Mohit Sen
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Mohit Sen (born 24 March 1929, in
Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...
, and died in
Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...
on 3 May 2003) was a communist intellectual. He was general secretary of the
United Communist Party of India United Communist Party of India (UCPI), is a political party in India. It was formed in 1989 when Indian Communist Party (Sen), Indian Communist Party led by Com. Mohit Sen along with Com Ramesh Sinha, M. Kalyanasundaram, K.Manickam, D. Pandia ...
at the time of his death.


Early life and education

Sen was born into a progressive and westernised
Brahmo Samaj Brahmo Samaj ( ) is the societal component of Brahmoism, which began as a monotheistic reformist movement during the Bengal Renaissance. It was one of the most influential religious movements in India and made a significant contribution to ...
family. His father,
Justice In its broadest sense, justice is the idea that individuals should be treated fairly. According to the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the most plausible candidate for a core definition comes from the ''Institutes (Justinian), Inst ...
Amarendra Nath Sen, was a judge of the
Calcutta High Court The Calcutta High Court is the oldest High Court in India. It is located at Esplanade Row West, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal. It has jurisdiction over the state of West Bengal and the Union Territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. T ...
and his mother, Mrinalini Sen (née Sinha), was an eminent dancer. His paternal grandfather was an Advocate General of Burma. His maternal grandfather was Major N.P. Sinha, a member of the
Indian Medical Service The Indian Medical Service (IMS) was a military medical service in British India, which also had some civilian functions. It served during the two World Wars, and remained in existence until the independence of India in 1947. Many of its officer ...
and his mother's elder uncle was Lord Satyendra Prasanno Sinha, the first Indian Governor of
Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...
. On his mother's side he came from the ''
zamindari A zamindar in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semi-autonomous Indian feudalism, feudal lord of a ''zamindari'' (feudal estate). The term itself came into use during the Mughal Empire, when Persian language, Persian was the offi ...
'' family of
Raipur Raipur ( ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. Raipur is also the administrative headquarters of Raipur district and Raipur division, and the largest city of the state. It was a part of Madhya Pradesh before the state of Chh ...
in
Birbhum Birbhum district () is an administrative unit in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the northernmost district of Burdwan division—one of the five administrative divisions of West Bengal. The district headquarters is in Suri. Other impo ...
, a district in present-day
West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...
. He had five other brothers, the eldest of whom was Sh. Pratap Chandra Sen, a student of history at Presidency College, Calcutta, who rose to a high position in a mercantile firm in Calcutta in spite of remaining a closet communist. Mohit Sen had his early education at the
Presidency College, Calcutta Presidency University, formerly Presidency College, is a public state university located in College Street, Kolkata. Established in 1817 as the ''Hindoo College'', it was later renamed ''Presidency College'' in 1855 and functioned as a leadi ...
, where he was a student of Professor
Susobhan Sarkar Susobhan Chandra Sarkar (1900–1982) was an Indian historian. Background and education Sarkar, son of Suresh Chandra Sarkar, was born into a Brahmo family of Dhaka. He attended Dhaka Collegiate School, studied history at Presidency College, ...
. Later he studied at the
University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
, UK.


In communist movement

While in
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...
, in 1948, he joined the
Communist Party of India The Communist Party of India (CPI) is a political party in India. The CPI considers the Foundation of the Communist Party of India, December 26, 1925 Cawnpore (Kanpur) conference as its foundation date. Between 1946 and 1951, the CPI led m ...
(CPI) as a 'candidate-member'. Also in Cambridge he met and married
Vanaja Iyengar Vanaja Iyengar (died 2001) was an Indian mathematician, educationist and the founder vice-chancellor of Sri Padmavati Mahila Visvavidyalayam, Tirupati, in the south Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. She was one of the founders of the Andhra Mahi ...
, who became an eminent mathematician later, in 1950. After marriage the couple moved to the
People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
. Sen went to the
China International Communist School China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the second-most populous country after India, representing 17.4% of the world population. China spans the e ...
in Beijing between 1950 and 1953. After his return to India, Mohit Sen worked in the CPI central office in New Delhi and also for its publishing house during 1953–62. Later he became party organiser and teacher in
Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...
.


Political life

Mohit Sen arrived in India during a period when India had won her independence. The appraisal of the CPI at that time was that the country had not really got freedom, but was still a 'semi-colony' of Britain. The following words of
Jawaharlal Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru (14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat, and statesman who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. Nehru was a pr ...
, who was then prime minister, to visiting Soviet leaders
Nikolai Bulganin Nikolai Alexandrovich Bulganin (; – 24 February 1975) was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 1955 to 1958. He also served as Minister of Defense (Soviet Union), Minister of Defense, following service in the Red Army during World War II. ...
and
Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and the Premier of the Soviet Union, Chai ...
in 1955, aptly summarises the CPI's position then:
Until this year (1955) the Communist Party was saying that Indian people were not independent; they even opposed our National Day celebrations.... They also said that when they were in doubt about the right line of action, they had to get directions from the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
. Early in 1951–52, some principal leaders of the Communist Party went to Moscow secretly, that is without passports. They came back and said that they had got directions from Mr.
Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...
. At least this is what they said. The line then laid down was one of full opposition (to the Government) and, where possible, petty insurrections.
Mohit Sen stood for collaboration with
Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
for fighting against
imperialist Imperialism is the maintaining and extending of power over foreign nations, particularly through expansionism, employing both hard power (military and economic power) and soft power ( diplomatic power and cultural imperialism). Imperialism fo ...
forces. When the CPI split, and gave rise to a new party, the
Communist Party of India The Communist Party of India (CPI) is a political party in India. The CPI considers the Foundation of the Communist Party of India, December 26, 1925 Cawnpore (Kanpur) conference as its foundation date. Between 1946 and 1951, the CPI led m ...
, Sen remained with the original CPI, under chairmanship of S.A. Dange, which was following nationalist line. He became a national council member of CPI in 1966 and was elected to party central executive committee in 1971. Sen parted ways with the CPI, following its anti-Congress stand, in 1978, following
Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and stateswoman who served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India from 1966 to 1977 and again from 1980 un ...
's emergency and subsequent failure in the election. In 1985, Sen joined the
Indian Communist Party The Indian Communist Party was a small communist group in India, led by U. Krishnappa from Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, for ...
and when it merged with the
All India Communist Party The All India Communist Party (AICP) was a communist party in India. It was formed after a split in the Communist Party of India in 1980, by a section of CPI cadres dissatisfied with the political changes that occurred during the 1978 Bhatinda conf ...
in 1988 to become
United Communist Party of India United Communist Party of India (UCPI), is a political party in India. It was formed in 1989 when Indian Communist Party (Sen), Indian Communist Party led by Com. Mohit Sen along with Com Ramesh Sinha, M. Kalyanasundaram, K.Manickam, D. Pandia ...
, Sen became its general secretary, a post he held for 15 years till his death. He was married to Vanaja Iyengar, a mathematician,
Padma Shri The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...
awardee and founder vice chancellor of
Sri Padmavati Mahila Visvavidyalayam Sri Padmavati Mahila Visvavidyalayam (Sri Padmavati University) is a women's university in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, India. It was established as a state university by the Andhra Pradesh legislature in 1983 to provide Higher Education in general ...
and at the time of his death, Sen, 74, was a widower and had no children.


Writer

Sen was a prolific writer; credited to him are following books: * ''Revolution in India — Problems and Perspectives'' * ''Glimpses of the History of the Communist movement in India'' * ''Maoism and Chinese Revolution'' * ''Congress and socialism'' * ''Naxalites and the Communists'', and * ''A Traveller And The Road: A Journey Of An Indian Communist''.


''A Traveller and the Road: A Journey of an Indian Communist''

He published his autobiography ''A Traveller and the Road: A Journey of an Indian Communist'' in March 2003, few months before his death. The book brought out Sen's evolution as an independent leftist thinker.
Eric Hobsbawm Eric John Ernest Hobsbawm (; 9 June 1917 – 1 October 2012) was a British historian of the rise of industrial capitalism, socialism and nationalism. His best-known works include his tetralogy about what he called the "long 19th century" (''Th ...
, the historian, had opined about the book that :"… it is a most remarkable book, written with unremitting passion and love, with acute observation of those who gave their lives to the case, but with sceptical judgment. In my view no more illuminating first-hand book on the history of Indian Communism has been written, nor is likely to be written… India was lucky to enter independence with people as honest, as selfless, and as devoted to service of the people as he."


See also

* Indian Communist Party (Sen)


Notes


External links


Satchidanda Mohany: ''A Man called Mohit Sen
An obituary in The Hindu, Chennai.

A review of ''A Traveller and the Road: The Journey of an Indian Communist'' appearing in The Sunday Tribune, Chandigarh
Blog on Mohit Sen
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sen, Mohit 1929 births 2003 deaths Presidency University, Kolkata alumni University of Calcutta alumni Brahmos Politicians from Kolkata Communist Party of India politicians from West Bengal 20th-century Indian politicians