- History begins:
100 years has elapsed after founding the Communist Party of India and the Communists of South Asia are commemorating the event of history and upholding the same oath with the same revolutionary zeal and aspiration of achieving the goal which it started with.
October 17 1920, is a historic day. 100 years ago, on this day, a group of seven people, M N Roy, Evelyn Trent-Roy, Abani Mukherjee, Rosa Fitingov, Mohd. Ali, Mohd. Shafiq and MPBT Acharya met in Tashkent, the capital of the then Turkistan Republic of the Soviet Union, to form the Communist Party of India. They were united in the idea of getting rid of the heinous British colonial rule over India and were all inspired by the October Revolution of 1917. Their aim was not only to free India from British colonial rule but also to work towards the establishment of Socialism in India.
Now today, it is a time to take the privilege to convey the heartfelt revolutionary tribute to thousands and thousands of revolutionaries who laid down their lives or sacrificed a lot through a long century for the cause of emancipation from the British Colonial Imperialist Rule, all kinds of exploitation, brutal tyranny and suppression and with a view to achieve an egalitarian socialist society.
When the history of the Communist Party in India is looked back, it is found that in the first two or three decades of its formation, the process was a confluence and convergence of several influences and revolutionary movements. Various revolutionary currents and fighters joined the party at different stages.
The Communist International with its headquarters in the Soviet Union also played a congruent and vital role.
The communist movement of India had to cross three different political phases during this 100 years of historical period. (1) Direct British Colonial Rule (2) After Partition in 1947. (3) Post Independence of Bangladesh ( i.e. after 1971), the present situation.
In the first phase, there was a common struggle against Imperialist colonial rule, communal forces and other exploiting classes for nearly four decades up to 1947.
From the very beginning of the occupation of the British East India Company in 1757, the people of India from different stratum started the struggle of resistance against the rule in various ways, never accepting the colonial rule. The rebellion of common people especially peasantry naming Fakir-Sanyasi started during the last decades of Eighteenth century and different other resistances continued all through Nineteenth century. The historic valiant fights were the peasant movement of Shahid Titumir (1828-32), Santal mutiny (1856-58), great Sipoy mutiny (1857-58), Indigo revolt (1858-70) and many others. In the period immediately preceding the formation of the Communist Party, mass movements were gathering momentum. Workers and peasants took part in mass meetings, strikes and demonstrations that increasingly took on an anti-British character. Between 1905 and 1918, peasants in many parts of the country opposed subscribing to the War Fund, refused to be recruited to the army and deserted the military training centers.
During this period, in the year 1920, coinciding with the formation of the Communist Party, as a result of the upsurge in working class struggles, the All India Trade Union Congress was formed in 1920. Communists started working within the trade unions and with their ideological commitment and practical activity, within a few years they soon emerged as the natural, popular leaders of the working class and the trade unions. The Communist work within the trade unions gave a big boost to the participation of the working classes in the national movement. Dissatisfied by the slow progress in the anti-British movement, many small revolutionary groups and secret societies also sprang up in several states including what is now Maharashtra and Bengal. These groups tended to adopt tactics like individual armed attacks, bombings, armoury raids ( as in Chittagong under the leadership of Master da Surya Sen), etc. in order to fight the British. That was also a heroic part of anti-colonial struggle.
- Communist Groups within India pioneered the demand for Full Independence:
Meanwhile communist groups were springing up in many places within India. They were active in bringing out publications, and organizing or participating in struggles of workers, peasants and various sections of the people. They were active participants in the non-cooperation movement led by Gandhi.
Under the leadership of S A Dange and other comrades in Bombay in 1923 formed an active group publishing a journal titled Socialist. Shaukat Usmani, who had studied in Moscow, formed a communist group in Varanasi. In Lahore, led by Ghulam Hussain, a communist group started work. They published an Urdu newspaper titled Inquilab.
Muzaffar Ahmed formed a group who included the great poet Kazi Nazrul Islam and also published a Bengali paper titled Ganavani in Calcutta. In Madras, Singaravelu Chettiar set up a group and started publishing the Labour Kisan Gazette. A few years later, in 1928, Amir Hyder Khan, an Indian revolutionary who was trained at the Moscow University of Toliers of the East returned to India. He also started working in South India and developed as a key organizer and over the years bringing in many young recruits into the Party. Among them was a student- P.Sundarayya. In fact, their influence was felt beyond and soon active communist groups sprang up in Kanpur and Karachi too.
MN Roy, with the help of the Comintern, sought to contact leaders of the various communist groups springing up in India. He wrote letters to SA Dange (Bombay), Muzaffar Ahmed (Calcutta), Singaravelu Chettiar (Madras) and others offering suggestions on how to form the party and organize activities.
The first impact of the formation of the Communist Party was seen within a year of its formation through its manifesto sent in the shape of an open letter to the Ahmedabad session of the Indian National Congress (INC) in 1921, and also subsequently to the Gaya session in 1922. The manifestos raised the demand for the complete independence, exhorting the Congress to take a firm and open position on this slogan. This was the first time that any significant statement for full independence from the British colonial rule was expressed.
The manifesto also urged the INC to radically alter its program to address the urgent issues of workers and peasants so that these sections would be roused and mobilized for the freedom struggle.
It exhorted the Congress to “make the minimum demands of the trade unions its own demands; let it make the program of the kisan sabhas (peasant unions) its own program; and the time will soon come when the Congress will not be stopped by any obstacle; it will be backed by the irresistible strength of the entire population, consciously fighting for their material interests”.
- Crackdown of British Government
The British rulers were acutely aware of these activities. They saw the ‘spectre’ of Bolshevism everywhere. So, it was not surprising that they would crack down on the fledgling party. It is the historical fact that from its inception for the most part of over two decades till India’s independence, the Communist Party had to face severe repression. It was declared illegal, its literature was banned, its leaders had to face arrest and extermination and had for the most part to work underground. British Government started Peshawar Conspiracy Cases in 1921, Kanpur Conspiracy Case in 1924, Meerut Conspiracy Case in 1929. In Kanpur case the accused were handed out four years of rigorous imprisonment. Unlike the Peshawar cases, the Kanpur case evoked solidarity and support both in India and in Britain. It became known to the people that communists were fighting for India’s freedom.
- Building Mass Struggles
After communist leaders were released from British jails, activities of the CPI picked up. After an important meeting of CPI leaders in Bombay in May 1927, they reiterated demands for complete independence, universal suffrage, abolition of landlordism, nationalization of public utilities, etc. May Day was observed across India at the call of the AITUC. This was the beginning of a process by which communists were prominent in the leadership of the AITUC in the coming years and were successful in ensuring more radical working class actions under the AITUC.
In this period, where legal work was being rendered almost impossible, communists were active in the formation of workers and peasants parties set up in the different States. Whole India experienced a rising Tide of Struggles within 1928-32.
The relentless and untiring work of communists, and the resurgent tide of the national movement (after the setback of withdrawal of Non-Cooperation earlier in the decade) contributed to 1928 witnessing a great wave of working class struggles. An official report recorded that between April 1, 1928 and March 30, 1929, “the total number of strikes were 203 involving no less than 506,851 people compared with 129 strikes in 1927-28 in which 131,655 people were involved. The total number of working days lost was 31,647,404 which is greater than the total number of working days lost in the five preceding years taken together.”
- Communist party banned in 1934
In December 1933, an all India conference of communists was convened in Calcutta in which the released Meerut leaders as well as those who had continued work outside met for a stock-taking. The Conference elected a provisional Central Committee, and adopted a Draft Political Theses which stressed the building of a centralized party to guide the movement and accepted that the national bourgeoisie had some contradictions with imperialism and considerable influence on the masses, something that earlier formulations were not admitting. With this, a new phase of struggles was inaugurated. Just a few months after the Calcutta Conference, the British government decided to once again crack down and declared the Communist Party illegal in July 1934.
- Communists fight against Communalism through Mass Struggles and Anti-Communal Campaign
A most significant contribution of the re-organized party was the manifesto on the communal problem issued in May 1926. Between 1922 and 1927, 112 communal riots broke out, leaving 450 dead and 5000 injured, as per official records. The last phase of the Non- Cooperation Movement, which had seen Muslims and Hindus unitedly fighting like never before, was poisoned by this division. It was prompted by the British, but many nationalist leaders walked into the trap. Madan Mohan Malaviya and Lala Lajpat Rai joined the Hindu Mahasabha
while many Muslim leaders joined the Muslim League. The legacy of the process is still continuing contaminating the political process.
- The process of Mass Organizations and Social Reform:
Armed with a new strategy and equipped with a more organized and disciplined party, the communists plunged into extensive work in different spheres. The outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 brought severe hardships to the people of India as the colonial rulers imposed a huge burden on them to finance the war effort. Hoarding, corruption and criminal policies led to the most tragic famine in many States. The Bengal Famine of 1943 was the worst. Millions died from hunger. Communists threw themselves into relief work and did whatever possible to help the starving people. In other parts of India, wage cuts, food shortages and increased work caused innumerable struggles to break out. These were met with repression. The Party despite being underground due to the ban, was in the forefront of organizing and leading these struggles while criticizingthe Congress for its compromising and opportunistic policies.
After the ban on the Party was lifted in 1942, the First Party Congress was held in Bombay from May 23 to June 1, 1943. The Party had 15,000 members at that time, 700 of whom were women. The number of party members continued to rise and reached 30,000 in 1944 and 53,000 in 1946. The first Party Congress was attended by 139 delegates of whom 13 were women.
Thus from the small group of communists who met in Tashkent to the first Party Congress 23 years later, through severe repression, arrests, and work in the most difficult circumstances, the communist party emerged as the champion of the working people as part of India’s struggle for freedom.
- Massive Struggles lead up to demise of British Colonial Rule:
The end of the Second World War in 1945, the defeat of fascist Germany and its allies and the victory of the Soviet Union saw a worldwide upsurge of people’s movements, with the revolutionary movements of China and Indo-China (Vietnam and neighbours) surging ahead and inspiring millions all over the colonial world, including India. The Communist Party and its affiliated organizations, led several heroic and historic struggles of the people as the sun set on British rule in India. They displayed their extensive and deep rooted work among peasants, workers and other sections of people and boldly raised before the country the path that should be taken for complete liberation. Even in these twilight years of the colonial rule, the British responded with ferocious repression and thousands lost their lives.
The Telangana People’s Revolt (1946-1951), Tevaga movement (1938-1950 ), Tanka ( 1942-1950 ) and Nankar movement ( 1949-1950 ), Punnapra-Vayalar Struggle (1946), Tripura Tribal’s Struggle, Surma Valley Struggle (1936-1948), Revolt of the Warlis, Maharashtra (1945-47) and RIN (the Royal Indian Navy ) Mutiny (1946) and many other struggles all over India made history for Indian working class, peasants and communist revolutionaries and depicted their contribution against the struggle of British Imperialist colonial Rule.
The British Imperialism quit the subcontinent in August, 1947 and handed over power to the Congress in India and to the Muslim League in Pakistan.
A new phase had begun with the handover of power to the ruling classes of India and Pakistan. The stage of a national united front chiefly directed against foreign imperialist rule was over.
- The second phase after the end of British rule in 1947: Partition of Indian communist movement
In the second phase, the communist movement of India started separately in the newly emerged countries in a new condition. Indian Communist Party was formally divided, one in India and another in Pakistan.
After the end of British Colonial Rule in 1947, the then East Pakistan, now Bangladesh also entered into some new and different political condition than West Pakistan. A new form and content of the struggle and movements evolved.
After the Partition of India, a section of young CPI members under the leadership of Sajjad Zahir established the Communist Party of Pakistan (CPP) in 1948. But there was a very feeble contact between East and West part due to huge distance between two wings of Pakistan. Party organization was formed in this east region of Pakistan in the decade of thirties of the last century and its roots were deepened into peasantry through many historic peasant movements. The Communist movement of this part inherited this heroic legacies.
The Pakistan ruling class continued with the policy of suppressing the communists almost throughout the whole period of Pakistan and in East Pakistan Party remained banned except for a brief period of United front and Awami League rule.
In West Pakistan, Sajjad Zahir was implicated in Rawalpindi conspiracy case and put into custody. After being free he was forced to leave the country and went to India and never allowed to return back.
In East Pakistan, most of the senior comrades was taken to custody or forced to leave the country to India. The leadership was replaced by younger generation, mostly coming from Muslim community, who were not much experienced. The area of Tanka, Nankar and Tebhaga movement was brutally attacked and suppressed by the Muslim League Government of East Pakistan. The uprising of Santal peasants of Nachol under the leadership of Comrade Ila Mitra was brutally suppressed. Comrade Ila Mitra was captivated, brutally tortured under custody and ultimately deported to India. The left line adopted in 1948 Congress of the party alienated party cadres from the people and the Central and Provincial Government of Pakistan took the opportunity to establish the lie of depicting the Communists as anti-state and anti-Muslim and used the communal feeling deliberately. They committed the Jail murder in the Khapra ward of Rajshahi Jail in 1950. 7 revolutionary comrades laid down their lives and many others were fatally wounded.
But even in this difficult situation the communists continued to attract the new generation of Pakistan who got dismayed within a year on the question of ‘Bangla’ as state language of Pakistan and full provincial autonomy. The communists also waged the struggle within and outside jail. They had to fight the communalism stems from ‘two nation theory’ upon which Pakistan was built. The historic Language movement was launched organizing the youths, basically students. As a result of these grim situations, as stated earlier, the communists decided to work within the Awami League (AL) and other popular organizations. Through this line of action the communists continued to unite the democratic and secular political forces in a united front against Muslim League which was culminated into the election of united front naming ‘Jukta Front’ in 1954. Muslim League was overwhelmingly defeated by the United front. The communist played an important role in this political struggle. They were pioneers in demanding full autonomy of East Pakistan and organized anti-imperialist movement against Pak-American military Pact and joining SEATO and CENTO which were formed at the behest of the Imperialism led by the USA.
All through this period, Communist Party worked within AL and then in the NAP after Moulana Bhasani resigned from AL and forming NAP on the question of foreign policy, full autonomy and joining SEATO and CENTO.
In 1956, East Pakistan Communist Party wanted to act as separate entity and a central committee was formed and a decision was taken to run the party activity accordingly. But soon, after Martial Law was declared in 1958, all political activity was banned. Some Party leaders started working underground and some worked remaining within the NAP.
The decade of sixty was the time of the resurgence of communist movement in East Pakistan through the heroic anti-martial law student movement, education movement and movement against communal riot. A huge number of young people was attracted to communist movement and party. But in 1962 the International Communist Movement was divided into two separate camps. The division of the International Communist Movement split the NAP and Communist Party of Pakistan. In 1966 the Communists were divided into ‘Pro-Peking’ and ‘Pro-Moscow’ factions.
By the end of 1967, the NAP itself also was divided into Pro-Moscow and Pro- Peking factions. All the mass organizations followed the same path and communist forces experienced a severe set back.
Despite this difficult situation, the communists took pioneering role in the upsurge of 1969 through which Ayub regime was overthrown, in organizing working class movement in Tongi, near Dhaka, Chittagong and Khulna. Many mammoth peasant rallies were organized under the leadership of Moulana Bhasani, which strengthened the momentum of national movement. The whole process paved the way for national liberation movement of 1971.
For this entire long period, the US Imperialism supported the Pakistani Military Junta’s two decades’ Rule and also the colossal genocide in 1971. Muslim League used the communal weapon all through and lethally during liberation struggle. The legacy of communalism still continues in forms and contents.
Through this long political fight and 9 month’s arduous arms struggle, the people of new emergent Bangladesh aspired for a new hope of ‘Nationalism, democracy, secularism and socialism’.
- The third phase: the emergence of Bangladesh and the role of Communists in liberation war
The Liberation war of Bangladesh in 1971 is a historic pivotal political incidence in South Asia. This historic event and the emergence of Bangladesh has paved the way for a new regional geo- political and economic polarization.
But unfortunately, for the communists the leadership of the national movement for autonomy, which soon turned into a movement for self-determination and finally for independence slipped out of their hands due to wrong tactics in political line due to their business in the debate in international communist movement. The bourgeois national leadership in the person of Bangabandhu Sheikh Majibur Rahman took the initiative of those movements and led the people to independence through a heroic 9 months of armed struggle of people. A portion of the communists of pro-Peking fraction, following Chinese line to the Bangladesh liberation struggle and Naxalite influence opposed the liberation struggle and alienated themselves from people and reality. But a significant part of them, was organized in ‘Jatiyo Mukti Sangram Samannoyo Committee’ participated in the liberation struggle. Many other groups also participated in different localities. The pro-Moscow communists also participated in the struggle on their own way.
The effort of ‘Jatiyo Mukti Sangram Samannoyo Committee’ was supported by the Communist Party of India (Marxist), but opposed by the Indian Government lest the initiative of liberation struggle may be snatched away.
Liberation struggle of Bangladesh in 1971 was an ordeal for the communist movement of this region. Although the communist movement of the then East Pakistan was fragmented, most of them played an important role in this arduous armed struggle for nine months.
- Post- liberation situation of Bangladesh:
The situation in new independent Bangladesh quickly changed. A new constitution was adopted in 1972, on four state principles of ‘Democracy, Secularism, Nationalism and Socialism’. The state structure of Pakistan was imposed on the newly born state. The country soon fell into abyss of corruption, loot, smuggling, nepotism and partisanship. The principle of secularism was misconstrued as anti-religion. Being a towering personality as the Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the un-parallel leader of liberation war, failed to unite all the pro-liberation forces, to restructure the devastated economy, to resist corruption and to give momentum to the economy. A great famine took lives of half a million people. People expected that they would be rewarded with a pro-people, friendly, earnest and honest political leadership, who will stand beside them to recover their irreparable loss they experienced in all aspects of life in liberation war. But they became to some extent disappointed. As ultimate action, the state Emergency was declared and immediate afterwards the constitution was suspended to introduce Presidential System. All the political parties were dissolved to be a National Party named ‘Bangladesh Krishak Shramik Awami League’[ (BAKSAL). Bangabandhu himself assumed the position of President. Though the new system was apparently welcomed, the strong undercurrent of opposition started to grow stronger day by day. The alienation it caused among the people helped the conspirators to hit.
The whole condition made a fertile bed for the imperialist forces especially for the US to intervene, to restore their lost ground. Backed and supported by CIA and Pakistan, as is revealed from the newly opened US and British official records, a group of Army officers brutally killed the Father of the Nation along with almost all members of his family. After assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on 15 August, 1975, as a matter of fact, the rehabilitation of anti-liberation rightist force started. The country went through a series of Coup and countercoup through which General Ziaur Rahman, a sector commander of the liberation war, consolidated his power. As Martial Law Administrator he amended the constitution and threw away the principle of Secularism and started to religionize the constitution. The condition initiates the process of re-emergence of rightist anti-liberation religious and communal fundamentalist forces and deep intervention of imperialist powers.
The process was institutionalized by another military ruler General Ershad in the decade of eighty to embed ‘Islam’ as state religion in the constitution. The definition of Socialism was changed to social justice. The nationalized industries, Banks were handed over to private ownership. The whole economy started to be dictated by the World Bank and IMF.
The decade of eighty was a decade of struggle against Ershad military rule. Through a process of united struggle of students, workers, middle class, democratic forces for a long decade, the Ershad military rule was usurped in 1990. The democratic system was reestablished. The Communists and the left political forces played an crucial and vital role in this long political struggle.
- Re-emergence of communist movement in Bangladesh and their role in the post independent political process:
After the emergence of Bangladesh, communist forces went through a process of reorganizing and restructuring. The workers Party of Bangladesh (WPB) is the outcome of this historic process. The positon of the left communists in liberation war under the banner of ‘Jatiyo Mukti Sangram Samannoyo Committee’ helped them to reorganize after the independence as the Communist Party of Bangladesh (Leninst), which was renamed as Workers Party of Bangladesh in 1980. The Workers party of Bangladesh took initiative to unite other left communist groups who reassessed their position regarding the liberation war. The process culminated into the present form.
The Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) was also a continuation of another stream which was so called ‘Pro-Moscow’. There were still other groups continuing. So, the struggle for unity of communist movement continued along with the struggle against Imperialism, communalism and other class enemies to achieve a true People’s Democracy containing the secular ingredients towards socialism.
Despite all set back, the communist forces in Bangladesh participated and organized all mass and class struggles during this long period with all heroic efforts and sacrifice as has been mentioned earlier.
The communist forces continued a relentless fight against reestablished rightist communal forces already turned into a new form of terrorism. Many young left wing students laid down their lives in this process. But unfortunately, ultimately the anti-liberation rightist forces came to power hand to hand with US backed right wing Political party BNP in 2001 election. The terrorist forces pervaded almost all arena of political and social processes. The lethal atrocities in the name of Bangla Bhai and other terrorist groups was patronized by the Government. The workers party of Bangladesh along with other pro-liberation political forces built up the resistance. The political process continued to form broader united front to fight out the rightist forces.
So, in the process of combating Imperialism and their natural allies the rightist religious forces through two decades, the communists took the major role.
- Present Condition of Bangladesh:
Though through a process of united movement, the democratic system could be reestablished, the penetration of global Neo-liberal Policy and Influence of WB and IMF in economy continues. The religionization of the constitution remains unchanged, although the four state principles have been reinstated. The religionization of the political process increased with the spread of fundamentalism which turned into Islamic Militant activities following examples of Taliban, ISIS and other international terrorist forms. Recently, some Islamic parties like ‘Hefajat E Islam’ along with others are putting political pressure on scrapping the education policy adopted in 2010, which espoused an secular education system, the women policy, the Ahmedia sect and insisting on introducing Blasphemy law as like that exists in Pakistan.
The whole process during these decades signifies that intermingling of imperialist neo-liberal intervention and rightist fundamentalism has become a new phenomenon that deserves special attention.
It is to be emphasized that the fight against imperialist intervention and rising fundamentalist forces have common ground for all the people of South India.
The imperialist encroachment in all countries of South Asia, both economically, politically and militarily has become a constant threat for peace and security, for economic emancipation of the people of these countries, for their independence and solidarity.
The steep rise of communalism and religious militancy is the common danger for each of these countries too.
The task before the communists of all countries of this region is huge. While waging their own struggle, it is urgent for all communist and left forces of South Asia to build a common platform to wage struggle together on the question of Imperialist design, communalism and religious fundamentalism. It is a necessary task also to help each other in building the fight of working class movement to free themselves from the chain of Imperialist onslaught and to establish a secular democracy towards Socialism in their own country in their concrete context.
The hundred years of struggle ushered the path, the dream still to follow and to achieve.