Talk:Socialism in India

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bose, a source i've used in Forward Bloc and U. Muthuramalingam Thevar articles, argues that 1955 is the decisive year for Congress to declare itself socialist. I don't have the book with me at the moment, but will check it up later. --Soman (talk) 20:30, 4 January 2008 (UTC)

see [1], [2]. --Soman (talk) 15:04, 5 January 2008 (UTC)

Contents

[edit] Some material

(1964)CPI on the other hand, launched the idea of a United Front together with the Indian National Congress.[1]

Regarding the political situation in the colonized world, the second congress of the Communist International stipulated at a united front should be formed between the proletariat, peasantry and national bourgeosie in the colonial countries. Amongst 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. Notably 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.[2]

The sixth congress of the Communist International met in 1928. In 1927 the Kuomintang had turned on the Chinese communists, which led to a review of the policy on forming alliances with the national bourgeoisie in the colonial countries. The congress did however make a differentiation between the character of the Chinese Kuomintang and the Indian Swarajist Party, considering the latter as an unreliable ally but not a direct enemy. The congress called on the Indian communists to utilize the contradictions between the national bourgeosie and the British imperialists.[3]

The first article in an Indian publication (in English) that mentions the name of Marx & Engels was Modern Review in March 1912. The short biographical article titled Karl Marx – a modern Rishi was written by the Germany-based Indian revolutionary Lala Har Dayal.[4]

The first biography on Karl Marx, in an Indian language was written by R. Rama Krishna Pillai in 1914.[5]

In 1871, a group in Calcutta contacted Karl Marx, with the purpose of organizing an Indian section of the First International. It did, however, not materialize.[6]

Marxism made a major impact in India media at the time of the Russian Revolution. Of particular interest to many Indian papers and magazines was the Bolshevik policy of right to self-determination of all nations. 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 had an impact of émigré Indian revolutionaries, such as the Ghadar Party in North America.[4]

The Khilafat movement had a significant impact on the emergence of early Indian communism. Many Indian Muslims left India to join the defense of the Caliphate. Several of them became communists whilst being in Soviet territory. Even some Hindus joined the Muslim muhajirs in the travels to the Soviet areas.[7]

One one Indians impressed with developments in Russia was S. A. Dange in Bombay. In 1921, Dange published a pamphlet titled Gandhi Vs. Lenin, a comparative study of the approaches of both the leaders; but, 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.[8]. In 1922, with Lotvala's help, Dange launched the English weekly, Socialist, the first Indian Marxist journal.[9]"

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 build up of the Indian trade union movement. Unions were formed in the urban centres across India, and strikes were organized. In 1920, the All India Trade Union Congress was founded.[10]

On May 1, 1923 the Labour Kisan Party of Hindustan was founded in Madras, by Singaravelu Chettiar. The LKPH organized the first May Day celebration in India, and this was also the first time the red flag was used in India.

On December 25, 1925 a communist conference was organized in Kanpur. 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. [11] The conference adopted the name ‘Communist Party of India’. Groups such as LKPH dissolved into the unified CPI.[12] The emigré CPI, which probably had little organic character anyway, was effectively substituted by the organization now operating inside India.

The Communist Party of India was founded in Tashkent on October 17, 1920, soon after the Second Congress of the Communist International. The founding members of the party were M.N. Roy, Evelina Trench Roy (Roy’s wife), Abani Mukherji, Rosa Fitingof (Abani’s wife), Mohammad Ali (Ahmed Hasan), Mohammad Shafiq Siddiqui and M.P.B.T. Acharya.[13][14]

The CPI began efforts to build a party organisation inside India. Roy made contacts with Anushilan and Jugantar groups in Bengal. Small communist groups were formed in Bengal (led by Muzaffar Ahmed), Bombay (led by S.A. Dange), Madras (led by Singaravelu Chettiar), United Provinces (led by Shaukat Usmani) and Punjab (led by Ghulam Hussain). However, only Usmani became a CPI party member.[15] —Preceding unsigned comment added by Soman (talk • contribs) 22:04, 4 January 2008 (UTC)

Bhambhri argues that “…Mulayam Yadav has casteised socialism by equating it with the interest of upwardly mobile backward caste peasantry whose interests he defended and promoted as UP Chief Minister.”[16]

Between 1921 and 1924 there were four conspiracy trials against the communist movement; First Peshawar Conspiracy Case, Second Peshawar Conspiracy Case, Moscow Conspiracy Case and the Cawnpore 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 March 17, 1924, M.N. Roy, S.A. Dange, 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 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 imperialistic Britain by a violent revolution." Pages of newspapers daily splashed sensational communist plans and people for the first time learned such a large scale about communism and its doctrines and the aims of the Communist International in India.[17]

Singaravelu Chettiar was released on account of illness. M.N. Roy was in Germany and R.C. in French Pondicherry, and therefore could not be arrested. Ghulam Hussain confessed that he had received money from the Russians in Kabul and was pardoned. Muzaffar Ahmed, Nalini Gupta, Shaukat Usmani and Dange were sentenced for various terms of imprisonment. This case was responsible for actively introducing communism to a larger Indian audience.[17]. Dange was released from prison in 1925.


It looks like good stuff. Why don't you put it straight in the article?--Conjoiner (talk) 23:04, 4 January 2008 (UTC)
Well, not sure right now how to structure it at this point. --Soman (talk) 01:03, 5 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Anushlian/RSP

Copy-pasted from RSP page, but useful for this one:

[edit] Development of Anushilan Marxism

A major section of the Anushilan movement had been attracted to Marxism during the 1930s, many of them studying marxist-leninist literature whilst serving long jail sentences. A minority section broke away from the Anushilan movement and joined the Communist Consolidation, and later the Communist Party of India. The majority of the Anushilan marxists did however, whilst having adopted marxist-leninist thinking, feel hesitant over joining the Communist Party.[18]

The Anushilanites distrusted the political lines formulated by the Communist International. They criticized the line adopted at the 6th Comintern congress of 1928 as 'ultra-left sectarian'. The Colonial theses of the 6th Comintern congress called upon the communists to combat the 'national-reformist leaders' and to 'unmask the national reformism of the Indian National Congress and oppose all phrases of the Swarajists, Gandhists, etc. about passive resistance'. Moreover, when Indian leftwing elements formed the Congress Socialist Party in 1934, the CPI branded it as Social Fascist.[19] When the Comintern policy swung towards Popular Frontism at its 1935 congress, at the time by which the majority of the Anushilan movement were adopting a marxist-leninist approach), the Anushilan marxists questioned this shift as a betrayal of the internationalist character of the Comintern and felt that the International had been reduced to an agency of Soviet foreign policy.[20] Moreover, the Anushilan marxists opposed the notion of 'Socialism in One Country'.

However, although sharing some critiques against the leadership of Joseph Stalin and the Comintern, the Anushilan marxists did not embrace Trotskyism. Buddhadeva Bhattacharya writes in 'Origins of the RSP' that the "rejection of stalinism did not automatically mean for them [the Anushlian Samiti] acceptance of trotskyism. Incidentally, the leninist conception of international socialist revolution is different from Trotsky's theory of Permanent Revolution which deduces the necessity of world revolution primarily from the impossibility of the numerically inferior proletariat in a semi-feudal and semi-capitalist peasant country like Russia holding power for any length of time ans successfully undertaking the task of socialist construction in hand without the proletariat of the advanced countries outside the Soviet Union coming to power through an extension of sociaist revolution in these countries and coming to the aid of the proletariat of the U.S.S.R.

Anushlian marxists adhered to the marxist-leninist theory of 'Permanent' or 'Continuous' Revolution. '...it is our interest and task to make the revolution permanent' declared Karl Marx as early as 1850 in course of his famous address to the Communist League, 'until all more or less possessing classes have been forced out of their position of dominance, the proletariat has conquered state power, and the association of proletarians, not only in one country but in all dominant countries of the world, has advanced so far that competition among the proletarians of these countries has ceased and that at least the decisive productive forces are concentrated in the hands of the proletarians.'"[21]

By the close of 1936 the Anushilan marxists at the Deoli Detention Jail in Rajputana drafted a document formulating their political line. This document was then distributed amongst the Anushilan marxists at other jails throughout the country. When they were collectively released in 1938 the Anushilan marxists adopted this document, The Thesis and Platform of Action of the Revolutionary Socialist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist): What Revolutionary Socialism Stands for, as their political programme in September that year.[22]

At this point the Anushilan marxists, recently released from long jail sentences, stood at a cross-roads. Either they would continue as a separate political entity or they would join an existing political platform. They felt that they lacked the resources to build a separate political party. Joining the CPI was out of the question, due to sharp differences in political analysis. Neither could they reconcile their differences with the Royists. In the end, the Congress Socialist Party, appeared to be the sole platform acceptable for the Anushilan marxists. The CSP had adopted Marxism in 1936 and their third conference in Faizpur they had formulated a thesis that directed the party to work to transform the Indian National Congress into an anti-imperialist front.

During the summer of 1938 a meeting took place between Jayaprakash Narayan (leader of CSP), Jogesh Chandra Chatterji, Tribid Kumar Chaudhuri and Keshav Prasad Sharma. The Anushilan marxists then discussed the issue with Acharya Narendra Deva, a founder of CSP and former Anushilan militant. The Anushilan marxists decided to join CSP, but keeping a separate identity within the party.[23]

[edit] In the CSP

The great majority of the Anushilan Samiti had joined the CSP, not only the Marxist sector. The non-Marxists (who constituted about a half of the membership of the Samiti), although not ideologically attracted to the CSP, felt loyalty towards the Marxist sector. Moreover, around 25% of the HSRA joined the CSP. This group was led by Jogesh Chandra Chatterji.

In the end of 1938 Anushilan marxists began publishing The Socialist from Calcutta. The editor of the journal was Satish Sarkar. Although the editorial board included several senior CSP leaders like Acharya Narendra Deva, it was essentially an organ of the Anushilan marxist tendency. Only a handful issues were published.[24]

The Anushilan marxists were soon to be disappointed by developments inside the CSP. The party, at that the time Anushilan marxists had joined it, was not a homogenous entity. There was the Marxist trend led by J.P. Narayan and Narendra Deva, the Fabian socialist trend led by Minoo Masani and Asoka Mehta and a Gandhian socialist trend led by Ram Manohar Lohia and Achyut Patwardan. To the Anushilan marxists differences emerged between the ideological stands of the party and its politics in practice. These differences surfaced at the 1939 annual session of the Indian National Congress at Tripuri. Ahead of the session there were fierce political differences between the leftwing Congress president, Subhas Chandra Bose, and the section led by Gandhi. As the risk of world war loomed, Bose wanted to utilize the weaking of the British empire for the sake of Indian independence. Bose was reelected as the Congress president, defeating the Gandhian candidate. But at the same session a proposal was brought forward by G.B. Pant, through which gave Gandhi veto over the formation of the Congress Working Committee. In the Subjects Committee, the CSP opposed the resolution along with other leftwing sectors. But when the resolution was brought ahead of the open session of the Congress, the CSP leaders remained neutral. According to Subhas Chandra Bose himself, the Pant resolution would have been defeated if the CSP had opposed it in the open session. J.P. Narayan stated that although the CSP was essentially supporting Bose's leadership, they were not willing to risk the unity of the Congress. Soon after the Tripuri session the CSP organised a conference in Delhi, in which fierce criticism was directed against their 'betrayal' at Tripuri.[25]

The Anushilan marxists had clearly supported Bose both in the presidential election as well by opposing the Pant resolution. Jogesh Chandra Chatterji renounced his CSP membership in protest against the action by the party leadership.

Soon after the Tripuri session, Bose resigned as Congress president and formed the Forward Bloc. The Forward Bloc was intended to function as a unifying force for all leftwing elements. The Forward Bloc held its first conference on June 22-23 1939, and at the same time a Left Consolidation Committee consisting of the Forward Bloc, CPI, CSP, the Kisan Sabha, League of Radical Congressmen, Labour Party and the Anushilan marxists. Bose wanted the Anushilan marxists to join his Forward Bloc. But the Anushilan marxists, although supporting Bose's anti-imperialist militancy, considered that Bose's movement was nationalistic and too eccletic.[26] The Anushilan marxists shared Bose's view that the relative weakness of the British empire during the war should have been utilised by independence movement. At this moment, in October 1939, J.P. Narayan tried to stretch out an olive branch to the Anushilan marxists. He proposed the formation of a 'War Council' consisting of himself, Pratul Ganguly, Jogesh Chandra Chatterjee and Acharya Narendra Deva. But few days later, at a session of the All India Congress Committee, J.P. Narayan and the other CSP leaders pledged not to start any other movements parallel to those initiated by Gandhi.[27]

[edit] Foundation of RSPI(ML)

The Left Consolidation Committee soon fell into pieces, as the CPI, the CSP and the Royists deserted it. Bose assembled the Anti-Compromise Conference in Ramgarh, Bihar, now Jharkhand. The Forward Bloc, the Anushilan marxists (still members of the CSP at the time), the Labour Party and the Kisan Sabha attended the conference. The conference spelled out that no compromise towards the Britain should be made on behalf of the Indian independence movement. At that conference the Anushilan marxists assembled to launch their own party, the Revolutionary Socialist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) severing all links to the CSP. The first general secretary of the party was Jogesh Chandra Chatterji.[28]

The first War Thesis of RSP in 1940 took the called for "turning imperialist war into civil war". But after the attack by Germany on the Soviet Union, the line of the party was clarified. RSP meant that the socialist Soviet Union had to be defended, but that the best way for Indian revolutionaries to do that was to overthrow the colonial rule in their own country. RSP was in sharp opposition to groups like Communist Party of India and the Royist RDP, who meant that antifascists had to support the Allied war effort.

[edit] BJP?

"Even the BJP for some time had talked of Gandhian Socialism."[3] Anyone have any info on this? When was this? --Soman (talk) 15:21, 5 January 2008 (UTC)

L. K. Advani on Avadi resolution and socialism, in 2005; "The first one, in hind sight, was a case of what may be termed as ‘bad economics’. The second, incontrovertibly, is the worst case of ‘bad politics’ in independent India till date.

At the Avadi session of the AICC, the ruling party of the day adopted a resolution that committed India to follow the path of “socialistic pattern of society”, with the public sector occupying the “commanding heights of the economy”. The influence of the foreign mindset on this resolution apart, what Avadi did to stifle the productive potential of India in the decades that followed is now a widely recognized fact." --Soman (talk) 15:21, 5 January 2008 (UTC)

There is apparently a wikiarticle on this, Gandhian Socialism, but I reccon that this would not have been an exclusively BJP concept. --Soman (talk) 15:29, 5 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] 2004 Rajya Sabha discussion

"In 2004, a proposed bill to remove the word 'socialism' from the Representation of the Peoples Act was voted down in the Rajya Sabha."[29][30]

It would be very interesting to know the voting figure on this bill, but a google search I did gave no results. --Soman (talk) 15:26, 5 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Socialist movement in India, O.P. Ralhan

In November 1929 Jayaprakash Narayan (JP), a young Bihari who during his 7 years of studies in the USA had been recruited to socialism, returned to India.[31] JP met with Gandhi and Nehru, and exchanged political views with them. Narayan was recruited to the Congress, and attended the Lahore Congress session at which he came into contact with several national leaders.[32] Through Nehru, Narayan was appointed as the head of the Department of Labour Research at the Allahabad office of the All India Congress Committee.[33] During the Civil Disobedience Movement, Narayan took charge as Acting General Secretary of the Congress. He too, was soon arrested and jailed by the colonial authorities.[34] In Nasik jail, he got close contacts with other leading members of the freedom movement how were also inclined towards socialism; personalities like Masani, Lohia and Mehta.[35] At this point, Narayan was a convinced Marxist and saw the Soviet collectivizations of agriculture as a model for India to follow.[36] However, he could not reconcile himself with the denounciation of Gandhi by the CPI.[37] Narayan and Masani were released from jail in April 1934.[38] Narayan convened a meeting in Patna on May 17, 1934, which founded the Bihar Congress Socialist Party. Narayan became general secretary of the party and Acharya Narendra Deva became president.[39] The Patna meeting gave a call for a socialist conference which would be held in connection to the Congress Annual Conference. At this conference, held in Bombay October 22-October 23, 1934, they formed a new All India party, the Congress Socialist Party. Narayan became general secretary of the party, and Masani joint secretary. The conference venue was decorated by Congress flags and a portrait of Karl Marx.[40] In the new party the greeting 'comrade' was used.[41] Masani mobilised the party in Bombay, whereas Kamala Devi Chattopdhaya and Puroshottam Trikamdas organised the party in other parts of Maharashtra.[42] The constitution of the CSP defined that the members of CSP were the members of the Provisional Congress Socialist Party and that they were all required to be members of the Indian National Congress. Members of communal organizations or political organizations whose goals were incompatible with the ones of CSP, were barred from CSP membership.[43] Narayan organized the CSP relief work in Kutch in 1939.[44] On the occasion of the 1940 Ramgarh Congress Conference CPI released a declaration called Proletarian Path, which sought to utilize the weakened state of the British Empire in the time of war and gave a call for general strike, no-tax, no-rent policies and mobilising for an armed revolution uprising. The National Executive of the CSP assembled at Ramgarh took a decision that all communists were expelled from CSP.[45]

[edit] The Communist Party in Kerala, EMS

In July 1937, the first Kerala unit of CPI was founded at a clandestine meeting in Calicut. Five persons were present at the meeting, E.M.S. Namboodirapad, Krishna Pillai, N.C. Sekhar, K. Damodaran and S.V. Ghate. The first four were members of the CSP in Kerala. The latter, Ghate, was a CPI Central Committee member, who had arrived from Madras.[46]

Contacts between the CSP in Kerala and the CPI began in 1935, when P. Sundarayya (CC member of CPI, based in Madras at the time) met with EMS and Krishna Pillai. Sundarayya and Ghate visited Kerala at several times and met with the CSP leaders there. The contacts were facilitated through the national meetings of the Congress, CSP and All India Kisan Sabha.[47]

As of 1934 the mid-1930s, the main centres of activity of CPI were Bombay, Calcutta and Punjab. The party began extending its activities to Madras as well. A group of Andhra and Tamil students, amongst them P. Sundarayya, were recruited to the CPI by Amir Hyder Khan.[48]

P. Sundarayya was amongst the group of Andhra and Tamil students who were recruited to the CPI by Amir Hyder Khan.[49]

In 1936-1937, the cooperation between socialists and communists reached its peak. At the 2nd congress of the CSP, held in Meerut in January 1936, a thesis was adopted which declared that there was a need to build 'a united Indian Socialist Party based on Marxism-Leninism'.[50] At the 3rd CSP congress, held in Faizpur, several communists were included into the CSP National Executive Committee.[51]

[edit] Copied from the non-functional article Indian left

Major left parties:

CPI(M) splinter groups:

CPI splinter groups:

Forward Bloc splinter groups/Netajist groups:

RSP splinter groups:

Naxalite groups:

Others:

Alliances/Fronts: