a publishing house called Viplava Karyalaya and, in 1944, a printing press called Sathi Press. Yashpal's next books – Dada Kamred (Comrade, The Big Brother) (1941) and Deshdrohi (Traitor) (1943) – were both fictional works that had the Communist Party as a central theme. Other essays, novels, and short stories were published between that time and Indian independence, and these added to the impression that he was an agitator. That impression caused his arrest in 1949 and jailing by order of the Government of Uttar Pradesh, which was at that time arresting people with communist sympathies due to an illegal railway strike that had Communist Party support. A public outcry at his arrest ensued and the government had to back down in a humiliating manner, although they did succeed in banning him from Lucknow for a period of six months and thus caused the final closure of Viplav. His autobiography, Sinhavalokan (A Lion's Eye-View or A Backward Glance), was published in three volumes between 1951–55 and is recognized for its detailed account of the armed struggle for independence in India as well as for information on his own early life. He was writing a fourth volume of this autobiography at the time of his death on 26 December 1976. Yashpal was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1970. Literary criticism Yogendra Malik notes that as a Marxist novelist, Yashpal formed a part of Meri Teri Uski Baat (My, Your and Her Story) (1974), a novel, won the Hindi-language Sahitya Akademi Award in 1976, shortly before his death. Writing on behalf of the same institution, Bhisham Sahni described Yashpal's short stories as carrying on the tradition of Premchand, although focussed more on urban society than that of the rural and lower-middle class. Corinne Friend says that "he has been characterised by many as the most gifted writer of Hindi literature since Prem Chand". The two volumes of Jhutha Sach (1958 and 1960), Yashpal's voluminous novel based on events surrounding the Partition of India, have been compared to Tolstoy's War and Peace by many writers and critics. Harish Trivedi, a professor of English, says that these comparisons were sufficiently numerous that "with his eyesight failing, Yashpal arranged for someone to read Tolstoy's great work to him — perhaps to figure out what the fuss was all about". There are three themes that run throughout Yashpal's writings, being those of gender equality, revolution and