The Pakistan Communist Party was a short-lived splinter group of the

Communist Party of India Communist Party of India (CPI) is the oldest Marxist–Leninist communist party in India and one of the nine national parties in the country. The CPI was founded in modern-day Kanpur (formerly known as Cawnpore) on 26 December 1925. H ...

, existing for three weeks in the summer of 1947. The party was founded by Teja Singh Swatantar and Fazal Elahi Qurban. The party had a provisional

politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the executive committee for communist parties. It is present in most former and existing communist states. Names The term "politburo" in English comes from the Russian ''Politbyuro'' (), itself a contracti ...

consisting of Swatantar, Qurban and Dutt. On one hand, the PCP split represented dissatisfaction with the shift of the party line on the national question. In 1942 CPI had, in response to the demand for

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

, formulated a position which supported the notion of self-determination of nationalities. By 1947 this line had been reverted and the Muslim demand for Pakistan was now branded as a reactionary movement by CPI. Swatantar and Qurban argued towards the CPI leadership to retain support for self-determination of nationalities. The PCP was built on this position. The founders of PCP were also opposed to the new CPI line on

Kashmir Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...

. On the other hand, the launch of PCP was not only about disagreements on the issue of Pakistan and Muslim national self-determination. It also represented a revolt of the old

Kirti ''Kirti'' was a Punjabi monthly started by the veteran Ghadarite Santokh Singh in February 1926. It was purely a communist production, subsidized by the Ghadar Party in the United States. Within a few months, Sohan Singh Josh took over as the edi ...

- Ghadar revolutionaries against the CPI party hierarchy. On 22 June two central CPI leaders (

Ajoy Ghosh Ajoy Kumar Ghosh ( bn, অজয়কুমার ঘোষ) (20 February 1909–13 January 1962) was an Indian freedom fighter and prominent leader of the Communist Party of India. He was the general secretary of the Communist Party of ...

and B.T. Ranadive) had arrived in Punjab, supposedly to depose Swatantar as Provincial Party Secretary. A few weeks later, on 16 July 1947 the foundation of PCP was declared in a letter sent out to 40 communist parties around the world. The PCP split severely affected the CPI in Punjab at the time. The CPI leadership reacted strongly to the formation of PCP. On 18 July 1947 a letter was sent to all Party District Committees in Punjab, instructing them to denounce the PCP. Ghosh himself visited the western parts of Punjab, trying to dissuade local party branches from siding with PCP. Nevertheless, it was understood that more than half of the 2,293 CPI members in Punjab were supportive of the PCP. The PCP was mainly based in western Punjab. PCP appealed to CPI branches in the

North-West Frontier Province The North-West Frontier Province (NWFP; ps, شمال لویدیځ سرحدي ولایت, ) was a Chief Commissioner's Province of British India, established on 9 November 1901 from the north-western districts of the Punjab Province. Followi ...

Sindh Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...

and

Baluchistan Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western Asia, Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian S ...

to join the new party. In Sindh the group around Qadir Baksh Nizamani supported the PCP. Nevertheless, by the time PCP was formed Punjab was engulfed by communal violence in the days before the

Partition of India The Partition of British India in 1947 was the change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: India and Pakistan. T ...

. As riots raged, most Sikh and Hindu communist cadres in the western districts of Punjab left for India. This exodus left the communist movement on the verge of extinction in the lands that would soon form

West Pakistan West Pakistan ( ur, , translit=Mag̱ẖribī Pākistān, ; bn, পশ্চিম পাকিস্তান, translit=Pôścim Pakistan) was one of the two Provincial exclaves created during the One Unit Scheme in 1955 in Pakistan. It was ...

. PCP, whose leadership was predominantly Sikh, quickly became defunct.

References

{{reflist Political parties established in 1947 Political parties disestablished in 1947 Defunct communist parties in India Defunct political parties in Punjab, India 1947 establishments in India

See also

References