra Singh Kushwaha (born 6 February 1960) is an Indian politician and Member of Legislative Council of Bihar assembly. He was the former Minister of State for Human Resources and Development in the Government of India. He is former MP fro ...
, a rebel leader of JD (U) who assumed several high positions in the party. Following Mani's suspension the party suspended him along with other senior leaders such as Lalan Singh for criticising the policy of chief minister
Nitish Kumar
Nitish Kumar (born 1 March 1951) is an Indian politician, who is serving as Chief Minister of Bihar since 22 February 2015, having previous held the office from 2005 to 2014 and for a short period in 2000. The leader of the Janata Dal (Unite ...
. Mani was close to
Nitish Kumar
Nitish Kumar (born 1 March 1951) is an Indian politician, who is serving as Chief Minister of Bihar since 22 February 2015, having previous held the office from 2005 to 2014 and for a short period in 2000. The leader of the Janata Dal (Unite ...
since the formation of
Samata Party
The Samata Party (SAP) is a political party in India, initially formed in 1994 by George Fernandes and Nitish Kumar, now led by Uday Mandal its National President. Samata Party once launched Nitish Kumar as the Chief Minister of Bihar. It was ...
and was among the policy formulators of the party until he was ousted in 2011. After joining Rashtriya Janata Dal he was elevated to the position of vice president of the party in 2021 as a part of RJD's Luv-Kush response to those of JD (U)'s.
Mani resigned from all the offices of the
Rashtriya Janata Dal
The Rashtriya Janata Dal ( RJD; translation: ''National People's Party'') is an Indian political party, based in the states of Bihar, Jharkhand and Kerala. The party was founded in 1997 by Lalu Prasad Yadav.
The party's support base has tradit ...
in 2022, accusing
Lalu Prasad Yadav
Lalu Prasad Yadav (born 11 June 1948) is an Indian politician and president of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). He is a former List of Chief Ministers of Bihar, Chief Minister of Bihar (1990-1997), a former Ministry of Railways (India), Railway ...
of weakening the organizational structure of the party on various occasions. Prior to his resignation, he was also the official mouthpiece of RJD, as its editor.