Editing Narendra Deva (section)

{{Short description|Indian Socialist}}
{{More citations needed|date=January 2022}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| office              = Vice-Chancellor of Banaras Hindu University
| order               = 7th
| image               = Narendra Deva 1971 stamp of India.jpg
| succeeded           = [[Sir C.P. Ramaswami Iyer]]
| predecessor         = [[Pandit Govind Malaviya]]
| termstart           = 6 December 1951
| termend             = 31 May 1954
| caption             = Narendra Deva on a 1971 stamp of India
| honorific_prefix    = Acharya
| image_size          = 180px
| appointer           = [[Rajendra Prasad]]
| alma_mater = [[University of Allahabad]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allduniv.ac.in/alumni/distinguish-alumni|title = University of Allahabad}}</ref>
}}
[[File:Narendra Deva 1989 stamp of India.jpg|thumb|Narendra Deva on a 1989 stamp of India]]
'''Acharya Narendra Deva''' ({{audio|Narendra Dev.ogg|pronunciation}}; also '''Dev'''; 30 October 1889 – 19 February 1956) was one of the leading theorists of the [[Congress Socialist Party]] in India. His [[democratic socialism]] renounced violent means as a matter of principle and embraced the ''[[satyagraha]]'' as a revolutionary tactic.<ref>India on Acharya Narendra Dev: [https://www.istampgallery.com/acharya-narendra-deo/ 1971], [https://www.istampgallery.com/acharya-narendra-dev/ 1989]. istampgallery.com</ref>

Dev 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 active in the [[Hindi language]] movement. He was a key leader of the [[Congress Socialist Party]] from its founding in 1934 and was imprisoned several times during the freedom struggle. He was at times a member of the [[Uttar Pradesh]] legislative assembly. 

He served as Vice Chancellor of [[University of Lucknow]] from 1947-1951<ref>{{Cite web|title=University of Lucknow / Former Vice Chancellors|url=https://lkouniv.ac.in/article/en/past-vice-chancellors|access-date=2020-11-24|website=lkouniv.ac.in}}</ref> and as Vice Chancellor of [[Banaras Hindu University]] from December 1951 to 31 May 1954. Helped by Nirmal Chandra Chaturvedi, Executive Councillor and a prominent educationist of the state, he started a number of projects for the expansion of the university.

Narendra Dev advocated the abolition of poverty and exploitation not just through the Marxist [[materialist dialectic]] but especially on moral and humanistic grounds. He insisted that "without social democracy political democracy was a sham". Dev was active in the peasant movement and served as president of the All-India Kisan Congress.

He remained associated with the [[Socialist Party (India)|Socialist Party]] and its successor, the [[Praja Socialist Party]], until his death in 1956.