Professional Documents
Culture Documents
History of The Communist Movement in India
History of The Communist Movement in India
History of The Communist Movement in India
INDIA
VOLUME I
This is the first in a series of volumes on the History of the
th
The History Commission was set up by the 17 Congress of the CPI
JYOTI BASU
E. K. N AY A N A R
P. RAMACHANDRAN
K O R ATA L A S A T Y A N A R AY A N A
ANIL B I S WA S
HISTORY
OF THE
COMMUNIST
MOVEMENT
IN INDIA
1920–1933
LeftWord Books
INDIA
leftword.com
Preface
1 Introduction
7 New Upsurge
10 Summing Up
Notes
Biographical Notes
HARKISHAN SINGH SURJEET
PREFACE
THE INDIAN COMMUNIST MOVEMENT HAS a long and rich
fact that it was able to withstand the crisis resulting from the collapse
‘the end of history’ and many communist parties around the world
The communist movement in India not only stood its ground, but has
working class, peasantry, middle class employees, etc. The Left Front
unique. In Tripura also, people of the state have reposed their faith in
the Left Front for the third successive term in the 2003 elections, while
The communist movement in India has grown out of and along with
available materials.
the same time a necessary and difficult task. It not only educates the
comrades but also presents an opportunity for the entire Party to look
back over a long stretch of time and see in retrospect the highs and
reason that the Programme of the CPI (M), updated in October 2000,
It is our experience that all over the world, the study of Party
movement.
the revisionist and ‘left’ adventurist tendencies during the 1960s and
Party. There has been a long-felt need and demand for a work to
th
that a resolution was adopted at the 17 Congress of CPI (M) held at
another reason. Communism, all over the world, is under attack not
only from capitalism but also from fundamentalists of all hues. In our
its alliance with capitalism, has launched an all out effort of distorting
movements, and how the communists absorbed the finest qualities and
The evolution of the correct line for the communist movement and its
relationship to the freedom struggle was not easy, and was achieved
also against class exploitation. The volume ends with the year 1933
when, after the Meerut Conspiracy Case, definite and unified steps
Were it not for the tremendous efforts made by the West Bengal State
Kolkata, undertaking this gigantic task would not have been possible.
the project, a number of people, many of them outside the fold of the
Party, also helped in numerous ways to make this endeavour a success.
INTRODUCTION
THE COMMUNIST MOVEMENT IN INDIA emerged out of and
these years, the revolutionary urge of the Indian people has manifested
reform. The finest elements from among these joined the communist
course of the struggle for national liberation, which in turn was part
people all across the world, which culminated in the founding of the
like India, China and Persia. Peoples of the colonies readily responded
its Second Congress gave a new direction and strength to the national
independence by uniting all the patriotic forces, with the working class
and peasants playing an important role in this. It called for the unity
and semi-colonies as well, the working class and the peasantry were
victory over fascism, which would have been impossible without the
and astronomy, mining and metallurgy, arts and crafts, literature and
culture. The main articles of export through the major ports were
sandalwood, gold and gems from the south, silk and muslins from
Bengal and Banaras, saffron and musk from the hills, while the items
of import were metals, gold, silver, coral and horses. The fabled
wealth of the subcontinent attracted a number of invaders over the
period. Caste is, without doubt, one of the most complex social
great deal of debate among scholars on the caste system, its essential
features, its historical trajectory, etc. Without getting into that debate,
the centuries, the caste system has evolved, changed, mutated, and
individual jatis have often moved up or down the hierarchy, but one
feature has remained constant: the ruling classes have found the caste
associations and movements at that time were ‘the first form in which
1
the peasant masses rose in struggle against imperialism’. As a
cut brahman domination over the services and general cultural life
was already leading to anti-brahmanical movements by the end of
proclaimed the need to save the ‘lower castes from the hypocritical
2
peasant Maratha caste-cluster.
3
of their customs. Incidentally, a large number of Ezhavas became
colonial period.
eastern India. These were sparked off by the 1770 famine and the
the British to collect revenue despite the death of more than one-third
authority.
The peasants fought with courage. Irrespective of the issues which
they could not match the might of the colonial state despite their
(1859–60) and the Deccan riots of Bombay (1875) forced the colonial
masses.
feudal chiefs who had lost their rights and privileges. In 1807, the
settlement that resulted in the increase of land tax. Under the shadow
this regard.
Due to the policies of the colonial state, famines became a routine
occurrence, and took the lives of four lakh people between 1825 and
1850. Six famines took five million lives between 1850 and 1865, and
oppressive British planters. The revolt was mainly against the coercive
the Deccan and Pabna riots (1873), food and oppressive landlordism
resistance by the Moplahs and the Wahabis against the state took on a
southern India:
4
and their glorious deeds are, to some extent, known to us.
5
grabbers and contractors, the dikus, so hated by the Santhals. Some
of the major tribal revolts of the period include the revolt of the Bhils
the Cutchgis in 1815 and 1832. In 1846 the Khonds rose up in Orissa
and 1856 witnessed the Santhal revolt. These revolts fed into the
Marx on India
West, a large part of the world came under colonial subjugation and
used its supremacy among them to grab the biggest colonial empire,
India.
published in 1853 in the New York Daily Tribune, he laid bare the
follow, by which they would grow strong enough to throw off the
would not pass off without all sorts of destruction, of course, but
6
that sort of thing is inseparable from all revolutions.
In the closing chapters of Capital, Marx said: ‘Capital comes into
the world soiled with mire from top to toe, and oozing blood from
progressive role in the western countries, but it did not perform this
not go deeper than its surface. England has broken down the entire
reconstitution yet appearing. The loss of his old world, with no gain
from all its ancient traditions, and from the whole of its past history.
paying for the materials. Revenues from commerce and land were
finished goods, and this had a disastrous impact on the Indian textile
While sharply criticizing the British rule in India Karl Marx did not
usher in a new society. Marx was emphatic in his critique of the old
society:
inoffensive though they may appear, had always been the solid
8
into never changing natural destiny. . . .
they will not fail to do is to lay down the material premises for
both. Has the bourgeoisie ever done more? Has it ever affected a
9
and dirt, through misery and degradation?
The Revolt of 1857
The imperialist view of the Revolt of 1857, which the British termed
‘Sepoy Mutiny’, was that a section of the Indian soldiers of the British
importance, and that the events of 1857 did not have the support of
hand, was quick to see the true significance of the Revolt of 1857:
Before this there had been mutinies in the Indian Army, but the
is the first time that Sepoy regiments have murdered their European
mutiny has not been confined to a few localities; and lastly, that the
great Asian nations, the revolt of the Bengal army being, beyond
10
doubt, intimately connected with the Persian and Chinese wars.
in each of those cities. This was possible only because vast sections of
which could not compete with the British cotton fabrics flooding the
11
Indian markets.
of reasons; the most important among them was that, although the
feudal lords did not take any measures to alleviate the lot of the
who took their place, were not able to cope with the needs of this
Capitalism in India
that polygamy and sati be banned and that widows be given the right
12
against Spanish colonial rule.
to get organized. The first textile workers’ strike took place in 1877 in
of the working class and the peasantry added a new direction to the
formative phase the INC was formed to subdue the growing anti-
British feelings, with the approval of the colonial authority, gradually
for the British rulers to change their course for the consolidation of
the first textile mill was set up in Bombay in 1854. Soon, Ahmedabad
1905, the number of textile mills shot up to 197, while the number of
on both sides of the river Hoogly, 64 jute mills were set up by the
What the English take from them annually in the form of rent,
civil servicemen, for Afghanistan and other wars, etc., etc. – what
they take from them without any equivalent and quite apart from
13
dimensions till now not yet suspected in Europe!
produce from India from the 1860s, the chief items being cotton,
wool, jute, coconut fibre, rice, wheat, oilseed, spices, indigo, opium,
etc. The bulk of Indian exports went to Britain. Imports from Britain
cen-tury. The bulk of the imports were textiles, metal, utensils and
working masses.
the first major modern nationalist upsurge which lasted six years
was the high point of the movement. The Swadeshi movement drew
stood to benefit from the boycott of foreign goods. For instance, the
Lala Lajpat Rai, Ajit Singh and Banke Dayal. These movements, in
which the peasantry participated in fairly large numbers, were taking
Calcutta and other centres. The revolutionaries who took the path of
the review of the Partition of Bengal and the withdrawal of the Punjab
nationalists.
were Bipin Chandra Pal, Lala Lajpat Rai and Bal Gangadhar Tilak.
Pheroze Shah Mehta and Gopal Krishna Gokhale, did not favour
direct agitation against the colonial state. There was a clash between
the two factions in the Surat session of the Congress in 1907, leading
to a split. The ‘extremist’ faction kept out of the Congress for nine
years after this. In the meanwhile, a new political force also came into
being – the Muslim League was formed in Dacca in 1906, and many
tribal revolts was that these were led by a new class asserting itself on
ideas of socialism that were spreading across the world. For instance,
context, the daily argued that ‘land should belong to the ryots’, and it
Mukherjee) on July 13, 1858, under the title ‘English Strikes and
theories’, etc. The article also drew a comparison between the weapon
started taking an explicit stand on the side of the toiling masses of the
Ireland and Poland. India and China too figured in these deliberations.
opened in India. It could not be a coincidence that the letter was sent
the writer is not known. The General Council in its meeting of August
15, 1871, discussed the matter in presence of Marx and Engels. The
bring the mass of the people into its organization if a section was
started.
which will take place there, as its sequel, will surpass all the
India.
appeals to the mind of the downtrodden masses all over the world. Its
14
revolution’. At the same time, the journal appreciated the fact that
exposed the oppression of tea and indigo planters, and supported the
Lies in Labour’. In its very first issue, the Brahmo radical, Shibnath
upon Indian workers to follow the trail set by the workers of Europe.
Shibnath Shastri, paid a secret visit to the tea gardens in Assam and
exposing the virtual slave trade carried on there by the white tea
planters.
take away their happiness – remember, they too are your brothers,
15
your equals’. Bankimchandra went a step further when he opposed
ideas of socialism. He was the first in this country to use the words
them with the maximum rights of freedom, for its aim is to unite the
16
for all.
an article on November 13, 1893 that ‘The future of the entire Nation
17
was perhaps the first Indian to use the word proletariat. In a
statement made in 1896, Vivekananda said that a new era will emerge
cannot clearly envision the place, but in any one of the two countries
happen it must. . . . The world is amidst the third epoch under the
Vivekananda, the first and second epochs had been under the
toiling millions would give rise to a new India: ‘The first glow of the
dawn of this new power has already begun slowly to break upon the
western world. Socialism and other sects are the vanguards of the
18
social revolution that is to follow.’
Vivekananda combined passionate evocation of the glories of the
19
kitchen. Our God is the cooking pot.’ His comment on the Age of
mother at the age of twelve or thirteen’. Sumit Sarkar points out that
classes, the ignorant, the poor, the illiterate, the cobbler, the sweeper,
are thy flesh and blood, thy brothers’ – however, was combined with a
and evocation of Hindu glory was to prove heady wine indeed for
20
young men in the coming Swadeshi period.
puts it:
21
are termed as ‘utopian socialism’.
(1975) have tried to trace the first mention of Karl Marx in India, and
establishes that the first known reference to Marx was made as early
for bringing about a revolution in Russia and also for Karl Marx
22
‘Russiyacha Pudhari Lenin’ in the Kesari of January 29, 1918.
In August of the same year, more than twenty-seven years before the
on Marx in Malayalam.
Lenin on India
the British Jackals against the Indian democrat Tilak – this reprisal
23
their number will grow with every passing day and hour.
Karl Marx’, published in Pravda in March 1913 Lenin said: ‘The fact
that Asia, with its population of eight hundred million, has been
drawn into the struggle for these same European ideals should inspire
us with courage and not despair’. A few months later, he wrote again
in Pravda:
people are awakening to life, light and liberty. What delight this
all the civilized countries. No force on earth can prevent its victory.
the awakening of the proletariat across the world and of the emerging
slavery, the fifth of the whole human race inhabiting that oppressed
country, since the perfect social state demands that no people should
24
be subject to any despotic or tyrannical form of government.
The First World War, which was an imperialist war, had a great
impact on the political life of India. The British ruling class fought the
war at the cost of Indian interests, and Indians had to pay heavily to
follows:
After the liberation of India, India shall be proclaimed a
25
authority to oppose such a move.
Party in America, which was also formed with the same goal, i.e., the
within the British army, and to win them over to the cause of
arrested, but the spirit of revolt could not be dampened. Leaders like
Singh, Bishnu Ganesh Pingley, Mohan Singh and others travelled the
soldiers and to establish contact with various army regiments. The call
They decided to launch a sudden attack on the British army and after
large number of Muslim youth who had travelled to West Asia for
higher studies changed their minds and joined this organization – the
city and held out for a week. The rebellion was put down with the
help of allied Japanese warships, and the leaders of the revolt, Majur
uprising, and several cases such as the Silk Conspiracy Case and
for life.
Towards the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the
and it was their effort that led to the formation of the Gadar Party in
The Gadar Party’s activities were not confined to the US and Canada;
was prevented from docking in that country. The Gadar Party took up
the cause of their countrymen. Eventually, the ship was forced to
return home and at Budge Budge, near Calcutta, a clash took place
between the passengers and the police who were waiting to arrest
firing. Many of the remaining were arrested and tried for treason in
26
to the entire freedom movement.
Towards the end of the First World War, two important leaders of
the Gadar Party in the USA, Bhai Santok Singh and Bhai Ratan Singh,
were jailed. While in jail, they exchanged views with leaders of the
intense desire to meet Lenin, Santok Singh and Ratan Singh set out on
country after country until they reached their final desti-nation. They
with the help of Indian soldiers during the First World War succeeded.
This was mainly due to the lack of proper political direction and the
FORMATION
OF THE
COMMUNIST
PARTY
THE OCTOBER REVOLUTION OF 1917 made the Soviet Union a
hope for a new social order and gave immense impetus to the fighting
the imperialist-colonial system after the end of the First World War.
phenomenon. Within three years of the revolution, and with the active
revolutionaries, who from the very beginning made their presence felt
India and other colonies. With the October Revolution, world social
forces within India was also directly affected. Consequently, the post-
movement.
This sharpening of the contradictions between the Indian people
and British colonial rule manifested itself, on the one hand, through
The latter half of 1917 and through 1918 saw a deterioration in the
the Indian people. Between 1917 and 1920 the wave of national
mass actions. In Turkey, the mass upsurge against the colonial rule
1
and feudal hegemony, made its impact felt worldwide. These anti-
pointing out to the British government the pressing need for bringing
about changes in British policy towards India. In the same year, E.S.
2
Reform Bill came into effect.
of less importance.
electorate. But this policy achieved little success in containing the tide
of popular unrest.
3
how to quell the revolutionary movement. The Rowlatt
Rowlatt Bill. The bill was passed on March 18, 1919, despite
opposition from non-official members, and came into effect three days
later. The opposition to the Act was equally prompt which gave a new
March 30, the whole of India observed Satyagraha Day, and hartal
series of strikes had taken place in various parts of India. As the strike
4
organizations were organized in 1918–1920. The impact was
instant. In 1918 first great strike of Bombay cotton mill workers was
the Anti- Rowlett Act hartal showed the political activism of the
strike wave reached its climax in the 1920. The remarkable success
5
trade union body.
The impact of the working class struggle was such that the Amritsar
was also held in Amritsar. By this time the Khilafat movement had
the powers of the Turkish Caliph who was seen as the religious leader
of all the Sunni Muslims. The Sultan of Turkey had sided with
Germany in the First World War, and was therefore among the
vanquished powers.
established close contacts with the Khilafat Committee led by the Ali
brothers, Mohammad and Shaukat, and this in turn helped create the
the British, it gave the call to the Indian Muslim youth to leave the
The muhajir movement was one of the streams out of which the early
6
communist movement arose.
It is clear from the account of Shaukat Usmani, who joined the CPI
in Tashkent in early 1921 and was later convicted in the Kanpur and
Khilafat movement that moved the muhajirs as a whole. The idea was
state and acting against the Muslim faith, and to settle down in a
ways and means of ending British colonial rule and gaining national
dreamed of expelling not only the foreigners but also the enslavers.
1920, and the annual session in Nagpur in December of the same year,
were held in a situation unprecedented in post-war India.
Indian press carried reports from Reuters and other European agencies
daily from Calcutta, the Amrita Bazar Patrika, while carrying all such
National Debt’ commented: Russia has not only treated the treaties of
but repudiated its national debt. By the end of 1918, however, Amrita
Revolution, and whatever may have been its basis, it was a favourable
and Bolsheviks’ which not only tried to put the Russian Revolution in
the Bolsheviks and Lenin had become more easily available in India.
towards the end of the year the radical nationalist leader Bipin
Calcutta, he said: ‘There has grown up all over the world a new power
– the rights of the people to live freely and happily without being
7
This is Bolshevism.’
In Bengal, the October Revolution inspired the imprisoned
Dan’ in which one of the main characters crosses the border into
Soviet Russia. He says, ‘. . . I have joined the Red Army. The Red
Army is sure that their great and noble ideal is gaining ground in the
minds of men all over the globe and I too am one of the great
8
organization.’ Premchand, the Hindi novelist, also felt the impact of
9
principles’. In Maharashtra, Kesari, published by Bal Gangadhar
I have had no time to study socialism and I have not the courage to
10
his conviction that Bolshevism was sure to succeed.
Regarding what the rulers were saying about the Bolsheviks, Indians
India and other countries which shows that Bolshevism is the best
excellent is evident from the fact that wherever the Bolsheviks go,
disseminate their views and that they possess the power to fascinate
11
the larger majority of the people in a very short time.
The Hindi nationalist daily Aaj of Benaras, only a few days after its
Revolution and declared that the will of the people could not be
suppressed for ever and a similar revolution might even take place in
12
India if official repression and police methods went on indefinitely.
from articles appearing in the western press. The initial impact of the
13
approved of the communist ideology.
The letter was sent from the Tagore Castle, Calcutta. It is a document
with the true ideal of government of the people, by the people and
for the people. We appreciate the fact that this is the first time in the
enemies by sending them to the gallows. . . . But this will not kill the
spirit of revolution in India. This will not kill the spirit of revolution
inspiration for the Indian people who are under the bondage of
Russian democracy keeps silent? We beg aid from free Russia for
the cause of freedom. [At the end, the letter urged Russia not to
forget the people of India.] Free India would stand by free Russia to
14
destroy imperialistic tendencies . . . in other lands.
The colonial authorities were aware and vigilant against
15
Mexico. By November 1919, the colonial Home Department in
16
unless systematic protective measures are adopted.’ The
High Court lawyer), and Sukhini Narayan Iyer (his assistant), Jethmal
17
Muhammad Fakir of Allahabad.
6, 1920 the same report commented: ‘His speech throughout can only
18
Pratap and Prabhu of Kanpur.’
The colonial authorities were desperate to trace out anything related
level. Just three days before the commencement of the Second World
Lajpat Rai on October 31, 1920, two weeks after the formation of the
events.
elections, brought out the paper and entrusted the editing to Muzaffar
Ahmad and Kazi Nazrul Islam. Navayug was the first Bengali
peasants.
early phase of their life. However, they began to move closer to radical
19
session in 1920.
still under the influence of nationalist leader Tilak, and was in no way
20
the Workers’ Dread-naught. The CPGB journal Labour Monthly
(launched in June 1921 under the editorship of R.P. Dutt) too played a
on December 1, 1915;
movement who went abroad during and after the First World War;
and
(c) Gadar Party activists too joined the communist activists by late
1920, when its leaders came out of prison after the conviction in the
Prominent leaders of the Gadar Party and other Indian émigré orga-
but he had already left. At that time, they had no clear idea about the
Communist Party.
21
organized in Russia.
Germany for joint action against the British rulers of India. Though
the Afghan government. In 1916, they even sought help from Czarist
22
Russian provisional government.
again asked the Turkistan authorities for negotiations with the new
earlier failures to get any help for the Indian struggle, but opined that
with the October Revolution ‘the final obstacle has been removed . . .
went on: ‘we are confident that nothing but a partnership of Russia
and India will make possible India’s true liberation and bring about an
23
of the Turkistan authorities.
On November 23, 1918, the first Indians to meet Lenin after the
travelled under the assumed names, ‘Prof. Ahmad Harris and Prof.
the Indians. ‘We pray Russia to hold out to us a helping hand, that we
may gain freedom. It is the duty of Russia to help to the utmost, the
24
record of their discussion with Lenin.
massacre. Soviet scholar M.A. Persits records that soon after his
25
to conclude an alliance with the Russian Republic.
of the October Revolution was clear and his commitment to the cause
more to the peoples of Asia, this new way of posing that problem
26
would alone have tremendous importance for the oppressed East.’
In this context, the role played by the Indian Section of the Council
Sovinterprop.
A similar body, the Council for Propaganda and Action, was also
certain steps in this direction. Mohammad Ali was the de facto head
Abdul Majid and Abdul Fazil Khan. Persits also records that a special
Majid and Ibrahim later joined them. With Barakatullah as their head,
27
this group was known as a Provisional Government group. This
the All Russia Central Executive Committee. Ali and Shafiq issued a
document dated April 20, 1920, in which they announced that all
Revolution’. Mir Abdul Majid was the editor of the paper. Shafiq later
became the first secretary of the CPI formed in Tashkent. Ali was also
Clemens Dutt.
1919, or in January 1920. Rab was chairman of the IRA and Acharya
was his deputy. Amir Farukh and Fazil Al Qadir were secretaries.
liberation of all oppressed classes and peoples, and especially for the
under the yoke of imperialism. This mass meeting accepts with joy
28
the hand of friendship and help extended to oppressed India.
10, 1920:
Indians who are waging a heroic fight for freedom. The working
Muslim elements.
29
victory over the exploiters be ensured. Long live a free Asia.
Soon after, Rab and Acharya of the IRA and Mahendra Pratap
arrived in the Afghan capital from Moscow. Abdul Rab was a talented
orator and an eminent scholar. Rab met Lenin for the second time in
February 1921 (the first meeting being in July 1919 with Mahendra
the main centre of the muhajirs’ activities and a branch of the Indian
the Congress.
Programme of IRA on August 13, 1920. The IRA sent seven delegates
30
to attend the Baku Congress in the first week of September 1920.
Association.
out, constituted the first stage of the world revolution. It laid the base
people of the entire world . . . [it] supports to the full the conquests
the entire world to take the same path . . . [it] undertakes to support
fact and deed, be a single Communist Party of the entire world. The
of the metropolitan working class. The workers and peasants not only
in Aman, Algiers and Bengal, but also in Persia and Armenia would
Clemenceau and captured state power into their own hands. The
manifesto further added that the ‘small peoples’ could be assured the
Thus, the Comintern laid down the strategy and tactics of the world
communist movement. While the First Congress did not adopt any
31
specific reference to India.
Reaching New York via San Francisco in 1916, he met Lala Lajpat
Rai, the veteran Indian nationalist leader. It was in New York that
Socialist Party. In April 1919, for the first time in a country outside
Russia, the Mexican Socialist Party decided to convert itself into the
raised the cause of India’s liberation at this highest forum of the world
communist movement.
a first tentative attempt to point out the role of the different classes in
India and the stage of revolution under the given conditions. Like his
first draft of the Supplementary Theses on the National and Colonial
32
distinct from nationalism, has come to India . . .’.
independence.
the assumed name of Robert Allen Roy) who was a delegate with
voting rights, Abani Mukherji (whom Roy first met in Berlin on his
33
The revolution in the colonies and its possible links with the
periods are not walled off from each; they are connected by numerous
34
transitional links.
helped the colonial peoples understand the social forces which could
help them overthrow imperialism, and link their struggles to the world
revolutionary process.
with the developments in the East. A copy of the Draft Theses was
also sent to M.N. Roy who had by that time arrived in Moscow.
Lenin-Roy debate
In his conversations with Lenin, Roy set forth his largely left-
particularly in India, after the First World War and the October
more firm positions against the forces of foreign imperialism and local
feudalism.
close alliance with it. This course of action is expressed in the slogans
calling for the establishment of a united front of all anti-imperialist
Theses’. Roy defended the original version of his theses, while Lenin
which failed to value the national liberation movements and the need
for communists to support them. The stage of the class struggle of the
liberation movement.
advanced nations in the lead, could take the masses on their way to
accepted his draft theses with just a few verbal alterations and that it
sectarian views. Once this was done, Lenin could tell the Congress
and that ‘we have thus reached complete unanimity on all major
issues’.
Colonial Questions.
an immediate issue. The guidelines were charted out, but there was no
35
way to Tashkent. Roy became chairman of the committee.
Congress of the Comintern. But it is found that even before the end of
Work [in preparation] for the Indian Revolution’. This plan posed
Congress decisions.
Roy also said that the Indian communists must aspire to bring
together the multifarious elements of Indian society to achieve the
36
let us advance hand in hand.
This was somewhat different from his earlier stand that the Indian
must believe that a social revolution, and not only a bourgeois one, is
37
prove that India was ripe for a proletarian revolution. Clearly, Roy
and his associates had failed to learn from the Second Congress.
of the Comintern.
Meeting shortly after the Second Congress, the Bureau passed two
resolutions:
(i) to hold the first Congress of the Oppressed Peoples of the East at
Baku; and
Tashkent.
Baku Congress
The First Congress of the Peoples of the East held in Baku, the
Comintern leaders Karl Radek and Bela Kun, John Reed, the
American journalist and author of Ten Days That Shook the World,
and the Turkish nationalist Enver Pasha. The Congress was attended
China, Georgia, Armenia, some Arab countries, and India. Not all
basic Marxist notions. This was the first such conclave held under the
was against the very idea of the Baku Congress, which he derisively
38
called the ‘Zinoviev circus’ in his memoirs. He did not attend, and
appointment.
Mohammad Shafiq and Acharya. Roy and Evelyn were husband and
Little is recorded about the activities of the party, but the minutes of
the CPI of December 15, 1920, reveal that three persons were
39
Masood Ali Shah and Akbar Shah (Salim). A candidate member
yet to take shape on Indian soil, it was primarily Roy, with the
with them that there was no hurry. They should wait until they
majority of the emigrants. The idea of turning them out with the
40
the nucleus of a real Communist Party to be organized eventually.
41
Communist Party of India on October 17, 1920.’
1920 to end of May 1921. The first batch of muhajirs came from
the East was founded on April 21, 1921. Shaukat Usmani and Rafiq
Ahmad who were among the muhajirs who joined the Tashkent
42
Raz and Hafiz Abdul Majid. Of them, police arrested ten persons
Feroze-ud-din Mansur.
the Indian communists on October 17, 1920, stated that it was agreed
insistence.
The list of the parties and organizations invited to the Third Congress
(consultative vote)’.
communist movement in India. But from this one should not draw the
SPREAD OF
COMMUNIST
ACTIVITIES
THOUGH THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF India was organized in
are at times obsessed with the ‘Bolshevik menace’ – far exceeded the
1
reminiscent of the panic after the French Revolution.
Perhaps they were taking a little too seriously Bipin Chandra Pal’s
2
Brindaban, so the Bolsheviks are also coming to India’.
events. The impact of the Inprecor was soon felt, as copies of its
English edition found their way to various Indian centres despite the
giant advance for the National Congress. The Congress now stood
3
government for the realization of national freedom.
then about communism. The book reflects his rather greater faith in
letter published in The Hindu, Madras, on May 24, 1921. It was ‘An
lawyer and pro-Congress trade union leader, who was to preside over
believe that our unfortunate people will never be free and happy
land and vital industries in common use and for the benefit of all
the workers in the country, can bring a real measure of contentment
4
and independence of our people.
The letter came just a month before the opening of the Third Congress
The year 1921 also witnessed a new wave in India’s struggle for
5
1921. The year was also marked by the spread of the Eka Movement
6
the anti-colonial feelings among the peasant masses.
four representatives from India present, but except Roy, the identity of
the other three delegates is not definitely known. At the time, some 20
some of whom had already joined the CPI. Besides them, some 14
invited without vote’. Roy had signed his manifesto to the Ahmedabad
7
International.’
8
May 1921. According to some historians, fourteen revolutionaries
9
Moscow. Virendranath had first gone to Moscow in November
1920, but did not seem to have had important discussions with
Comintern leaders. Roy too was not in Moscow at that time. This
10
Commission of the Comintern.
and Lenin, around July 1921. Lenin acknowledged the receipt of this
document and sent a reply (July 8, 1921). It highlighted three distinct
(b) Indian society was divided not only vertically along class lines, but
also horizontally along lines of religion and caste; and (c) without
stressed that the Comintern should extend help to the nationalists and
11
other revolutionary forces. Virendranth and Luhani submitted a
12
Congress. It is evident from the records that the Berlin Group’s
mentioned that they also called on Lenin, but no such record is found.
By the end of 1921, all but two left Moscow; Luhani and Nalini
Roy was elected to the Presidium of the Third Congress. The Third
Comintern.
In December 1921, Roy turned his attention to India, and his article
India’.
th
The 1921 session (36 ) of the Indian National Congress held at
th
‘Manifesto to the 36 Indian National Congress’. Signed by M.N.
Roy and Abani Mukherjee, copies of the manifesto made its impact on
the Congress delegates, and it was further mailed to all parts of India.
13
The Manifesto was the first appeal of the Indian communists to the
Empire and full support to the struggles of the working class and
its very foundation, let it not put its faith in mere demonstrations
demands of the trade unions its own demands; let it make the
material interests.
The vast mass of humanity, which inhabits the great peninsula, has
At the same time it wanted to impress upon the Congress the need to
The Congress must have the workers and peasants behind it, and it
interest, but really for the material prosperity of the merchants and
it, let it not be blinded by the interests of a small class, let it not be
14
foreign rule. But Gandhi opposed the demand.
Besides the Manifesto, Roy had also sent his emissary Nalini Gupta
(later arrested in the Kanpur Conspiracy Case in 1924) just before the
December 23, 1921. In the same month, he met Muzaffar Ahmad and
that was Muzaffar Ahmad’s first direct encounter with any of Roy’s
emissaries. Ahmad was not much impressed with Nalini; but credits
Nalini with connecting him with the Comintern at this early stage of
15
his political life.
It appears that soon after Ahmad’s meeting with Nalini, the first
of Ahmad. The letter is dated March 22, 1922, ten days after Gandhi’s
Head Office
Ballygunge, Calcutta
Bengal
To
The Secretary,
Communist International,
Moscow,
Russia.
My dear Comrade,
very poor. You can easily understand that no rich man here will be
good deal of work. We cannot proceed with the work only for want
of funds. We are quite sure that India will more easily accept our
ideals than any other country only because the suffering of the
Our Comrade Nalini Gupta came here and kindly paid a visit to
our office. We fully explained the matter to him. From him you will
Muzaffar Ahmad
Secretary
known nor who were Ahmad’s associates, only that the letter was
February 11–12, where the decision was taken to suspend the civil
‘strangling the movement all over the country’. Gandhi was arrested
on March 10, 1922, and this time put behind bars for nearly two
In May 1922, Roy brought out his English fortnightly from Berlin –
communist movement.
Just before the appearance of the Vanguard, the Comintern
plenum of the ECCI held in March 1922 proposed ‘to all parties that
in the languages of the colonies, and thus create close connection with
16
the suppressed masses there’. The resolution was published in the
May 2, 1922, issue of the Inprecor. The plenum also appealed to the
(prohibited entry into India under the Sea Customs Act) made its
through the post, and have since taken a leading part in forming
17
communist groups in their respective cities.
was launched from London on October 1, 1922. This time too, all the
period. In the first editorial titled ‘Probing at the root’ Dange wrote:
forward. . . . The cause of our misery lies in two things: the foreign
domination and the indigenous vulture, the class that preys upon
the wealth of the nation and the bread of the toilers. We shall have
neither of them.
In the first issue of the Advance Guard (October 1, 1922), Roy again
The first of these was launched against those of the muhajirs who
had not only crossed over from Kabul into Soviet Russia in their
from Russia – the British Indian police kept watch for the return of
those who had gone to Tashkent and Moscow, and began arresting
them from the middle of 1922. That is how the first of the
imprisonment.
with his father Hafizullah Khan and servant Bahadur were involved,
Majid, Habib Ahmad, Sultan Mohammad, Abdul Qadar and Fida Ali
(the latter later turned approver in the case), was otherwise known as
18
Tashkent and Moscow. British intelligence had reconnoitered the
The sessions judge said that the accused were convicted ‘not because
they adopted pure communism, but because they are emissaries of the
Case, the session judge was to say the same thing in different words.
In the Peshawar case it was further said that ‘certain associates of the
overt act of conspiracy was proved against Md. Shafiq, or the other
called conspiracy cases and the mockery of trials failed to attract the
leaders. The protest came only from Roy and the Comintern. As Irfan
19
not the cause of national freedom.’
The idea that the young communist parties and groups fighting in
20
the Comintern.
dated July 17, 1922, a brief item appeared inviting the Indian
from India. Roy also sent a British communist, Charles Ashleigh, who
21
Dange at the Bombay Chronicle office. But both Dange and
however proved a failure; the police soon detected his presence and
forced him to leave India. He had arrived on September 19, 1922 and
Santokh Singh (Gadar Party), Nalini Gupta and Masood Ali Shah
went as observers.
22
movement. Santokh Singh was counted as one of those Indians who
that Santokh Singh was advising the people to study Marxian theory
It was about this time that the Gadar Party realized that it should
organ in English, left at the beginning of 1921. Despite his early death
party members and paved the way for his comrades-in-arms Santokh
gave them clearance saying that they ‘have been investigated by our
party and we find that they are trusted members of the Hindustani
India.’ The same file records that Santokh Singh was reported to have
members of the Gadar Party (the other being Rattan Singh) who had
attended the fourth congress of the Third International and the report
23
added that these men saw Zinoviev’.
November 1922 and were lodged in the guest house of the Comintern
– a big hotel – two Sikhs were already lodged there. One was called
Santokh Singh and the other Ishar Singh (alias Rattan Singh). The
questionnaire form that they filled on entry into Moscow shows that
Rising. The government reports say that Santokh Singh and Rattan
certain that they met M.N. Roy and discussed with him problems of
Question’:
The communist and working class parties in the colonies and semi-
workers and peasants to fight for their special class interests and to
the Congress sent messages to the Gaya session of the Indian National
Congress and the Lahore session of AITUC (November 1922). In a
While assuring you of our sympathy and promising you our fullest
support for the victory of your cause, we must remind you that . . .
24
advice of those workers’ leaders who abet imperialism.
failed to find many more trusted friends in India. Some people like
exposed as unfaithful.
structure of the party also began to crop up. There were a number of
how should the émigré party be linked with the party in India; should
activities?
Dange’s proposal
inside the Congress. The proposed party, ‘organized on the basis of the
Socialist Movement should have for its object the establishment of the
people’s state in which land and capital are owned communally and
25
function democratically controlled’. To know the details, Roy wrote
26
programme.
Roy’s proposal to form a party was published in the first issue of the
27
liberation.
We also find the same proposal in Roy’s letter (November 12, 1922)
28
of the people with a revolutionary objective.
must prepare for the organization of a new party to assume the lost
29
holding such a conference. A similar proposal dated December 19,
. . . the time has come for the organization of our party in India. . . .
Congress, but this party must be under the control and direction of
30
our own party (communist party) which cannot but be illegal.
was to the Gaya Congress in December 1922, that the Comintern sent
himself and was clearly the possible programme of the proposed mass
party.
It is also interesting to note that Singaravelu in his letter to Roy
31
intimated his plan to organize ‘a small party in the Congress’.
There must be less talk of revolution than what Roy indulges in,
32
dream to talk of proletarian revolution.
The differences within the communists in India were clear even to the
has failed them. Roy does not know him personally: only by
33
that Dange is not the stuff of which revolutionaries are made.
on this occasion.
Comrades, the communists all over the world have a common faith
Therefore you have to understand that they are here in spirit for
helping you to obtain these rights and attain Swaraj. Let us welcome
34
them.
people of India must adopt violent means without which the foreign
35
domination based upon violence cannot be ended.
signatures of both M.N. Roy and Abani Mukherji. The full text was
which will guide the economic and social life of the liberated nation
are as follows –
will be allowed.
credit to the peasant and to free him from the clutches of the
under the control of Workers Committees not for profit, but for the
6. Modern industries will be developed with the aid and under the
8. Eight hour day. Eight hours a day for five and a half days a week
adults. Special conditions will be laid down for woman and child
labour.
9. Employers will be obliged by law to provide for a certain
10. Protective legislation will be passed about Old Age, Sickness and
defend the rights of labour. These councils will have the protection
14. Free and compulsory education. Education for both boys and
girls will be free and compulsory in the primary grades and free as
15. The State will be separated from all religious creeds, and the
women.
17. No Standing Army will be maintained, but the entire people will
36
period of military training.
first such formal programme of the CPI placed before the national
period.
For the first time at a Congress session, delegates were addressed as
‘comrades’ (as Chettiar did). Roy did not fail to pick up the point in
Although Chettiar himself had no clear idea about the role of the
method’. In fact, both Chettiar and Dange at that stage had such an
37
the Gaya session commenced.
elections led to the formation of the Swaraj Party within the Congress,
the general elections held in late 1923, the Swaraj Party won a
majority in two provinces, Bengal and Central Provinces, and just less
Das’s hostility, Roy’s illusion about Das still lingered. In an open letter
to Das, Roy deplored the ‘defeat of the left-wing’ led by Das as the
38
would be suspicious about the ‘left-wing’ led by Das. Owing to the
themselves with the views of the moderates. The result of the Gaya
With all its desire to enlist the support of the masses, and with all its
39
workers and peasants has become an indispensable necessity.
The Communist International thinks that the time has come for the
organized as part of the Congress, but this party must be under the
but be illegal.
had hardly any similarity with Roy’s Gaya programme. The ‘creed’ of
the party was declared as ‘Achieving Labour Swaraj by non-violent
means’. The programme did not even demand the abolition of the
have become familiar with in the west’. The manifesto was an attempt
40
to demarcate itself from ‘bolshevism’.
following his break with Roy in Moscow also joined hands with
publication of the Manifesto, Mukherji left India and spent his last
years in Moscow.
For some time Roy could not gather adequate information about
Chettiar’s Labour Kisan Party. He was also in the dark about Dange’s
attitude, evident from his letter from Berlin on May 7, 1923, in which
Roy again urged Dange to take the initiative in forming an open mass
party based on the Gaya programme. Perhaps for the first time Roy
used the term ‘Workers’ and Peasants’ Party’ in this letter. ‘We must
41
CP.’
that it will play an important role in the history of the Indian working
42
class struggle.’
heavily on its policy. Pointing out the danger of ‘economism’ Roy said:
Madras was born under this star and, consequently, was suffocated in
43
swaraj while the burning question was still unsolved . . .’. In a letter
dated June 5, 1923, Roy, in a softer tone, had criticized the term
44
remains unsolved?’
Initiative in Lahore
45
later. It seems that until then Lahore comrades knew nothing about
of ‘the political party of the working class in India,’ and sent at least
46
form or other.
May 1923.
wedge between them and the left wing in the Congress and the
national movement. J. Crerar, secretary of the Governor General, in
his note dated June 2, 1923 drawn up for official discussion, reveals:
agencies and other foci of disorder. On the one hand, there have
and who, since the failure of the non co-operation movement, have
47
been moving forward the resumption of their former activities.
Ahmad was issued on June 8, 1923, and was served on the first two in
Peshawar and Lahore jails respectively on June 12, 1923. The order
said that the papers submitted for instituting the conspiracy case
48
arrested Dange and Chettiar.
Of the eight accused, Roy was in Germany, and Sharma had been
magisterial inquiry in the trial began on March 17, 1924, against four
M.N. Roy, one of the objects of the same being to deprive the King
49
Emperor of his sovereignty in India.
This magisterial inquiry continued for two weeks and ended on April
1, 1924, and framed the charge against the four accused, committing
them to the Session Court to stand trial under section 121–A of the
By the time Nalini Gupta was arrested, that is, the end of December
had quite a mass of material in their hand. From the confidential files
government did not take the decision to launch the case till some two
Case, where Shafiq was being tried under section 121A of the Indian
Penal Code.
50
in jail.
The Session trial in the Kanpur case was opened on April 22, 1924,
before the British judge H.E. Holme, ICS, whose claim to fame was
the death sentence issued to 172 peasants in the Chauri Chaura case a
year previously. This point was raised by the accused and they
summarily turned down. The trial in the Sessions court continued for
nearly a month, ending on May 24, with the sentence of four months
Allahabad High Court dismissed the appeal. Thus, the curtain came
in the Inprecor, March 24, 1924. In this letter Roy tried to expose the
toiling masses of India will record the verdict of the British Labour
51
emancipation.
Just a month earlier, on February 21, Roy had sent a letter from
State for India, expressing his desire to return safely to India and
seeking ‘amnesty’ for ‘alleged charges’ made against him ‘in the past’.
52
hopes among a wide circle of the émigré communists. Did Roy expect
at that particular time to be able to build any ‘legal’ communist
The Kanpur Conspiracy case had also produced a big blot on the
body and its aims, along with Nalini Gupta he also begged pardon
from the British government with the offer to turn approver. These
oblige them.
was released in May 1927 and Usmani in August of the same year.
stage with the Swarajists, under the leadership of C.R. Das and
with ‘decisive vote’. Roy was elected to the presidium. Clemens Dutt
the National and Colonial Question. The Congress elected Roy to the
53
ECCI. At the time of the Fifth Congress, Gopen Chakraborty, a
In the course of the debate at the Fifth Congress, Roy again put
54
colonial question Roy reflects the nihilism of Rosa Luxemburg.’
alliance with the bourgeoisie was essential during the entire bourgeois
been won over to support the imperial power, that the exploiting class
countries.
Developments in India
Gadar Party group led by Bhai Udham Singh had sent a letter to the
of man by man. The letter has been only recently discovered by the
now with the Russian State Archives of Social and Political History
(RGASPI).
be used to train its soldiers. Notable is the portion of the letter which
requests financial and military succour from the Soviet regime for the
India and Russia. Udham Singh asserted that he had been ordered by
the BSA to proceed to the Pamirs, while others were to proceed from
55
supporters were at work.
Roy-Dange debate
criticized Roy for being against the idea of an open Communist Party
(Bagerhatta was later expelled from the CPI for his connection with
56
every body is well fed and religious bigotry is removed.
57
revolutionary nationalist party.
In the letter, Roy again mentioned the Gaya Programme and said
Party.
But there was no one in India then to accept Roy’s proposal. The
58
actually happened.
In the letter, Joshi also stated that ‘some sixty people’ had agreed upon
59
Shaileshnath Bisi.
th
At the 37 session of the Congress held in Belgaum in the last week
in the Vanguard of December 15, 1924; and the leaflet ‘Appeal to the
Nationalists’ in the name of M.N. Roy. The leaflet was printed at the
60
Bagerhatta and Arjunlal Sethi (both members of the AICC).
Originally, Roy issued the manifesto in the name of the CPI,
at the Congress camp was issued in Roy’s name, with a note at the
end.
Dear Readers, a mass party for the emancipation from the general
made above by M.N. Roy will offer sufficient food for thinking
minds – Publishers.
(3) nationalization of land: none but the cultivator will have the
right of landholding;
legislation;
Sethi included the reference to the Comintern and the name of the
CPI. From the ‘cardinal points’, they deleted the words ‘complete
break from the empire’. In a letter (January 13, 1925) sent to Roy,
61
opinion and our angle of vision’. It could of course be said that the
deletions may have been to avoid the ban, however, the nature of the
issues.
empire’.
Atul Sen. Dr Khare took the lead in opposing it, and in his own way,
Gandhi too disfavoured the proposal. With Patel and Sen standing
firm, the resolution was put to vote, and defeated, 54 to 63. Among
those who voted for the resolution were Vithalbhai Patel, Sardar
Mangal Singh, Shiva Prasad Gupta, Maulvi Zafar Ali Khan, while
62
those against included Motilal Nehru and C. Rajagopalachari.
Stalin on India
party’, work with the National Congress and in the left wing of the
Swaraj Party and try to form ‘an all India anti-imperialist bloc’. The
elements in India.
th
interesting to note that in his report to the 14 conference of the
CPSU (May 9, 1925) and again in his address to the students of the
University of the Toilers of the East (May 18, 1925) Stalin talked
63
communists in the colonies and dependencies.
rather conclude a pact with foreign imperialism then fight for the
stage?
imperialism.
In his May 9 speech this section is not described as having finally gone
over, but ‘would rather conclude a pact’ with imperialism. But the
May 18 speech says that of the two sections of the national
section, the latter ‘has already managed, in the main, to strike a deal
in countries like Egypt and China and in countries like India. In case
of the former, Stalin said, the national bourgeoisie had already split
conforming section of the bourgeoisie is not yet able to join help with
petty bourgeoisie.’
In such countries that bloc can assume the form of a single party, a
bourgeoisie. The tasks of this bloc are to expose the half heartedness
that such a dual party was ‘necessary and expedient’ at that stage
‘provided it does not bind the Communist Party hand and foot,
ranks of the bourgeoisie and the Communist Party would lose the
proletarian army.
In countries like India, on the other hand, the task was to ‘create a
communist elements. But, the Communist Party can and must enter
into an open bloc with the revolutionary wing of the bourgeoisie after
vast masses of the urban and rural petty bourgeoisie in the struggle
against imperialism.
communist activities in India. The Bureau was active until the Sixth
KANPUR
COMMUNIST
CONFERENCE
THE KANPUR COMMUNIST CONFERENCE HELD in the last
week of December 1925 has a very special place in the history of the
was the first conclave in British India where almost all the communist
contact with all active Marxist, socialist groups in India through Roy,
thirteen names originally short listed for the Kanpur Conspiracy Case
Congress activist in the United Provinces with some vague idea about
the case began in the court and helped to some extent in defence
Ghate and Abdul Halim, who had come to assist Dange and
1
Communism openly.
Kanpur trial days: ‘It was among the visitors in the Joint Magistrate’s
2
turban perhaps to hide the holy tuff of hair on his head.’
Satyabhakta (born 1896) belonged to Bharatpur in Rajasthan and
3
with Workers’ Dreadnought’s editor Sylvia Pankhurst. In early 1923,
the only path of uplifting the unhappy and exploited people of this
world’. The actual formation of this party was announced in his letter
of the product and profit obtained from land and factories; all
leaflets, one in Hindi and another in English, both titled ‘The Indian
form printed at the end. Both these leaflets were banned by the United
Provinces government.
Pranvir dated December 14, 1924 (one year before the Kanpur
Conference), reveals that 78 members had joined his party, who were
by the end of March 1925, of whom 139 were residents of the United
4
with Saklatvala.
5
shall be with you in spirit’. In his absence Singaravelu Chettiar
took a negative stand. His point was that the government would
6
country require us to reform it and not to go against it’.
to 28, 1925.
7
by money order’, recollected Ahmad four decades later.
from Jhansi, Santokh Singh from Punjab, S.D. Hassan, Ram Chandra
took part in the conference. Abdul Majid, who had been a member of
committee. Even those radical trade union leaders who went from
Calcutta to attend the Congress session visited the conference venue.
8
party. The Congress refused permission for holding the conference in
the pandal (tent) erected for their session. Another location was
found, and about 500 people attended, ‘most of them workers and
9
peasants who probably understood little of what was happening’.
After the establishment of swaraj to see that it takes the form of the
here that at least for the present the work of our party will be
10
are with the world communists but not with Bolshevism’.
constitution was also adopted which stated the ‘object’ of the party as
follows: ‘The establishment of a workers’ and peasants’ republic based
Party of India and the ultimate aim of the party shall be the
11
a member of the Communist Party.
The last sentence bears special significance. As Irfan Habib notes: ‘The
12
decided to take over its organ, the Labour and Kisan Gazettee as the
organ of the newly-founded CPI. The central office of the CPI too was
elected president of the party, Azad Sobhani vice president. S.V. Ghate
conference before it ended’. ‘I have never seen him since the day he left
13
accounts, etc. of his party.’
14
been implicated even in India’. Subsequently Satyabhakta left the
Conference, the CPI sent fraternal greetings to the sixth session of the
Party wish the Congress long period of useful life and activity for
and the party assures the Congress that it will spare no efforts in
15
masses.’
The newly formed CPI, in spite of many limitations, organizational
Calcutta in the first week of January 1926 and issued an appeal (‘On
Swaraj Party’s weekly organ the Langal dated January 21, 1926 (Vol.
I, No. 5):
was held at Kanpur during the last week of December. It has been
was Radha Mohan Gokulji. I too was present but I had gone there
and for building up the party in Bengal has been placed on me. My
I have not yet been completely free from this fell disease, nor do I
16
prepared to undertake in the matter of building up the party.
There is no reason to believe that the response to this call was great.
until the early 1930s. Either the CPI was not very keen to form
parties in the provinces where they had some kind of mass base.
what shape this Communist Party will ultimately assume and how far
The next letter is dated February 17, 1926, from Muhammad Ali, one
of the members of the Foreign Bureau. Ali did not mention a people’s
party, but the open form of the Communist Party and said that the
Comintern.
In the next letter dated March 20, 1926, Roy took a different stand.
he expressed hope that the next meeting of the CPI Central Committee
pointed out that the formal affiliation could not be effected until the
minimum programme of the Party and the CPI should make ‘a united
comrades who are not in position to work inside the country. The
foreign bureau will act as the organ through which the international
follows:
owned only by those cultivating it. (7) Minimum wages and 8-hour
day for the workers. (8) Progressive social legislation (9) Free and
assembly. (11) Equal political and civic rights for women. (12)
17
the nationalist movement on this basis.
communist party are tolerated by our rulers, we must not have any
and organize the party in such a way that an attack on legality will
Party?’ in the January 1926 issue of his monthly Masses of India (Vol.
working class will play its historic role in the struggle for national
18
are veritable enemies of the Indian working class.
19
Conspiracy Case, in effect, became an organized force.
strength as well as Roy’s critical stance towards it, the CPI tried to
important instances can be cited of this: the CPI’s message to the sixth
session of the AITUC (quoted above); the issuing of the CPI manifesto
including Madan Mohan Malaviya and Lala Lajpat Rai joined the
Hindu Mahasabha, while many Muslim leaders joined the Muslim
communal riots broke out between 1922 and 1927, leaving 450 dead
and more than 5,000 injured. Of these 112 riots, 21 took place in
20
1926 alone.
After the Kanpur Conference, CPI’s first open call to the Indian
India? Are both of them not suffering equally under the ruthless
union can only be realized when they are told of their common
obey God, His apostles, obey parents, obey masters, obey your
landlord, obey your king, and obey even those blessed souls, the
rich people. A country where people have only learnt to obey could
never demand its freedom and where liberty cannot be hoped for,
power becomes the grand object of human desire and the passion
society, is ready to join hands with you in your struggle against the
21
ruthless exploitation of the present capitalist plutocracy.
22
exploited and exploiter.
Lahore. Initially Delhi was selected as the venue but he later shifted it
of November.
Dutt were members, sent a letter to the CPI CC that it was not in
favour of holding the conference. In the letter dated October 13, 1926
from tactical reasons, there are political reasons for this. There are
honest people sharing our views, in general, who do not dare join
the communist party. We may call these people cowards; but the
fact is we have still got to build the party. And this cannot be done
from which the party can grow. The most important reason,
use. But the name of the party should be changed, provided you
clear. This proposition is not the same as that for the formation of a
people’s party. They are two entirely different things. One is a veiled
23
However, the proposed Lahore Communist Conference never took
place and ‘a broad open party’ of Roy’s conception was never formed
in India. The workers’ and peasants’ parties which came into existence
The CPI issued a manifesto for the Gauhati Session of the Indian
and Belgaum (1924), the present manifesto was the first to be issued
24
in the name of the ‘Communist Party of India’. It was printed in
25
arrangements for its distribution in Gauhati. The internal
vilifying each other. Each claims to represent the nation. But none of
them touch the vital issues before the nation, their sole object being
them. They have forgotten that the road to freedom does not lie
legislative bodies. They have forgotten that in the fight for national
The National Congress can save itself only in one way. It is roundly
Rejecting the proposal for Dominion Status the Manifesto also said:
who have something to protect. They again are the capitalist and
involving the worker and peasant masses might encroach upon their
supreme organ of the people. All caste and class privileges will be
must establish the principle. The land belongs to the tiller. Parasitic
the property of the nation. They will be operated not for private
The organizational condition of the CPI was still fragile inside India.
and resolved to hold the ‘Second Congress’ of the Party on March 17–
January 14, 1927. Saklatvala’s visit was a big event for the Indian
planned to meet him and on that occasion wanted to hold the long-
existence a year ago under the most adverse conditions, has not been
26
some substantial progress with our work.’
which was not affiliated to the Comintern and issued a letter in this
27
we extend our hearty welcome to our conference at Lahore.’
with the reactionary trade unionists than to spare time with us. Not
only that, he is not even ready to accept our very existence. It has
change the name. Same is the opinion of two other friends. But they
name, then very soon anybody on behalf the police will come
forward and form a new communist party. Will it be good for us? In
name.
relationship:
What will be the nature of our relationship with the Comintern that
International British Party will include two more delegates for India.
Has the International any such idea about us? We want a detailed
28
don’t have the self-respect of fraternity?
However, the initial difference with Saklatvala was sorted out soon.
1927) to Ghate and Bagerhatta he said: ‘If you want to hold any
29
also expressed his desire to meet the CPI leadership.
30
and S.V. Ghate. The meeting passed a resolution deploring
31
this committee strongly protests against his action.
spy of the police and during the party meeting in January 1927 he had
32
Party, Ganavani, which he edited.
leaders also met then on March 14 and 15, and they decided to hold a
Ahmad was not in favour of any meeting in May as well and remained
Leaders of the CPI met on May 31, 1927 at Bombay. This was an
Ahmad was not present. S.A. Dange, who was released from jail on
May 24, 1927, on the completion of his sentence in the Kanpur case,
the party on an all India plane and created a guiding centre for the
33
first upsurge of party’s mass activity of 1927–29’. The meeting
new constitution, the second one after the adoption of the first
follows:
representative of the CE and will act as the organ through which the
not in any way work inconsistent with the party’s programme and
of their convenience and will keep a constant touch with all the CPs
34
and the Comintern and will give publicity to Indian affairs.
country.’
parties. On the eve of its Fifth World Congress, this model was
35
published in the Inprecor. But even the new CPI constitution did
working class party, (2) that every member pledges himself to work
36
organization is democratic centralism.’
The meeting also resolved a brief note on the outline of the Party’s
interests of the masses’, CPI called upon all its members to join the
Congress and ‘form a strong leftwing in all its organs for the purpose
of the Congress.
The party further called upon its members to ‘cooperate’ with the
37
minimum wage.
The resolution also reiterated that the ‘members of the party shall
presidium with a condition that he had to sign the ‘party creed’. S.V.
Ghate was reelected general secretary and S.H. Mistry the treasurer.
Hasan.
It may be mentioned that Soumyendra Nath, grandnephew of
February 19–20, 1927. In April 1927 he left for Europe and was
inducted into the CEC in absentia. Soumyendra Nath also joined the
included in this list. This Punjabi monthly (later in Urdu also) was
At that time the presence of the Party was felt in five areas of the
mainly on the trade union front. In Bombay, the Party had some
comrades were trying to hold the party flag high. However, nowhere
held from May 18 to 30, 1927, that is just before the Bombay
meeting. But the Plenum was devoted entirely to the discussion on the
1926, after the end of the Seventh ECCI Plenum, Roy accompanied by
Roy was more or less detached from Indian affairs. It was only in his
letter dated December 30, 1927, addressed to the CPI CC that Roy
Letter’.
Before Roy wrote this letter, the CPI Executive Committee again
residence. K.N. Joglekar, R.S. Nimbkar, S.A. Dange, Philip Spratt, S.V.
the CPI CEC meeting. This was Dange’s first formal attendance at the
decisions.
Hasrat Mohani and S.D. Hassan were expelled from the Party for
38
Peasants’ Party.
party was formed till December 1928, a Manifesto was issued to the
39
Party’; the CPI itself did not issue any manifesto.
said:
India must demand an absolutely unrestricted national constituent
supreme organ for expressing the will of the people. Nothing short
more than touch the fringe of the real needs which the masses feel
provide the means whereby the needs of the people can be expressed
and remedied. And these needs are primarily social and economic.
and of strike.
40
speech.
complete independence to be its ultimate aim. This was the first time
41
Though Roy’s letter (December 30, 1927) had little real impact
document which shows his difference with the CPI leadership on the
role and status of the CPI in India as an open party. Roy’s view was
‘wage war against the King’ . . . . Satya’s show was tolerated and
will not make a secret of its existence. Not in the least. On the
. . . the WPP is not and should not be merely a legal cover for the
the struggle for the creation of such political and economic conditions
The communists should be in the WPP and by virtue of their being the
the party. But the WPP is distinct from the CP in that its programme is
elements ready to fight for this programme are not all necessarily
they will be under the influence of the proletariat and be led by the CP
the CP. . . . It is publicly known that practically all the members of the
be so; but the cat has been unnecessarily let out of the bag by
publishing the list of the CC of the CP. This mistake must be rectified
as soon as possible.
difference with his earlier letter dated October 13, 1926 addressed to
by this time.
In the ‘assembly letter’ Roy also suggested that it is ‘high time’ for
India. The letter, though dated December 30, 1927, actually reached
Roy wrote this letter at a time when, after his China debacle, he had
under the banner of the CPI in 1928. The May 31, 1927, meeting was
incidentally the last open session of the CPI. The CEC meeting held in
December 1927 was a secret one. In fact the CPI leadership met only
once in the whole of 1928, in December, at the time of the All India
with the reformist and rightist nationalists on the one hand, and the
WORKERS'
AND
PEASANTS'
PARTIES
THE PERIOD FOLLOWING THE KANPUR Communist Conference
communists led these parties in various provinces, the WPP was not a
1
through the national democratic revolution’.
Bengal
The first such organization was formed in Bengal in 1926 with the
party was taken in the first All Bengal Peasants’ Conference (February
the organizers of the Labour Swaraj Party, though his elder brother
Congress (its membership was open only to the members of the INC)
and political freedom of men and women’. At the same time its
2
establish their own independent identity.
The Labour Swaraj Party launched its weekly Bengali organ Langal
weekly:
and find their own ways. . . . The appearance of the Langal is one of
him sing for them – to inspire them with the courage to revolt
against exploitation and with the hope for a new era of freedom and
3
prosperity.
funds. Its last issue came out on 15 April. A new weekly Ganavani,
under the editorship of Muzzafar Ahmad, took its place. The first
said: ‘The reason for changing the name was that from its name many
people assumed that Langal was exclusively for the peasants, while
4
this paper of ours was for the toiling masses.’
The Labour Swaraj Party, despite its shortcomings, became the hub
that Muzaffar Ahmad took shelter at the Labour Swaraj Party office
Swaraj Party. But it was the party which was politically the closest to
new name and programme of the party was held on 6–7 February
The object of the party was ‘the attainment of swaraj in the sense of
5
economic equality of women and men’. Unlike its predecessor, the
party and it demarcated itself from both the INC and the ‘terrorist’
movement.
January 13, 1926, commented on the Labour Swaraj Party. The letter
direction’. But Roy was critical of the Bengal Peasants’ and Workers’
Party of Bengal too, as its programme was different from the Gaya
6
programme.
However, the observation of the Intelligence Department chief Sir
David Petrie was different: ‘The name of the Labour Swaraj Party was
7
‘distinctly communist’.
Tagore was elected general secretary of the party, Atul Chandra Gupta
Moscow. In his place Abdur Razzak Khan was elected acting secretary
8
of the party.
Bombay
Bombay with D.R. Thengdi as the president and S.S. Mirajkar as the
secretary. S.V. Ghate, K.N. Joglekar, R.S. Nimbkar, S.M. Jhabwala,
9
1927, under the editorship of Mirajkar.
bore similarity to that in Bengal. The nucleus of the party was a small
1926, formed the Congress Labour Party (CLP). This party was
in January 1927. Mirajkar was also the secretary of CLP. The WPP of
National Congress and also to form a left wing there, and for the fight
front. Formally, the object of the party was: ‘To establish swaraj
10
action to the AICC, which was holding its session in Bombay on May
5, 1927, through its members in the AICC, namely K.N. Jogelkar and
R.S. Nimbkar. The copies of the programme were sent to the AICC
divorced from the everyday life of the masses, . . . which has become
11
emancipation of the masses from exploitation and oppression.
The programme of the Bombay Workers’ and Peasants’ Party was
published in Kranti, in its second issue dated, May 14, 1927, under
Prasad. Saklatvala was also present at the session and the AITUC
in Britain. The session also elected S.V. Ghate as one of the two
secretary. Muzaffar Ahmad also attended the session. The year 1927
Before May 1927, a workers and peasants’ party had also emerged
CEC meeting of the CPI held on May 31, 1927, workers’ and
three provinces and resolved that the CPI members ‘shall try to form
peasants’ party:
Those who know the proceeding of the last Gauhati Congress will
certainly have realized that the present Congress is not for the
the demand was made that Congress must stand for the masses its
leaders had perforce to admit that they were not of the party of the
masses – that they belonged to their own party – that is, the party of
. Because they are the worst exploited, because they are resourceless,
and most of all, because, thanks to the factory system, they can very
easily organize, it is our workers who can take the lead in the
struggle for our national freedom. If they, who are to lead, lag
form a new party. This party is the party of the masses. We have
called it the Workers’ and Peasants’ Party. It will include not merely
the proletariat . . . but also peasants and the lower middle classes
who have joined the national movement are largely dissatisfied with
12
autocracy of the capitalists.
about the workers’ and peasants’ parties. In the April 1927 issue of
and Peasants’ Party’, which shows his favourable stand. In this article
At the present stage, the fight for a militant nationalist and labour
This is the special function that can be fulfilled by the Workers’ and
basis. . . . The Workers’ and Peasants’ Party will, on the one hand,
the other hand it will prepare the way for a powerful class
13
mass following or it will be of no avail.
26–28, 1927, just a month before the Madras Session of the INC,
MP, delegates of the British Trade Union Congress and Hardy Janes of
Ganavani but also expressed the hope that the trade unions would
November 26, 1927, ‘for the purpose of inquiring into the working of
the Labour MP Sir John Simon, it was known popularly as the Simon
Commission. The eighth session resolved to boycott the Simon
14
Joshi were elected President and General Secretary respectively.
form an All India Workers’ and Peasants’ Party. Muzaffar Ahmad was
In the Madras Session, the Congress for the first time in its history
a constitution for India was a vital issue before the session. The WPP
15
main plank of the congress platform.’ The significance of the slogan
of a national constituent assembly was explained by Ahmad in his
time when the national bourgeoisie was going to pass the resolution of
16
determination was suggested.’
Philip Spratt and was printed in Calcutta before they left for Madras.
Notably, Roy, who in his famous assembly letter dated December 30,
1927, had criticized CPI and Workers’ and Peasants’ Parties, praised
17
resolution of the Madras National Congress.’
28, 1927. This was held at the venue of the Madras Congress, and
18
session’. The session was presided over by Jawaharlal Nehru who
the movement for the boycott of anti-Simon Commission with the aim
demonstrations took place not only in Bombay but across all major
recollected the events forty years later: ‘We led a workers’ procession
walking all the distance from Matunga to Foras Road. It was on this
occasion also that the Workers’ and Peasants’ Party came out on the
streets with red flags and festoons displaying hammer and sickle . . .
there was a massive meeting, at which, perhaps a mike was used for
19
the first time.’
significance of this day. After 1922, this was perhaps the only occasion
20
and organizations.’
servile status and the ills irremediable under the present system,
the nation once more to the call of independence and the solution of
21
The workers’ and peasants’ parties also played a leading role during
1929. Bengal peasants’ and workers’ party took part in the rally along
Live Revolution) was raised for the first time in the Calcutta rally.
attacked veteran leader Lala Lajpat Rai who was leading the protest
nation.
Nehru Report
The hopes raised during the Madras session and subsequent boycott
future relations of India with Britain. The party had raised this
meeting before February 12, 1928, it was not possible for the AITUC
to present any official view at the All Party Conference. The Workers’
and Peasants’ Party and the CPI also did not take part in the Delhi
Peasants’ Party issued ‘An Open Letter to the All Party Conference’,
rationale for calling such a conference and reiterated the demand for
22
convening a constituent assembly based on universal adult suffrage.
explained his Party’s stand. The party representatives voted against the
23
constitution.
committee were Tej Bahadur Sapru, Ali Imam, G.R. Pradhan, Shuaib
Qureshi, M.S. Aney, M.R. Jayakar, N.M. Joshi, Sardar Mangal Singh
and Subhash Chandra Bose. Though N.M. Joshi, the AITUC general
secretary, was inducted, he did not attend its meetings nor did he sign
the report.
and the communists. All the resolutions of the Workers’ and Peasants’
Party and the CPI during this period, especially after acceptance of
dominion status as the Congress goal, record their condemnation of
24
of the national movement. It was also the policy of the communists
to build good relations with the left wing leaders inside the Congress,
1928, and was placed before the All Party Conference in its next
The Lucknow All Party Conference (which coincided with the Sixth
Imperialism.
The communists and the workers’ and peasants’ parties rejected the
but it said nothing about the Independence League. The party came
out with an official stand only at the All India Conference held in
Conference said:
bourgeoisie to regain that control over the mass movement and the
25
causing it to lose.
‘A Call to Action’
the secretary of the party, which was renamed the Workers’ and
was held on March 18, 1928. Decisions of this conference along with
26
present Labour leadership’ formed the basis of ‘A Call to Action’.
parties – are the unformed ‘left’ of the Congress and constitute part
of the ground from which the workers’ and peasants’ parties are
now rising. . . .
The chief immediate task for the party is, by putting forward its
gather together all fighting progressive forces from all sections, and
27
independence, as against the compromising bourgeois leadership.
The first formal decision to organize youth wings was taken by the
March 1928. ‘A Call to Action’ adopted by the party dealt with the
issue in detail and pointed out that the young generation in Indian had
The document resolved that the WPP ‘should attract to its banner
peasant youth ‘to broaden the social base of the traditional youth
organization’.
organization:
(ii) Advance the cause of trade unionism among young workers, and
policy.
Comrades League was formed by the end of July 1928 and in August
though both Mirajkar and Dange were active in the League. The
noted that Nariman also presided over the session of the All India
conference. Adhikari notes: ‘It does not appear that the Workers’ and
Peasants’ Party was able to play any significant role in it or build its
occupied with the great textile strike and with the organization of
28
Girni Kamgar Union (Red Flag) after the termination of the strike.’
The situation changed after the Meerut arrests. By the end of 1929
League.
Josh and M.A. Majid were present. Though Naujavan Sabha was
spirit.
did not give adequate attention to the youth wing. Documents show
that a manifesto of the youth front of the WPP of Bengal was read at
the conference only on the fourth day. Even the ‘Political Resolution’
looming larger then ever, and unless the authorities are armed with
the next year or two may well be fraught with the greatest
29
consequence of the security of the country.’
The prelude to the Public Safety Bill was the publication of the so-
30
1928, ten days before the Lucknow All Party Conference. But
Ahmad had never received this letter and he had no idea about it
before The Statesman published its full text. An extract of the letter
was also published in the London Times on 26 August. There was a
against the Public Safety Bill on September 14, 1928, ‘. . .this is a most
31
Iyengar called the Bill completely unnecessary.
The Public Safety Bill was debated in the Assembly for four days
The president of the Assembly, Vithal Bhai Patel broke a tie to vote
against it. It was an historic event, but the government was desperate,
January 1929.
In the period after the Madras session of the INC, workers’ and
peasants’ parties were formed in Punjab and UP. In Punjab, the need
to form such a party had been felt as early as April 1927. The group
leading role in the formation of the party. Santokh Singh, who had
spelt out the policies of the paper in the first issue: ‘The Kirti will
voice the rights and demands of the workers and will pen down the
how through these struggles they would learn new lessons and steadily
32
and firmly come into their own.’ Sir David Petrie remarked: ‘. . . the
efforts to sow the seeds of the Bolshevism among the disaffected Sikhs
33
in India had not altogether been unsuccessful.’
After Santokh Singh’s death on May 19, 1927, at the age of 35,
Sohan Singh Josh took charge of the paper. Bhagat Singh was also
Sohan Singh Josh, who later became president of the All India
Ahmad recollected that Sohan Singh Josh and Bhag Singh Canadian
and decided that they would also form a party of peasants and
34
workers in Punjab. The inaugural meeting was attended by M.A.
Mansur. Josh was elected general secretary and Hansraj president. The
Kirti Dal. The third conference of the party was held in Rohtak on
and Peasants’ Party accepted and adopted the rules and regulations of
35
the Workers’ and Peasants’ Party of Bengal. H.K.S. Surjeet rightly
points out that the formation of WPP in four major provinces (Bengal,
36
middle class . . .’.
The year 1928 saw the greatest tide of working class advance in the
postwar period. For the first time a working class leadership had
The official report, India in 1928–29, recorded for the period April
people were involved. The total number of working days lost was
Bombay. The great general strike of Bombay cotton textile workers for
event. The protracted strike was a huge learning experience for the
the communist trade unionists. The Girni Kamgar Union (Lal Bawta)
was an offspring of this great strike. It was founded on May 22, 1928,
and was officially registered the next day with A.A. Alve as president
37
1928 and 65,000 by the first quarter of 1929. On the basis of
Railway observed strike from March 5 to July 9, 1928, that is, for
more than four and a half months. Bauria Jute Mill workers struck
Sarkar in connection with this strike on July 23 and jailed for eighteen
Just before the Calcutta Conference of the All India Workers’ and
Daud. According to B.F. Bradley, the ninth Trade Union Congress ‘met
class movement in India for its organized revolt against the conditions
38
imposed upon the workers by the capitalists’. J.W. Johnston
apply for affiliation with the League Against Imperialism, Berlin. D.R.
Safety Bill and the Trade Disputes Bill – and directed one day’s general
strike as a protest; and in case the Bill was passed, a general strike
39
throughout India.
ground that ‘the British Labour party has been guilty of a grave
40
communist political elements.
was evident in the election of the new office bearers of the AITUC.
Though Jawaharlal Nehru was elected president (he was then general
(who could not attended the session due to his pre-occupation with
thanking the presidium, said that he hoped that the next congress of
41
AITUC to be held at Nagpur would turn out ‘considerably red’.
That was the real revolutionary spirit on the eve of historic Meerut
trial.
42
on December 21–24, 1928. Delegates from workers’ and peasants’
departure for the Calcutta conference. Bhagat Singh also attended the
conference in secret. P.C. Joshi, Gouri Shankar, Balwant Singh, L.N.
from the Jharia AITUC session to attend the Calcutta conference. B.F.
masses.’
Report:
clearly shown.
League:
not possess. The Workers’ and Peasants’ Party can only work with
counter-revolutionary role.
Congress:
section of the Congress. But, in the ‘new stage’ it said: The two
For some time however the Congress will maintain its composite
Congress.
Indian and the British bourgeoisie nor does it seek to minimize their
definite plan of action of the party. Perhaps the time was not ripe
The Calcutta session of the INC was held between December 29,
1928– January 1, 1929. The main issue before this forty-third session
communists urged?
resolution passed by the Jharia session. But his intervention was not
strong enough. The Independence for India League did not make a
was one of the signatories to the Nehru Report. Besides, when Gandhi
Independence League.
line:
This congress having considered the constitution recommended by
native states.
self defence.
43
social equality, entirely free from British imperialism.
majority vote.
On Gandhi’s insistence, ultimately the Nehru Report was accepted
was seen by the communists and militant leaders of the workers and
the open session was Subhash Chandra Bose’s amendment calling for
complete independence.’
session, neither from Workers’ and Peasants’ Party, nor the CPI, the
of the Congress:
This mass meeting of the workers and peasants from all industries
declares that all the workers and peasants of the land shall not rest
upon the National Congress to keep the goal before them and
44
organize the national forces for that purpose.
delegate:
This was a clear indication of the fact that the working class had
45
Nehru and others.
46
extremists.’
a resolution which: ‘(i) condemns the Trade Disputes Bill and Public
status; (iii) declares communism as the way out; and (iv) suggests
dictatorship of the proletariat as the concrete form in which a socialist
47
way can work.’ However, the conference was attended neither by
the activists of Workers’ and Peasants’ Party, nor of the CPI. Like the
Independence for India League, the Socialist Youth Congress too failed
the United States, with its tremendous resources and its immunity
and South America. But we are not likely to remain ignorant much
longer for the great problem of the near future will be American
48
imperialism, even more than British imperialism.
SIX
SIXTH
CONGRESS
OF THE
COMINTERN
THE SIXTH CONGRESS OF THE Communist International (July
movement in India. The Sixth Congress has been criticized for its
The Sixth Congress was held at a time when the Comintern was
In the period between the Fifth and Sixth Congress, many right-
various countries and from the Comintern itself. The Comintern also
First International in 1864. Never in all its history was the Second
1
general programme for the World labour movement.
semi-colonies:
from the CPSU and the Comintern. 592 delegates attended the Sixth
3
reports, nearly a hundred delegates took the floor.
4
Mohammad Ali and G.A.K. Luhani. At that time, Mohammad Ali,
Clemens Dutt and Luhani were working under the Eastern Bureau of
the Comintern. Ali and Dutt were members of the CPI Foreign Bureau
along with M.N. Roy. Usmani and Tagore went from India. Roy was
5
Nasim from India. In the absence of any centralized organizational
after the Congress and also attended the All India Workers’ and
December 1928 and subsequently the secret meeting of the CPI CEC,
party and began to work under the party. He was arrested and
6
party while he was in prison in 1932 for anti-party activities.
M.N. Roy was not present at the Sixth Congress. After his return
But illness forced him to leave the Plenum midway. Roy also prepared
7
was not placed before the Congress.
On March 25, 1929, Inprecor (Vol. IX, No. 16) carried an article by
publishing his articles, Roy came out in the open about his alliance
The Sixth Congress, held nearly four years after the fifth one, is
(iii) formulating the second Colonial Theses, that is, guidelines for
8
question.
the Fifth Plenum in 1925, which, while calling for the participation of
the communists in the Indian National Congress and the left wing of
reformist wings, the latter had not yet fully gone over to imperialism.
the proletariat in this bloc. At the same time, the Communist Party
can and must open a front with the revolutionary wing of the
bourgeoisie the vast masses of the urban and rural petty bourgeoisie
9
could be led in the struggle for liberation.
the events in China. The first united front had given way. The
Communist Party of China was on the run facing attacks from Chiang
Kai Shek’s army. Trotsky argued that the revolutionary wave in China
had failed and that it was the time for shedding tears rather than a
was directly linked with their struggle for freedom from the imperialist
yoke.
The principal task in such countries [China, India, etc.] is, on the
10
develops and becomes more intense.
the broad masses of the peasantry for the overthrow of the landlords
against imperialism.
international situation.
developed at the second congress are still valid, and should serve as
a guiding line for the further work of the communist parties. Since
replaced its former division into religious sects and castes, and
the real threat to British domination comes, not from the bourgeois
camp, but from the growing mass movement of the Indian workers,
time the accentuation of the crisis in the village bears witness to the
in India.
necessity of forging links with the proletariat. The rapid growth of the
colonies:
made up of the ruined artisans who are being driven out of the
him into the working class a guild tendency and ideology which
on the contrary, the contradiction only becomes more acute and can
toiling masses in the colonies. . . . The alliance with the USSR and
for the people of China, India and all other colonial and semi-
11
in general.
imperialism the Theses pointed out that they ‘do not adopt a uniform
national reformism’. This was not the case in China, but ‘in India and
Egypt we still observe, for the time being, the typical bourgeois–
long as the danger of class revolution on the part of the masses has
said:
of the latter.
Further,
from all the petty bourgeois groups and parties. In so far as the
ruling power and that its representatives do not put obstacles in the
republic. These tasks can be successfully carried out only when there
place itself at the head of the wide masses of the working class,
peasantry and all the toilers, and to lead them in the struggle against
Indian communists.
‘The axis of bourgeois democratic revolution’
While it correctly analysed the nature of the working class and the
system was in crisis was borne out by the Great Depression, but this
still did not mean that the system was about to collapse altogether, nor
Rejection of decolonization
All the chatter of the imperialists and their lackeys about the policy
tendency)’.
the role of the national bourgeoisie was blinkered. It was claimed, for
that this appraisal by the Sixth Congress of the Comintern of the role
Impact on India
The formulation of the Sixth Congress and the subsequent
Huda, Abdul Majid and Sohan Singh Josh. Ghate was elected General
Question ‘as a basis for work’ and resolved that they would ‘test’ the
possibility of forming an open CPI. The meeting did not take any
12
Calcutta conference.
Parties questioning the rationale for the existence of the party. The
message that the ECCI sent was received in Calcutta only after the all
India conference. The message was in tune with the guidelines adopted
13
in the Sixth Congress.
the workers, peasants, and the town poor, in the fight against
any means the fusion of the workers and peasants into the party.
party. In this context the existing condition of the CPI was criticized:
‘The existing (only on paper) Communist Party of India, since it does
communists among its members.’ The Comintern advised the all India
and consistent class development, and the latter the full embracing of
three years. It was not easy to change the course of action all of a
sudden. Moreover, the question was, would the ground realities allow
14
the ‘Manifesto of CPI to All Workers’. This document justified the
Party. The manifesto said, for the establishment of socialism, ‘when all
men and women will really be equal, when from each will be taken by
needed most of all’. The fulfillment of this goal is not possible by the
as a party that gathers together forces for ‘the first fight against
called upon the workers and the trade unions to support, the Workers’
and Peasants’ Party and ‘help and take the lead in the policy for which
emerge victorious’.
The Manifesto was an attempt on the part of the communists in
India to adjust with the Comintern directives. But despite its sincerity,
the Manifesto was not free from vagueness. The communists at that
stage, were perhaps the right role for the Communist Party. Whatever
was perhaps difficult for the Indian communists at that stage to chart
Comintern, for the two parties – Workers’ and Peasants’ Party and
CPI.
15
5, 1929) that in India the ‘objective situation demands the
Comintern’s suggestion to wind up the WPP just after its first all India
face a huge blow from the colonial regime, the Meerut Conspiracy
NEW UPSURGE
AT THE TURN OF 1929, there were indications of mass upsurge
condition that the details of the Dominion Status would be the point
1
Constitution suitable to India’s needs’. Subhash Bose refused to put
He was expelled from the League Against Imperialism for his initial
The stage was set for the Lahore Session of the Congress in
December 1929. The whole country was waiting for some mass-action
and the onus to work out a plan of action to match this mood fell on
belief that
end. . . . The future lies with America and Asia. The communal
there. The struggle will centre around economic demands. Now the
2
any foreign domination.
Nehru admitted that the Congress would not adopt socialism right
away, but he felt that to eradicate poverty and inequality, it will have
methods.
in the order which produces the modern Kings of industry, who have
greater power over the lives and fortunes of men than even Kings of
old and whose methods are as predatory as those of the old feudal
3
aristocracy.’
especially the urban poor, were the worst hit. In this context, Gandhi’s
points out, ‘A close look at the “eleven points” would reveal the class-
interest that lay behind them. Most of them were the demands raised
4
by the industrial and commercial bourgeoisie.’ He characterizes the
eleven points ‘political kite-flying’, and points out that ‘the kite
Revolutionary currents
the new phase of his movement. The famous Dandi March (March
1930, Gandhi was arrested and sent to Yeravda prison. Calcutta was
Jatindramohan Sengupta.
not always follow Gandhian guidelines. In 1930, more than fifty cases
April 22, Surya Sen’s followers fought valiantly against the British
forces in the hilly terrain of Jalalabad. Among his followers were the
5
Pritilata Waddadar. In the same year, Binoy Bose assassinated the
I.G. Police in Dacca. Binoy, along with Badal and Dinesh, led a daring
Das, Santi and Suniti were involved in the killing of high British
officials.
6
earlier terrorists – militant atheism’. Bhagat Singh explained in his
trial that revolution to him was ‘not the cult of the bomb and pistol’,
7
We await the advent of revolution. Inquilab Zindabad.’ As he
8
human dignity and rationalistic logic.
under the leadership of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan and his Khudai
Peshawar and Kohat and the entire province was brought under
martial law. They had to even resort to bombarding the tribal areas.
withdraw the troops and Peshawar was virtually a free city between
April 25 and May 4, 1930. The Garhwali soldiers were later court-
9
martialled and prosecuted.
workers and the British Police. The leaders of the Sholapur uprising,
led by K.F. Nariman and Yusuf Meher Ali the Congress workers tried
the peasants began their protest in the Gandhian, non-violent way, but
Tanjore coast to violate the salt law in April 1930. Non-violent as well
10
The British authority called it no less than an ‘uprising’.
Barring a few urban centres like Kanpur in UP, the focal point of the
movement was the peasantry, which did not always toe the Congress
line. Across different regions, there were some common trends in the
including the peasantry and the petty bourgeoisie, were drawn into the
or less in the hands of the bourgeois group and rich farmers. Second,
few areas in the United Provinces, communal tension ran high and
11
British. Some of them even attended the First Round Table
suspend the Civil Disobedience Movement and to join the next Round
may be quoted here: ‘In order to end the exploitation of the masses
12
political freedom must include real economic freedom’. However,
Gandhi did not agree with this slogan, and Nehru, the obedient
between January 1932 and March 1933. By the latter half of 1932,
the Second Civil Disobedience Movement had lost its vigour. Clearly,
the Congress image had taken a beating. When the Third Round Table
13
Movement was as good as dead.
15
revolutionary organizations more than the British. The Salt
16
colonial power in India.’ Virendranath Chattopadhyaya argued that
‘the real struggle that is going on is not between the Congress and the
17
revolutionary movement’. This political situation led to the
year.
18
Chandra Bose. The Meerut prisoners were highly critical of the
ordinary Congress leader is a phrase with which to keep the rank and
more’. However, M.N. Roy wanted the CPI to join the Civil
Roy was in for a shock, when the Gandhi-Irwin Pact was signed.
19
Gandhi’s duplicity, which ‘reached its high water mark’.
of the desire to fight for freedom amongst the youths in those days’.
violated the salt act as a mark of protest. Saroj Mukherjee was in the
Karachi session of the Indian National Congress in 1930. Choudhury
writes: ‘Saroj took part in the Karachi Congress in order to have first
20
that Gandhi’s leadership had a dual character’. In spite of mass
with Gandhi’s leadership was also growing, and it only increased with
faction led by S.V. Deshpande felt that keeping away from the
21
Civil Disobedience Movement under Congress leadership. In
22
‘national flag’ on Calicut Beach on November 11, 1930. A.K.
but surely moving to take the plunge . . .’. E.M.S. was imprisoned
seed of the Congress Left wing and the Congress Socialist movement
23
in Kerala.’ E.M.S. and Krishna Pillai, after their release from jail,
same year, both of them led the leftists to a leadership position in the
24
using the occasion to popularize socialism.
The national liberation struggle was an area where the radical youth
25
Amancharla Gopalarao.
Dr Chelikani Ramarao (b. 1901) of Kakinada left his home in 1921
who had killed the collector of Salem and was serving a life sentence
26
and the Russian Revolution. Ramarao studied medicine in
them. After his release from jail, he joined in the Communist Party in
27
him towards Marxism.
were arrested and brutally murdered. They were kept in different jails
28
influence on the satyagrahis. Many young people who were under
jail where he met the prisoners of the Lahore conspiracy case. He was
dissatisfied with the Gandhi–Irwin Pact, which did not include the
celebrated Bhagat Singh day on March 24, 1932. They sang songs on
Bhagat Singh and raised slogans like ‘Inquilab Zindabad’ (‘Long live
the revolution’). They spoke on the life of Bhagat Singh and exhorted
29
socialist ideas in Andhra. In jail the Bengali detenues changed their
after the failure of the second Round Table Conference, was sent to
alerted the communist parties to the fact that this would lead to a
the other. The Eleventh Plenum of the Comintern warned that ‘The
and the toiling peasants of the right of assembly and free press, is
30
is ruthlessly suppressing the revolutionary peasant movement.’
1929 affected India in several ways, the major two being: (i) a sharp
enhanced the burden of revenue, rent and interest payments, and those
land and the abolition of zamindari, the most radical slogan of the
period. Congress support for even such specific kisan demands was
in states like Gujarat and some parts of northern India. Thus Congress
fundamentally unchanged till 1929. Down to the late 1920s, India still
balance of payments, while India was still a vital field for British
(mining, tea, and jute). The Depression brought down the value of
1932–33 (imports fell off in the same period from Rs 241 crore to Rs
133 crore), and the Home Charges could be met only by massive
31
exports of gold through distress sales by Indians.
in general, one could say that the overall weight of the bourgeois
not possible due to splits in the AITUC. The split in the tenth session
session, Jawaharlal Nehru, deeply regretted the split but could not
prevent it. The second split in AITUC occurred in its eleventh session
encountered. . . . [The] first split was not al all a fortuitous one. The
behind the first split was admitted by Nehru also who presided over
the tenth session and was a close witness to all that took place. . . .
The second split, in one sense, was more deplorable than the first
one. The first one was the result of a conflict between the Right-
wing and the Left-wing, while the second was the most lamentable
33
result of conflict within the Left-wing itself.
time, the working class waged economic struggles against this crisis’.
34
drives (in 1928–29 and again after 1934), wage cuts, and lay offs. The
203 strikes and lockouts involving 506,851 workers and the loss of
the Meerut trial) and splits, and a revival again from the mid-1930s.
35
1937.
In the early 1930s, labour disputes were on the rise. For instance,
April 1930. The strike was called against a ban on transport of goods
carters. The martyrs were both Hindus and Muslims. The young
the strikers.
the cotton mills of Madurai and in other parts of the country. The
the impact of the Depression intensified, more and more workers lost
36
1933, labour disputes had declined, compared to 1931:
keeping the communists out. In the twelfth session of the AITUC, held
in September 1932 in Madras, J.N. Mitra took the chair. The Trade
1933, Indian Trade Union Federation and the newly founded National
Federation of Labour were merged to form the National Trade Union
strategy for unity in the trade union movement. Release of some of the
morale. This year the AITUC’s thirteenth session was held at Kanpur
was still an elusive dream. It took another two years to overcome the
Calcutta, the Red Trade Union Congress merged with the AITUC.
Peasant movements
The 1920s and 1930s were a period of peasant struggles across the
country. Some of these struggles had a long history, some were more
37
personality thought, stood for, or actually did.’ In many instances,
Gandhi and the Congress, though they had little to do with it directly.
This situation was also the result of the fact that the Workers’ and
Peasants’ Parties were unable to make any significant inroads into the
trade union activities. The Bengal unit of the party made some
Bengal in the late 1920s. When the Bengal Tenancy Amendment Bill
38
agrarian programme.’
The reason for Congress reticence was that, as a party, it had deep
links with zamindar elements. This was most obvious in areas that
were permanently settled by the British, such as Bengal and Bihar. For
1929, but at that time the organization was rather moderate in its
zamindar, was the rent collector. This is seen, for instance, in coastal
was able to mobilize both the patidar landholders and their kaliparaj
Bombay. The two were quite unrelated, and certainly there was no
organizational link between the two. Yet, the British feared a link-up
and GIP [railways], and they think that they would have got the
39
men out.
benefit, but what had hastened the victory was the fear that the
THE
MEERUT TRIAL
THE MEERUT CONSPIRACY CASE IS a landmark in the history of
capitalist world was reeling under the Great Depression, whereas the
root in India.
Meerut, a small town in the United Provinces, had been one of the
centres of the Revolt of 1857, but over the next seven decades it
miles from Delhi. Between 1929 and 1933, however, it shot into the
prisoners was. The courage shown by the communists in the case gave
class, peasantry and other toiling masses. With this trial the British
1
workers, peasants, and youth. The Meerut trial laid the foundation
thirteen were from Bombay, ten from Bengal, five from UP, three from
thorough raids and house searches. Attempts were made to justify the
2
‘gigantic scale’. The proceedings lasted for nearly four-and-a-half
The defence evidence lasted for about two months. The arguments
1933. The last of the appeals was filed in the Allahabad High Court
on March 17, 1933. The date for hearing of the appeals was fixed on
the argument commenced on July 24, 1933, and after eight working
days, was concluded on August 2, 1933. The next day, the Chief
1,500 defence exhibits and no less than 320 witnesses were examined.
The judgment itself was in two printed volumes covering 676 pages of
folio size. The government spent sixteen lakh rupees from the public
exchequer on the case even before it was referred to the High Court.
judgment:
The Meerut Case has been a new cause celebre creating new and
3
to which it might otherwise have led.
Pre-arrest preparation
1928, the British Secretary of State revealed to the Viceroy that the
4
‘proposed conspiracy trial’. Again, in a letter to Stanley Jackson, the
5
Communist movement than anything.’
The case began on March 15, 1929, when the District Magistrate of
just the day before. The officer who filed the complaint before the
was not attended by all the leaders. For instance, Muzaffar Ahmad
leaders with the charges of conspiracy ‘to deprive the King Emperor of
member).
were included in this list a few days later. Unlike Spratt and Bradley,
Hutchinson was not a member of any communist party and had come
was filed against Hutchinson on June 11, 1929, and he was brought
6
Meerut prisoners in Britain and wrote of his trial experience.
A complaint was also filed against Amir Haidar Khan. The police
district of Punjab. He was a sailor. On one of his trips he left his ship
automobile factory. While working there he mastered not only his job
Party in America and was sent for training to Moscow. After the
south India, like P. Sundarayya, had joined the Party inspired by Amir
Haidar Khan. On May 7, 1932, towards the fag end of the trial at
Meerut Sessions Court, he fell into the hands of the police. To bring
him for trial at Meerut at that stage would have meant starting the
Both Langford James, the Chief Counsel for the prosecution, and
Hemanta Kumar Sarkar from Bengal and Lalji Pendse and D.B.
Kulkarni from Bombay among the accused in the case along with
7
Hutchinson and Amir Haidar Khan. But ultimately that did not
M.N. Roy was also arrested during the Meerut trial after his return
to India. The Bombay police arrested him on July 21, 1931, and
All those arrested in this case were not members of the Communist
Party. Besides Amir Haidar Khan, only thirteen were CPI members.
communists.
8
implicating Jawaharlal Nehru in the Meerut case. In his
minds to these new ides (socialism and communism) and the world
9
institutions.
But as their names were being referred to time and again during the
Gladding, and others. Among the organizations cited in the list was
10
Executive Committee.
The indictment
11
following is the official statement:
in Moscow.
other bodies.
unions etc., ostensibly for the benefit of the members thereof, but in
Communist International.
the Government.
British India, and for such purpose to use the methods and carry out
carried out such plan of campaign with the assistance of, and
various places within and without British India, and amongst others
section 121-A of the Indian Penal Code and within the jurisdiction
of this Court. It is, therefore, prayed that the Court will enquire into
This document demonstrates that the accused were being charged for
the case would be tried by the High Court with a jury. A ‘very secret’
exposes the real motive of the rulers of British India: ‘We could not . .
. take the chance of submitting the case to a jury. However good the
cannot put the case into Court unless we are convinced that it will
12
result in conviction’.
The same document further states that ‘quite apart from the point
about a jury’ there are ‘good reasons’ for avoiding Calcutta and
Bombay, such as
13
conspiracy have been performed there.
of the case. But James could not see the final outcome of the trial, as
he died on March 28, 1930. After his death, Mr M.I. Kemp carried on
the case.
The actual trial of the case started on June 12, 1929, before Mr
January 14, 1930. The venue of the case remained the same and the
case was transferred to the Special Judge Mr R.L. Yorke, ICS. In the
occupied over ten months; the defense evidence lasted for about two
January 1933.
statements? I told him further how deeply sorry I was for not having
made a similar use of the Kanpur Conspiracy Case. Dr Adhikari
14
meet together we would take a decision on this issue first.
The main object of the colonial rulers in instituting the case was to
the entire front-ranking leadership from the political scene was a blow
to the working class movement in India. But the trial became an ideal
15
capital from their trial than did their predecessors at Kanpur.’
General Statement
Ahmad recollected:
16
Mitra, S.S. Mirajkar, Sohan Singh Josh, Philip Spratt, Shaukat Usmani
had been expelled from the party earlier, ‘for carrying on from jail
17
factional activities in Bombay’. However, Dange submitted a
statement (of more than 600 pages) before the court from October
the first time the analysis of the world situation and the national
movement, tactics for achieving national liberation and the basic ideas
of communism.
that in a colonial country, such as India is, the revolution that will
precede the proletarian revolution, will be of the nature of the
working, and we are convinced that the programme which was put
18
was the only correct programme for attaining it.
The judgment
failed, like the CPI Draft Platform of Action, to correct the left
issues like the role of national bourgeoisie, and the role communists
for this case, read his judgment on January 16, 1933, at the end of
Bengal, Bombay and Punjab and the UP, but perhaps of deeper
gravity was the hold that the members of the Bombay Party
shown by the extent of the control which they exercised during the
of all the above facts that I have endeavoured to assess the relative
19
punishment to fit the crime’.
were:
Muzaffar Ahmad
S.A. Dange, Philip Spratt, S.V. Ghate, K.N. Joglekar, R.S. Nimbkar
L.R. Kadam.
case on July 24, 1933. Chief Justice Dr Sir Shah Mohammad Suleiman
and Justice Douglas Young heard the appeal and after conducting
August 3, 1933.
moved the appeal for the accused. Among the junior advocates,
friend of P.C. Joshi, came forward to assist them. Pandit also took the
The High Court ruled that ‘the conspiracy was impracticable, one
accused till their arrest were in one sense utterly puerile and could not
dreamt of.’
The High Court dismissed all the charges framed against M.G.
20
case to rigorous imprisonment for one year.
The Meerut trial was perhaps unique for the strong solidarity
21
particularly Britain. As one contemporary observer recalled:
The trial received wide publicity and evoked the solidarity of labour
all over the world. The nature of the charge led to the accused
seeing youths carefully cutting out reports from the papers and
22
pasting them into books. It was their first textbook of socialism.
see the conditions of the prisoners. He deplored the arrest in his write
and arrest all prominent workers, we trust your council will help the
request that you insist that accused in the Meerut trial are not
deprived of the rights of jury trial, which most of them possess in
23
supervising public arrangements in Meerut.
I would like to point out that this trial cannot be isolated from the
like you to expose and oppose the whole policy underlying the
24
trial.
supervise the expenditure and make all other arrangements for the
others issued the following appeal for funds to enable the Meerut
ordinary courts and under the ordinary law. The government has
social and political advance. Apart, therefore, from the fact that it is
our obvious duty to see that our fellow countrymen accused of very
that all Nationalist newspapers in the country will support the fund
25
and give wide publicity to it. . . .
prisoners. They had been arrested when the Meerut trial was in
progress for throwing a bomb on the floor of the Central Legislature
26
Bill.
felicitate the Meerut comrades and are only sorry that we, young
men, did not take the opportunity of being sentenced like them. We
27
and through the written word.
following day the All India Youth League called a special meeting in
the government on the pretext that the case was sub-judice. Crerar, the
workers. R.S. Ruikar (who later joined the M.N. Roy-led anti-CPI
criticized the commission but also said, referring to the Meerut arrests:
28
The AITUC Executive Committee which met on November 17–18,
of the Meerut prisoners. Ramani Ranjan Guha Roy, editor, printer and
29
article, ‘The Meerut Case’ in the July 4, 1931, issue of the paper.
trial. Soon after the arrests, the Comintern Presidium met on March
30
28, 1929, and issued a proclamation. The Indian situation featured
the great combat which today is being fought throughout the world
31
awakening mankind. Nothing henceforward will arrest them.
sources within the country. Even the meagre sum which we used to
America also came forward to help us. But the British Government
Britain and British friends, the British workers had set up a Defence
32
special funds collected by this Defence Committee.
after his defeat in the parliamentary election in 1929. Apart from the
Labour Party in Britain and a section of even the ruling Labour Party
Union Congress and invoke its aid to protect the Trade Union
movement. Please also keep us informed of the new developments
33
movement.
It is also interesting to note that Sir Stafford Cripps and D.N. Pritt,
Meerut trial belongs to the class of cases of which the Mooney trial
34
the Reichstag Fire trial in Germany, are the supreme instances’.
The radical British press also highlighted the issue and sympathized
with the prisoners throughout the years of the trial. As the case
The unique ‘Meerut Conspiracy Case’ is over. The result is out. The
manual labour with bad food and clothing. After 3 months interval
relative. As food and rest are necessary to live a life, reading and
books are equally important for middle-class life. In gaol books are
the gaol premises. After hurrying 3 times to the gaol, we were told
to come the next day, 17 January 1933. On that day I had to stand
at the gate for nearly 3 hours and then only was I allowed to see my
be freed on bail or parole for one day. Just to sign the marriage deed
35
Joglekar.
initially showed much enthusiasm lost interest in the issue very soon.
prisoners in late 1933, the Party was able to find a stronger political
36
new and definite character.
NINE
TOWARDS
AN ALL-INDIA
CENTRE
THE PERIOD FOLLOWING THE ARREST of the leading
period.
when the party was all set to take a new course after the formation of
sudden arrest of almost its entire leadership. It could not recover from
the blow and became defunct after the arrests, though no formal
recommended.
The party was yet to resolve the question whether it should function
discussed at the secret meeting of the CPI CEC held at Calcutta from
1
December 27 to 29, 1928. But before any step could be taken, even
before reaching a concrete decision in this regard, almost all top level
In Bengal, Abdul Halim was the only leading figure that the British
police did not put behind bars. In Madras, Singaravelu Chettiar came
out of jail after eighteen months in August 1930, when the Civil
2
elements within it. Though he was not involved in open communist
virtually no one was left to fill up the vacuum. In Lahore, the arrest of
Majid and Sehgal meant there was no one to fill their place. In
Bombay, S.V. Deshpande and B.T. Ranadive tried to keep the trade
challenge was to build up an all India centre. Even before the Meerut
liberation struggle. The Sixth Congress of the Comintern did not help
the tenth session of the AITUC held in Nagpur from November 28–
December 1, 1929, the first since the Meerut arrests, the communist
trade unionists took a leading position. The Nagpur session, for the
Joshi.
at the initiative of the Workers’ and Peasants’ Party. A.A. Alve, who
Nimbkar, S.V. Ghate, S.S. Mirjakar, B.F. Bradley and S.H. Jhabwala
were active in the GKU until their arrest in the Meerut case. Initially
starting with a membership of only 324, GKU grew rapidly and its
3
first quarter of 1929. When A.A. Alve was arrested in the Meerut
GKU called a general strike on April 26, 1929. By May 1, 1929, the
4
strike had spread to 64 mills affecting 1,09,292 operatives. It was a
same day and were arrested. Soon GKU became the victim of
5
1932, when a new Lal Bawta GKU was formed.
6
establishment of a workers’ republic’. The new mood of the working
appointed in July 1929) which was meant to cheat the people and was
The Nagpur session also witnessed the first split in the AITUC when
Bakhle, B. Shiva Rao and their associates decided to leave the AITUC
7
being affiliated to or represented in the Federation’.
away from the All India Trade Union Congress at its eleventh session
Somnath Lahiri among others went out of the session and arranged a
trade union body, the All India Red Trade Union Congress with D.B.
8
Treasurer. The move was a sectarian mistake, and was corrected
later.
9
Bombay Provincial Working Class Party to counter the communists.
and differences plagued the League during 1932, but Adhikari revived
10
the activities of the League in early 1933, when he was out on bail.
In Punjab, the communists were active in the Kirti Kisan Party and
Naujawan Sabha. Muzaffar Ahmad recalls that Sohan Singh Josh and
Bhag Singh Canadian met him in November 1927 when they came to
11
formed in April 1928. The Deshsewak, a newspaper based in
12
railways and to cancel all debts.
the Communist Party units in Madras and Andhra areas owes a lot. B.
came over to Communism after his contact with Amir Haider Khan.
K. Bashyam, the artist, also helped to bring some of the later leaders
dangerous individual, and the fact that he was sentenced at the end of
13
January 26, 1931, and was incarcerated for nearly a month. In line
new organization, the Bengal Krishak League was formed in July 1931
14
real impact.
time. In early 1931, the CPI Calcutta Committee was formed with
15
transformed into the CPI Bengal Committee by November 1933. In
Comintern’s initiatives
In the autumn of 1929, the USA was seized with a stock market
economic crisis. The crisis of 1929–33 was not only the longest but
also the most destructive of its kind, which further aggravated the
general crisis of capitalism. But in this same period the Soviet Union
mooted and implemented the first five-year plan which astonished the
whole world and inspired the struggle for human emancipation
worldwide.
Moscow from July 3 to 19, 1929. After the end of the Sixth Congress,
among the peasantry. Paul Schubin also spoke and criticized the
of the communist parties ‘is to win the majority of the working class
preparing the working class for the decisive battle for the dictatorship
16
of the proletariat’. Regarding anti-fascist mobilization, which was
movement, the Comintern could not overcome its sectarian stand. The
communist parties to win the masses by conducting the fight along the
following points:
the fascists, for the organization of mass political strikes against the
17
China.
18
and increasingly aggressive fascistic machination. In his report at
Prem Lal Singh to India. He stayed for few months before returning to
there. After that, the American communists William N. Kweit and his
USA, Harry Somers, joined them in July 1930. They tried their best to
reorganize Bombay-based communist groups. But by September 1930
19
they were detected and deported from India. Another American
20
year as well. But soon they were put under arrest and deported.
While the Meerut trial was on, the CPI came out with its Draft
21
Platform of Action, before the General Statement was placed in
struggle with the agrarian revolution and the abolition of all social
called on all sections to join the freedom struggle. Never before had
and peasants and lead them to victory over imperialism and take the
the following ‘main objects for the present stage’ of the Indian
revolution:
banks.
the unemployed.
working class and the peasants from the poverty which is crushing
the system of landlordism surviving from the middle ages and would
and the abolition of all sorts of inequalities imposed by the old system.
British rule. . . .
sex, religion and race; complete separation of religion from the state
The communist Platform, for the first time in India, linked India’s
peoples, that the great October Revolution had opened up a new era
22
for the national liberation movement.
notions about the role of the Indian bourgeoisie. This arose from the
Congress:
Linked up, as it is, with the system of landlordism and usury and
masses, capitalist class has long ago betrayed the struggle for
is the fact that great masses of our people still harbour illusions
23
with British imperialism.
struggle.
did great damage to the Party’s image amongst the people leading to
International in 1935.
declarations was the first for uniting the working class in militant
24
the national independence movement.’
foreign debts, etc. Only in this way can the ruinous exploitation of
India be stopped, and the way prepared for a general advance of the
productive forces.
exploiting system, which must go when that system goes. But they
25
modified by the conditions of a colonial country.
the bourgeois class itself. The situation in India and the position of
the bourgeoisie leads us to conclude that this is the case here: the
follows:
1. The close association of British and Indian capital in Indian
industry. . . .
political party. Its forces are divided among the Congress, the
are able to come together on certain issues, namely in the All Parties
bourgeois class in short is too weak, and their interests are bound
while the contradiction between its interest and those of the masses,
its only possibly revolutionary allies, and are too direct to enable it
(pp. 213–14)
The claims of the bourgeoisie to represent and lead the whole of the
peasants and the town poor, the petty bourgeoisie and the
hamper its growth, to confuse the issue and mislead it, and
find this out, as did the Egyptians. The result will be the same – a
temporary lull in the struggle and resumed conflict later, with the
said:
We have established that the bourgeoisie cannot lead the Indian
interested in the success of the revolution; and will gain by it. But . .
useful service for the mass revolution, but not as members of that
policy.
explained at some length, and for which the W.P.P. stood, as its
front’ with any others who stand for Independence, or even with
people who pretend to stand for independence, but do not mean it,
which the Chinese bourgeoisie did. Its position is no more than one
criticism and opposition. But this line we take not in the interest of
any ulterior policy but in the interest of the national revolution. (p.
256)
position to mobilize the people in its favour and its isolation from the
sought to address the challenge before the CPI for revitalizing its
activities. The open letter was first published in the Comintern organ
26
Inprecor dated 19 May 1932. Though issued in the name of three
overcome. This is the first and the most important task for all those
and agitation’.
the Party and for the struggle against wavering, against a tendency of
However, the open letter was not enough to correct the mistakes
and sectarian stand of the CPI. Despite the party’s efforts of revival it
could not do away with the proposition of negating the role of the
were taken up after the release of first batch of the Meerut prisoners.
Workers and Peasants’ put out by the Calcutta Committee of the CPI
27
in March 1933. Saroj Mukherjee recalls that the manifesto was
28
Sen, Abani Chowdhury and others. Copies of the manifesto were
for uniting and welding together all the individual communists and
initiative from below to form and develop new local groups and
organizations.
admitted that the party had ‘committed many mistakes in the past’.
But above all, the appeal reflects a conviction when it says, ‘let us put
the interest of the proletariat above everything else and direct all our
Though the Calcutta Committee appeal did not in any way reflect
the stand of all groups who were active in various parts of India, the
November 24, 1933. In this letter, the CPC appreciated the move of
29
the call for the formation of an All India Committee’.
It was not till middle of August 1933 when the first of the Meerut
30
Calcutta by the communists in Bengal. Dr Adhikari, Abdul Halim,
Somnath Lahiri, Dr Ranen Sen, P.C. Joshi (UP), S.G. Patkar (Bombay),
M.L. Jaywant (Nagpur), and Gurdip Singh (Punjab) took part in the
reveals that due weightage was given by the CPI to the three parties’
letter and the ‘Open Letter’ of the CPC in the Draft Political Theses.
Jakaria Street in central Calcutta. To evade police raid, the second day
31
near the Fish Market; the maulavi was Dr Sen’s friend.
32
the Draft Political Theses on July 20, 1934. Basically keeping
within the framework of the Draft Platform of 1930, the Draft Theses
to the cause of the working class to join the rank of the Communist
Party, now being built in order to fight to carry on the historic tasks of
Indian revolution’.
With the approval of the Draft Theses, the CPI got formal affiliation
SUMMING UP
THE COMMUNIST MOVEMENT IN INDIA developed and took an
had attracted the attention of Marx and Engels when they were
consistent, even though it failed in the early period to fully grasp the
Congress.
Lahore and Madras. The British colonial regime sensed the danger
message coming from Moscow. From the very outset, the British rulers
strong ideological moorings and this aided the process of the political
even inside the Congress in the post-First World War period. The
ranks. Among them were the Gadar fighters of Punjab, the colleagues
people concept of freedom not just from the colonial regime, but also
early phase but for its mistakes in working out the correct relationship
movement and isolated the Party from the main current of the anti-
Movement and thereby put its alternative agenda before the masses.
movement.
platform for all the communist groups to sit together for a relatively
in defying the colonial system. The Party took a new turn politically
had failed to yield desired results. It took nearly thirteen years, after
after the release of the Meerut detenues, was crucial not only for the
itself entered a new phase after 1933–34, and the communists, despite
to it.
NOTES
1 Introduction
2 Sumit Sarkar, Modern India: 1885–1947, Macmillan, New Delhi 1983, pp.
56–57.
hierarchy by taking on some of the practices of their social superiors. See M.N.
Srinivas, Village, Caste, Gender and Method, Oxford University Press, New
Delhi 1996.
6 Engel’s letter to Karl Kautsky, September 12 , 1882, quoted in R.P. Dutt, India
7 Karl Marx, ‘The British Rule in India’, in Marx and Engels, The First Indian
8 Marx, ‘The British Rule in India’, The First Indian War of Independence, p.
18; On the National and Colonial Questions, edited by Aijaz Ahmad, p. 65.
9 Karl Marx, ‘Future Results of British Rule in India’, On the National and
Colonial Questions, edited by Aijaz Ahmad, LeftWord, New Delhi 2001, p. 73.
10 Karl Marx, ‘The Revolt in the Indian Army’, in Marx and Engels, First Indian
13 Letter to N.F. Danielson, February 19, 1881, On the National and Colonial
17 Aurobindo Ghosh, New Lamps for Old, cited in Chinmohan Sehanabis, Rusi
21 J.V. Naik, ‘Lokmanya Tilak on Karl Marx and Class Conflict’, Economic and
22 Ibid.
1965, p. 15.
1983.
26 For details, see Sohan Singh Josh, Hindustan Gadar Party: A Short History,
1 See Eric Hobsbawm, The Age of Extremes: A History of the World, 1914–91,
2 For the Montford Reforms and their background, see S.R. Mehrotra, ‘The
Politics behind the Montagu Declaration of 1917’ in C.H. Philips (ed.), Politics
3 See V.N. Dutt (ed.), New Light on the Punjab Disturbances, Delhi 1974.
4 Prem Sagar Gupta, A Short History of All India Trade Union Congress, 1920–
47, AITUC, New Delhi 1980, p.12. Sukomal Sen writes on this event: ‘Mr B.P.
5 Ravinder Kumar, ‘The Bombay Textile Strike, 1919’, Indian Economic and
Social History Review, March 1971, and R.P. Dutt, India Today, pp. 332–40.
6 For details on the muhajirs, L.P. Sinha, Left-Wing in India. See also Shaukat
Sterling, New Delhi 1977; Muzaffar Ahmad, Myself and the Communist Party
R.A. Ulyanovsky (ed.), The Comintern and the East, Progress Publishers,
Moscow 1979; and G. Adhikari (ed.), Documents of the History of the
Communist Party of India, Vol. I, People’s Publishing House, New Delhi 1971.
Calcutta 1965, pp. 42–43. Nazrul Islam was then serving in the army and was
10 Sohan Singh Josh, Hindustan Gadar Party, Vol. II, p. 195. Lala Lajpat Rai,
affectionately known as the Lion of the Punjab, was severely beaten up by the
police at Lahore during the agitation against the Simon Commission and died
that once Aurobindo became known as a spiritual icon, he did not accept
14 Sohan Singh Josh, Hindustan Gadar Party, Vol. II, pp. 106–07.
Indian Patriots, Calcutta 1987; and Adhikari (ed.), Documents, Vol. I, pp. 1–
75. Also see Bhupendranath Dutta, Aprakasita Rajnaitik Itihas, Calcutta 1953.
24 Adhikari (ed.), Documents, Vol. I, pp. 12–14. The Khairi brothers were not
communists, and even after their visit to Moscow, there was no change in their
Pan-Islamist beliefs. Much later, during the Second World War, they were
27 Ibid., p. 42.
29 Collected Works of Lenin, Vol. 31, Progress Publishers, Moscow 1977, p. 138.
32 For the full text, see Adhikari (ed.), Documents, Vol. I, pp. 151–55.
official accounts of the Second Congress including The Second Congress of the
36 Ibid., p. 171.
37 Ibid., p. 172.
6 For more details on peasant struggles of the time, see A.R. Desai (ed.), Peasant
Congresses and the CPI’, Marxist Miscellany, No. 2, People’s Publishing House,
11 Overstreet and Windmiller, Communism in India, pp. 36–37. See also Persits,
Revolutionaries of India.
st
12 Bhupendranath Dutt, Studies in Indian Social Polity, (1 edn. 1944) Calcutta
1983, p. 31.
13 R.P. Dutt, India Today, pp. 346–47. For the full text of the Manifesto see
Adhikari (ed.), Documents, Vol. I, pp. 351–54. The Manifesto was approved by
both Lenin and Stalin. It was printed in Moscow and brought to India and
1927, where Gandhi writes: ‘Year after year a resolution is moved in the
independence and year after year happily the Congress throws out the
15 Muzaffar Ahmad, Myself and the Communist Party of India, pp. 84–106.
1919–1924, p. 117.
19 Irfan Habib, ‘The Left and the National Movement’, in Indian People in the
21 Home/Poll/F. No. 956/1922, NAI, New Delhi, p. 11. See also Muzaffar
25 S.A. Dange, Selected Writings, Vol. I, Lok Vangmaya Griha, Bombay 1974,
pp. 161–66.
27 Ibid., p. 97.
34 The full text of the speech was reprinted in Labour-Kisan Gazette, Madras,
January 31, 1924. See Adhikari (ed.), Documents, Vol. I, pp. 588–91.
38 See Adhikari (ed.), Documents, Vol. II, pp. 6–16 for the full text.
44 Ibid., p. 146.
46 Ibid., p. 154.
47 Ibid., p. 274.
48 See Muzaffar Ahmad, Myself and the Communist Party of India, pp. 327–406
for details.
54 Ibid., p. 364.
57 See Adhikari (ed.), Documents, Vol. II, pp. 382–88 for the full text.
60 See Adhikari (ed.), Documents, Vol. II, pp. 437–48 for the full text.
61 Ibid., p. 422.
62 Ibid., p. 431.
63 J.V. Stalin, Works, Vol. VII, Foreign Languages Publishing House, Moscow
1954, pp. 90–134 for the May 9 speech, and pp. 135–54 for the May 18
speech.
G.A. Syomin (ed.), October Revolution and India’s Independence, Sterling, New
6 Meerut Case Records, P 1796 (a); ‘The First Indian Communist Conference’, a
10 N.N. Mitra (ed.), Indian Annual Register, 1925, vol. II, pp. 367, 371. For
Adhikari’s version of the Kanpur Conference, see Documents, Vol. II, pp. 591–
670.
12 Irfan Habib, ‘The Left and the National Movement’, Social Scientist, May–
14 Letter in Bengali by Muzaffar Ahmad, January 19, 1927. From the personal
20 Ibid., p. 329.
21 Govt. of Bengal, I.B. File No. 35/1926 (Sl. No. 2/26), cited in Roy Chaudhury
24 For the full text of the Manifesto, see Jyoti Basu et al. (eds.), Documents of the
26 Meerut Record, p. 1287 (14). See Adhikari (ed.), Documents, Vol. IIIB, p. 3.
27 Ibid., p. 4.
28 From the personal collection of Subodh Roy, preserved in the library of the
30 Ibid., p. 6.
37 Ibid., p. 212.
38 Ibid., p. 136.
40 Ibid., p. 305.
41 For full text of Roy’s letter, see Gautam Chattopadhyay, Communism and
1 Jyoti Basu et al. (eds.), Documents of the Communist Movement, Vol. II, p.
253.
2 For the full text of the aims and objectives of the Labour Swaraj Party, see
4 Muzaffar Ahmad, Myself and the Communist Party of India, pp. 416–17.
5 For the full text, see Adhikari (ed.), Documents, Vol. IIIA, pp. 155–66.
11 For full text of WPP programme for AICC, see Adhikari (ed.), Documents,
12 Ibid., pp.176–80.
17 Ibid., p. 311
18 Ibid., p.123.
23 See ‘Critique of the Nehru Commission of the All Parties Conference’, in ibid.,
pp. 192–224.
27 For the full text of ‘A Call to Action’ (Meerut Record, p. 523), see Adhikari
31 K.M. Panikkar and A. Prashad (ed.), The Voice of Freedom: The Speeches of
32 Sohan Singh Josh, Hindustan Gadar Party, Vol. II, pp. 224–28.
33 Ibid., p. 228.
39 N.N. Mitra (ed.), Indian Annual Register, 1928, Vol. II, Calcutta.
41 Ibid.
Ahmad, Myself and the Communist Party, pp. 431–34; Adhikari (ed.),
6 Muzaffar Ahmad, Myself and the Communist Party of India, pp. 449–50. See
also Philip Spratt, Blowing up India, Prachi Prakashan, Calcutta 1955, p. 41.
7 For the full text of Roy’s Draft Resolution see Adhikari (ed.), Documents, Vol.
History of the Communist International. The last book vividly deals with the
9 For the full text of the speech, see J.V. Stalin, Collected Works, Vol. 7, Foreign
10 For the full text of the ‘Programme of the Communist International’, see Jyoti
Basu et al. (eds.), Documents of the Communist Movement in India, Vol. I, pp.
785–862. For analysis and discussion of the proceedings of the Sixth Congress,
Three Internationals.
7 New upsurge
1 R.P. Dutt, India Today, p. 361. For Subhas Bose’s criticism of the Delhi
Manifesto see S.C. Bose, The Indian Struggle (1920–34), p. 359. See also N.N.
1984, Chapter I.
Bombay 1945.
8 See Ajoy Ghosh, Bhagat Singh and His Comrades, People’s Publishing House,
Bombay 1946.
in Nisith Ranjan Roy (ed.), Challenge: A Saga of India’s Struggle for Freedom,
10 See Nisith Ranjan Roy (ed.), Challenge, for a number of useful articles on
Freedom Struggle of India, and The Communist Party in Kerala: Six Decades of
Struggle and Advance, National Book Centre, New Delhi 1994; Amalendu
Guha, Planter Raj to Swaraj, ICHR, Delhi 1977; and Sumit Sarkar, Modern
India.
Bhattacharya and Romila Thapar (eds.), Situating Indian History, New Delhi
1986.
19 Inprecor, 20 March, 1930. For more details, see R.P. Dutt, India Today, pp.
372–75.
22 Sumit Sarkar, Modern India, p. 300. See also T.J. Nossiter, Communism in
1987, p. 42.
1986, p. 60. See also K. Gopalan Kutty in Studies in History, Vol. 5, No. 2,
1989, p. 178.
29 Report of the Special Branch CID, to the Inspector General of Police, Madras,
Cambridge 1985, pp. 19–20. See also Amiya Bagchi, Private Investment in
34 Ibid., p. 290.
35 Sumit Sarkar, Modern India, p. 261, and R.P. Dutt, India Today, p. 337.
36 Sukomal Sen, Working Class of India, p. 291.
38 Ibid., p. 275.
278.
India’, in B.T. Ranadive and Jyoti Basu, Role of Communists in the Struggle for
2 From the final judgment of the Chief Justice Dr Sir Shah Mohammad Suleiman
and Justice J. Young of the Allahabad High Court delivered by the Chief Justice
Calcutta 1987, p. x.
5 Ibid., p. 76.
1982, p. 364.
11 For the full text of the prosecuting counsel’s opening speech, see N.N. Mitra
13 Ibid., p. 89–91.
Preface by H. Williamson.
16 Communists Challenge Imperialism, p. ii.
17 Ibid., p. vi.
19 See www.wcml.org.uk.
20 Meerut Conspiracy Case: King Emperor versus P. Spratt and others, 2 Vols.,
and Pramita Ghosh, Meerut Conspiracy Case and the Left Wing in India,
quoted in Tilak Raj Sareen, Russian Revolution and India, 1921–29: A Study of
Soviet Policy Towards Indian National Movement, Sterling, New Delhi 1978,
p. 103.
24 Ibid., p. 111.
25 See www.wcml.org.uk.
26 While serving the term Bhagat Singh was again charged with the murder of the
British police officer Saunders. He was hanged, along with Rajguru and
30 The Statesman, March 29, 1929, and The Tribune, March 30, 1929, cited in
31 See www.wcml.org.uk.
Meerut, G. Allen and Unwin, London 1935, quoted in Pramita Ghosh, Meerut
35 From www.maze-in.com/saklatvala/pages/23htm.
36 Clemens Palme Dutt, ‘The Class Struggle in India’, Labour Monthly, June
1 For details of this secret meeting, see Chapter 6, ‘Sixth Congress of the
Comintern’.
3 Industrial Labour in India: Studies and Reports of ILO, 1938, p. 385, cited in
7 Ibid., p. 166.
17 Ibid., p. 308.
18 For details of the Twelfth Plenum, see Outline History of the Communist
21 Published in Inprecor, December 16, 1930. This was also published in the
Daily Worker, London, and Pravda, Moscow. The full text of the document is
23 Jyoti Basu et al. (eds.) Documents of the Communist Movement in India, Vol.
III, p. 75.
24 Adhikari, ‘The Comintern Congresses and the CPI’, Marxist Miscellany, Vol.
25 Jyoti Basu et al. (eds.), Documents of the Communist Movement in India, Vol.
26 For the full text of the letter, see Jyoti Basu et al. (eds.), Documents of the
27 For the full text of the manifesto, see ibid., pp. 105–20.
29 For the full text of the letter, see Jyoti Basu et al. (eds.), Documents of the
31 Ibid., pp. 65–66 and Saroj Mukherjee, Bharater Communist Party O Amra,
Vol. 1, p. 70.
32 For the full text, see Jyoti Basu et al. (eds.), Documents of the Communist
contact with Muzaffar Ahmad after release and joined the Workers’
Abdul Majid
Case.
Mahendra Pratap into Soviet Russia, and met Lenin there. Active in
Attended the first all India conference of the Workers’ and Peasants’
in 1981.
Nabajug in 1920 with Qazi Nazrul Islam. Along with friend and
during 1926–27 and 1937, and member of the All India Congress
On May 7, 1932, towards the fag end of the Meerut trial, he fell into
the hands of the police. To bring him for trial at Meerut at that stage
would have meant starting the entire proceedings from the beginning –
imprisonment for two years. After release from jail he was again
many years in jail. Made his first visit to India after independence in
Barkatullah 1854–1927
Scholar and master of seven languages – Arabic, Persian, Urdu,
year.
uncle Ajit Singh were both members of the Gadar Party. Studied at
Naujawan Bharat Sabha. Witness to the lathi charge that led to Lajpat
Bande Mataram and Talwar till 1914. Joined the French Socialist
end of 1932, left Berlin for Moscow and joined the Institute of
Madras High Court in 1907 and soon joined trade union movement.
expelled from the CPI in 1981. Attepmted to float a new party, All
Bengal. Arrested for his seditious article in Yugantar. Left for Europe
during his stay in the USA. Went to Berlin. Secretary of the Berlin
member of the AICC in 1929. Joined the AITUC and later the All
Alias Daud Ali. Came to India from the USA during the First World
and crossed into Soviet Russia in 1921. Part of the Indian delegation
Britain in 1921. Born June 19, 1896 to Indian father and Swedish
journal The Labour Monthly, which he edited for nearly five decades.
Was also editor of the CPGB newspaper Daily Worker. Author of the
Feroze-ud-din Mansoor
school, and attended the University for the Toilers of the East. Left
Tashkent for India via the Pamirs in 1922. Sentenced to one year’s
Bharat Sabha, wrote for the Mehnatkash and later for Kirti. Leading
member of the CPI in the Punjab in the 1940s. After Partition, became
Gupta, Nalini
of the AICC, Secretary BPCC and one of the organizers of the defence
for six moths. Accused and convicted in the Meerut Conspiracy Case.
Gadar party. After the split in the Communist Party in 1964, remained
Mohammad Shafiq
India in 1932.
from Aligarh in 1903 and joined the Bombay session of the Indian
in Lucknow.
for two years in Singapore. Met M.N. Roy in Berlin. Took part in the
1921. Came back to India by the end of 1922 and remained here till
the beginning of 1924. Spent the rest of his life in the Soviet Union.
Nimbkar, R.S.
student. Left India in 1915 to secure German help to fight the British.
Socialist Party of Mexico and became its General Secretary. This soon
around this time, which damaged his brain. Serialized his memoirs in
his journal Radical Humanist in his last days. Died on January 25,
Santokh Singh
Russia with Rattan Singh to establish contact with the Comintern, and
Satyabhakta
all over India. Left the conference and soon vanished from the
of the Workers’ and Peasants’ Party of Bengal in 1927. Left for Europe
Calcutta.
Usmani, Shaukat
University for the Toilers of the East. Fought for the defence of Kirkee
three. Towards the end of the case, he moved away from the CPI and
worked with the Revolutionary Socialist Party after his release. Went
social transformation.
www.leftword.com