Moni Singh (); 28 June 1901 – 31 December 1990) was a preeminent Bangladeshi communist politician popularly known as ''Comrade Moni Singh''. He was the founder of the

Communist Party of East Pakistan The Communist Party of Bangladesh (, abbreviated: CPB) is a communist and Marxism-Leninism, Marxist–Leninist political party in Bangladesh. History After the Partition of India, partitioning of India in 1947, during the Second Party Congr ...

. Singh operated a guerrilla wing of the

Mukti Bahini The Mukti Bahini, initially called the Mukti Fauj, also known as the Bangladesh Forces, was a big tent armed guerrilla resistance movement consisting of the Bangladeshi military personnel, paramilitary personnel and civilians during the Ba ...

during the

Bangladesh Liberation War The Bangladesh Liberation War (, ), also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, was an War, armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Bengali nationalism, Bengali nationalist and self-determination movement in East Pakistan, which res ...

in 1971 and was an advisor to the

Provisional Government of Bangladesh The Provisional Government of Bangladesh (), popularly known as the Mujibnagar Government (); also known as the Bangladeshi government-in-exile, was the first and founding government of Bangladesh that was established following the proclamatio ...

Early life

Singh was born on 28 June 1901 in Susang-Durgapur,

Mymensingh district Mymensingh District () is a district in Mymensingh Division Bangladesh, and is bordered in the north by Meghalaya, India and the Garo Hills, in the south by Gazipur District, in the east by the districts of Netrokona and Kishoreganj and in ...

Bengal Presidency The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William in Bengal until 1937, later the Bengal Province, was the largest of all three presidencies of British India during Company rule in India, Company rule and later a Provinces o ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

(now

Durgapur Upazila, Netrokona Durgapur () (also referred to as Susang Durgapur) is an upazila of the Netrokona District in the Mymensingh Division of Bangladesh. Geography Durgapur is located at . It has 32,245 households and a total land area of 293.42 km2. It is bound ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

). He completed his secondary schooling in Kolkata. He joined

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 ...

in 1914. He left the Samiti and 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 ...

in 1925. His father was Kali Kumar Singh and grandfather was a zamindar. His mother was a member of the royal family of Susang Durgapur.

Career

Singh led of strike of workers of Kesharam Cotton Mills in Kolkata in 1928. He was imprisoned from 1930 to November 1937. After being released he moved back to Susang-Durgapur where he led peasants in protests against Tanka, a sharecropping in which the majority of the produced goods went to the landowner. In 1945, he worked as an organizer of All India Kisan Sabha in

Netrokona District Netrokona District () is a district of Mymensingh Division in north-eastern Bangladesh. Etymology The headquarters of Netrokona District was located at the end of the Mogra River and was called Natorkona. Many people believe that over a period o ...

. He led a protests of Hajong tribesmen against the Tanka system which became violent. An arrest warrant was issued against him and his properties were confiscated. Prior to the

partition of India The partition of India in 1947 was the division of British India into two independent dominion states, the Dominion of India, Union of India and Dominion of Pakistan. The Union of India is today the Republic of India, and the Dominion of Paki ...

in August 1947, Singh was a successful workers' leader who led movements to abolish exploitative labour practices. He was imprisoned for long stretches on three occasions: 1930–37, 1967–69, and 1969–71. He was first elected Communist Party of East Pakistan head in 1951, when Bangladesh was part of Pakistan, and led it with one short interruption until his death. After the

Sino-Soviet split The Sino-Soviet split was the gradual worsening of relations between the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) during the Cold War. This was primarily caused by divergences that arose from their ...

, Singh took the side of the

Soviets The Soviet people () were the citizens and nationals of the Soviet Union. This demonym was presented in the ideology of the country as the "new historical unity of peoples of different nationalities" (). Nationality policy in the Soviet Union ...

. Because of this, the party split in 1966. He was released after the 1969 Mass uprising. Singh fought in the Bangladesh Liberation war and was a member of the advisory council of the Mujibnagar government. He was elected President of the

Communist Party of Bangladesh The Communist Party of Bangladesh (, abbreviated: CPB) is a communist and Marxist–Leninist political party in Bangladesh. History After the partitioning of India in 1947, during the 2nd Congress of the Communist Party of India in Calcu ...

in 1973. In 1975, he joined the

Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League The Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League (), abbreviated as BaKSAL, was the sole legal ruling party of Bangladesh from January to August 1975. The party comprised politicians from the Awami League, the Communist Party of Bangladesh, the Na ...

government. After the

assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the first president of Bangladesh, was assassinated along with most of his family members during the early hours of 15 August 1975 by a group of Bangladesh Army personnel who invaded his Bangabandhu Memorial Museum, re ...

and the dissolution of Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League government, he revived the Communist Party of Bangladesh in 1976. He participated in the 2nd general election of Bangladesh in 1978 as part of the Democratic Alliance. He was elected President of the Communist Party of Bangladesh in 1980 and retained that post till his death. His autobiography, ''Jiban Sangram'' (1983), was first published in

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

before it was translated into English with the title ''Life is a Struggle'' (1988).

Death and legacy

Singh died 31 December 1990. He was awarded the Independence Day Award in 2004.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Moni 1901 births 1990 deaths People from Netrokona District Politicians from Mymensingh Division Pakistani politicians Bengali zamindars Indian trade union leaders Communist Party of Bangladesh politicians Recipients of the Independence Award Bangladeshi Marxists