Communist Consolidation (19351938) was a radical

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

organization, founded by the prisoners of the Cellular Jail who got influenced by the philosophy of

Marxism Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflict, ...

. In the mid-1930s, it became the largest resistance group against

British rule The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or dire ...

in the jail; this organization also led the historical 36-day

hunger strike A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance where participants fasting, fast as an act of political protest, usually with the objective of achieving a specific goal, such as a policy change. Hunger strikers that do not take fluids are ...

in 1937, where the British government had to bow before the demands of the political prisoners and shift them to the mainland.

History (before 1935)

The history of Communist Consolidation starts before its official formation in 1935. On 12 May 1933, some of the prisoners of Cellular Jail gathered and started a

, causing the deaths of Mahavir Singh, Mohan Kishore Namadas, and Mohit Moitra. The

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

acceded to the demands of the freedom fighters to stop the hunger strike, and finally, after 46 days, the hunger strike ended on 26 June 1933.

Formation in 1935

In 1935, Communist Consolidation was founded by 39 inmates, but the main mastermind to form this group was

Hare Krishna Konar Hare Krishna Konar (ISO 15919, ISO: ''Harē Kr̥iṣṇā Kōṅār'', ; 5 August 191523 July 1974), also known as H. K. Konar, was an Indian Communist revolution, Marxist revolutionary, Agriculturist, agricultural theorist, peasant leader, and ...

. The majority of its members belong to the minority tendency of the

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

and

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

Jugantar Jugantar or Yugantar ( ''Jugantor''; lit. ''New Era'' or ''Transition of an Epoch'') was one of the two main secret revolutionary trends operating in Bengal for Indian independence. This association, like Anushilan Samiti, started in the g ...

part of

Anushilan Samiti () was an Indian fitness club, which was actually used as an underground society for anti-British revolutionaries. In the first quarter of the 20th century it supported revolutionary violence as the means for ending British rule in India. The ...

. Although this was a secret revolutionary group, the members of this organization swelled higher and higher. They started a study circle named ''"A Veritable University of Freedom Fighters"'' and this group also started to teach about the principles of

Socialism Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

, and

Communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...

, explaining how the

October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...

happened, who was

Karl Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...

and

Friedrich Engels Friedrich Engels ( ;"Engels"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''.British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

as well as to fight for the working class and backward class people; they understood that class struggle is equally important as freedom. They only used the class struggle and political slogans “ Inquilab Zindabad” and “ Duniya ke Mazdooron, ek ho!” because they claimed that at first they were

nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

prisoners, but after the formation of the Communist Consolidation and reading about the principals of

, and

, they started believing themselves as political prisoners.

Second hunger strike

The long hunger strike movement in the Andamans in July and August 1937, led by the Communists, marked an important phase in India's national struggle. As nine-tenths of the total convicts in Andaman were from Bengal, the hunger strike of Andaman prisoners caused widespread outrage in Bengal, where a strong movement for the release of political prisoners began.

Prominent members

References

External links