Communism in India

Communism in India has existed as a social or political ideology as well as a political movement since at least as early as the 1920s. In its early years, communist ideology was harshly suppressed through legal prohibitions and criminal prosecutions. Eventually, communist parties became ensconced in national party politics, sprouting several political offshoots.

Early history of communism in India

Following the October Revolution, Bipin Chandra Pal and Bal Gangadhar Tilak were amongst the prominent Indians who expressed their admiration of Lenin and the new rulers in Russia. Abdul Sattar Khairi and Abdul Zabbar Khairi went to Moscow, immediately on hearing about the revolution. In Moscow, they met Lenin and conveyed their greetings to him. The Russian Revolution also affected émigré Indian revolutionaries, such as the Ghadar Party in North America.M.V.S. Koteswara Rao. ''Communist Parties and United Front – Experience in Kerala and West Bengal''. Hyderabad: Prajasakti Book House, 2003. p. 82, 103 The Khilafat movement contributed to the emergence of early Indian communism. Many Indian Muslims left India to join the defence of the Caliphate. Several of them became communists whilst visiting Soviet territory. Some Hindus also joined the Muslim muhajirs in the travels to the Soviet areas. The colonial authorities were clearly disturbed by the growing influence of Bolshevik sympathies in India. A first counter-move was the issuing of a fatwa, urging Muslims to reject communism. The Home Department established a special branch to monitor the communist influence. Customs were ordered to check the imports of Marxist literature to India. A great number of anti-communist propaganda publications were published.

The First World War was accompanied with a rapid increase of industries in India, resulting in a growth of an industrial proletariat. At the same time prices of essential commodities increased. These were factors that contributed to the buildup of the Indian trade union movement. Unions were formed in the urban centres across India, and strikes were organised. In 1920, the All India Trade Union Congress was founded. S. A. Dange of Bombay published a pamphlet in 1921 titled ''Gandhi Vs. Lenin'', a comparative study of the approaches of both the leaders with Lenin coming out as better of the two. Together with Ranchoddas Bhavan Lotvala, a local mill-owner, a library of Marxist Literature was set up and publishing of translations of Marxist classics began. In 1922, with Lotvala's help, Dange launched the English weekly, ''Socialist'', the first Indian Marxist journal.

The 1924 second congress of the Communist International insisted that a united front should be formed between the proletariat, peasantry and national bourgeoisie in colonised countries. Among the twenty-one conditions drafted by Lenin ahead of the congress was the 11th thesis, which stipulated that all communist parties must support the bourgeois-democratic liberation movements in the colonies. Some of the delegates opposed the idea of alliance with the bourgeoisie, and preferred support to communist movements of these countries instead. Their criticism was shared by the Indian revolutionary M.N. Roy, who attended as a delegate of the Communist Party of Mexico. The congress removed the term 'bourgeois-democratic' in what became the 8th condition.

During the 1920s and the early 1930s the Communist Party existed but was badly organised, and in practice there were several communist groups working with limited national coordination. The British colonial authorities had banned all communist activity, which made the task of building a united party very difficult. A Communist Group was founded in Tashkent on 17 October 1920, soon after the Second Congress of the Communist International by M.N. Roy. Roy made contacts with Anushilan and Jugantar groups in Bengal. Small communist groups were formed in Bombay (led by S.A. Dange), Madras (led by Singaravelu Chettiar), United Provinces (led by Shaukat Usmani), Punjab, Sindh (led by Ghulam Hussain) and Bengal (led by Muzaffar Ahmed).

On 1 May 1923 the Labour Kisan Party of Hindustan was founded in Madras, by Singaravelu Chettiar. The LKPH organised the first May Day celebration in India, and this was also the first time the red flag was used in India.M.V.S. Koteswara Rao. ''Communist Parties and United Front – Experience in Kerala and West Bengal''. Hyderabad: Prajasakti Book House, 2003. p. 110

On 26 December 1925,The Communist Party of India formed at the first Party Conference in Kanpur, then ''Cawnpore''. S.V. Ghate was the first General Secretary of CPI. The conference held on 1925 December 25 to 28. Colonial authorities estimated that 500 persons took part in the conference. The conference was convened by a man called Satyabhakta, of whom little is known. Satyabhakta is said to have argued for a 'national communism' and against subordination under Comintern. Being outvoted by the other delegates, Satyabhakta left both the conference venue in protest. The conference adopted the name 'Communist Party of India'. Groups such as LKPH dissolved into the CPI. The émigré CPI, which probably had little organic character, was substituted by the organisation now operating inside India.

Participation in Indian Independence movement

Between 1921 and 1924 there were three conspiracy trials against the communist movement; First Peshawar Conspiracy Case, Meerut Conspiracy Case and the Kanpur Bolshevik Conspiracy Case. In the first three cases, Russian-trained muhajir communists were put on trial. However, the Cawnpore trial had more political impact. On 17 March 1923, Shripad Amrit Dange, M.N. Roy, Muzaffar Ahmed, Nalini Gupta, Shaukat Usmani, Singaravelu Chettiar, Ghulam Hussain and R.C. Sharma were charged, in Cawnpore (now spelt Kanpur) Bolshevik Conspiracy case. The specific pip charge was that they as communists were seeking "to deprive the King Emperor of his sovereignty of British India, by complete separation of India from Britain by a violent revolution." Pages of newspapers daily splashed sensational communist plans and people for the first time learned, on such a large scale, about communism and its doctrines and the aims of the Communist International in India.Ralhan, O.P. (ed.) ''Encyclopedia of Political Parties'' New Delhi: Anmol Publications p. 336, Rao. p. 89-91.

Communist political parties

, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (abbreviated CPI(M)) is the largest communist party in India. The party emerged from a split from the Communist Party of India in 1964. The CPI(M) was formed at the Seventh Congress of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) held in Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) from 31 October to 7 November 1964. Land reform movement in India led by CPI(M) leaders Benoy Choudhury and Hare Krishna Konar which threatened the interests of the landowning middle/backward castes that supported the Communist Party of India (Marxist). As of 2021, CPI(M) is leading the state government in Kerala and having elected members in 7 state legislative assemblies including Kerala, Tripura, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan. It also leads the West Bengal Left Front. As of 2016, CPI(M) claimed to have 1,048,678 members. It is one of the eight National Parties of india. The highest body of the party is the Politburo. There are a large number of smaller Marxist parties, including the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist), Marxist Communist Party of India, Marxist Coordination Committee in Jharkhand, Forward Bloc in Bengal, Janathipathiya Samrakshana Samithy, Communist Marxist Party and BTR-EMS-AKG Janakeeya Vedi in Kerala, Mazdoor Mukti (Workers' Emancipation) and Party of Democratic Socialism in West Bengal, Janganotantrik Morcha in Tripura, the Ram Pasla group in Punjab, and the Orissa Communist Party in Orissa.

The Communist Party of India (Maoist) is a Maoist communist party in India which aims to overthrow the government of India through people's war. It was founded on 21 September 2004, through the merger of the Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) People's War (People's War Group), and the Maoist Communist Centre of India (MCCI). The merger was announced on 14 October the same year. In the merger a provisional central committee was constituted, with the erstwhile People's War Group leader Muppala Lakshmana Rao, alias "Ganapathi", as general secretary. Further, on May Day 2014, the Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Naxalbari merged into the CPI (Maoist). The CPI (Maoist) are often referred to as the intellectuals in reference to the Naxalbari insurrection conducted by radical Maoists in West Bengal in 1967. CPI (Maoist) is designated as a terrorist organisation in India under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

Ultra-communist insurgency

The Naxalite–Maoist insurgencyDeaths in Naxal attacks down by 21%
Times Of India. 26 Sept 021. is an ongoing conflict refers to the underground activities and insurgency by Maoist groups (known as Naxalites or Naxals) like Communist Party of India (Maoist). The Maoist parties has been designated as a terrorist organisation in India under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act since 2009. The naxalites affected areas are called the Red corridor, which has been steadily declining in terms of geographical coverage and number of violent incidents, and in 2021 it was confined to the 25 "most affected" locations (accounting for 85% of LWE violence) and 70 "total affected" districts (down from 180 in 2009) across 10 states in two coal-rich, remote, forested hilly clusters in and around the Dandakaranya- Chhattisgarh-Odisha region and the tri-junction area of Jharkhand-Bihar and-West Bengal. However, some parts of the Red Corridor have also seen growth of Maoist insurgency in recent times, such as in the Kanha Tiger Reserve. The Naxalites have frequently targeted tribal, police and government workers in what they say is a fight for improved land rights and more jobs for neglected agricultural labourers and the poor.

See also

* Communism in Kerala
*Socialism in India
* Naxalite
*Anti-communism in India
* Communist involvement in the Indian independence movement
* China–India relations
*Sino-Indian War
*List of communist parties in India

References

{{Asia topic, Communism in

Maoism in India
Far-left politics in India