Chapt er24 TheRi seoft heLef t wi ng Introduction
A powerful left-wing group developed in India in the late 1920s and 1930s contributing to the radicalization of the national movement. he goal of political independence ac!uired a clearer and sharper social and economic content. he stream of national struggle for independence and the stream of the struggle for social and economic emancipation of the suppressed and the e"ploited began to come together. #ocialist ideas ac!uired roots in the Indian soil$ and socialism became the accepted creed of Indian %outh whose urges came to be s%mbolized b% &awaharlal 'ehru and #ubhas (handra )ose. *raduall% there emerged two powerful parties of the +eft, the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Congress Socialist Party (CSP). Impact of Russian Revolution
If the common people the worers and peasants and the intelligentsia could unite and overthrow the might% (zarist empire arid establish a social order where there was no e"ploitation of one human being b% another, then the Indian people battling against )ritish imperialism could also do so. #ocialist doctrines, especiall% /ar"ism, the guiding theor% of the )olshevi art%, ac!uired a sudden attraction, especiall% for the people of Asia. #ocialist ideas now began to spread rapidl% especiall% because man% %oung persons who had participated activel% in the 'on(ooperation /ovement were unhapp% with its outcome and were dissatised with *andhian policies and ideas as well as the alternative #waraist programme. #everal socialist and communist groups came into e"istence all over the countr%.
#tudent and %outh associations were organized all over the countr% from 192 onwards. 4undreds of %outh conferences were organized all over the countr% during 1925 and 1929 with speaers advocating radical solutions for the political, economic and social ills from which the countr% was su6ering. &awaharlal 'ehru and #ubhas )ose toured the countr% attacing imperialism, capitalism, and landlordism and preaching the ideolog% of socialism. he 7evolutionar% errorists led b% (handrasehar Azad and )hagat #ingh also turned to socialism. rade union and peasant movements grew rapidl% throughout the 1920s. #ocialist ideas became even more popular during the 1930s as the world was engulfed b% the great economic depression. 8nemplo%ment soared all over the capitalist world. he world depression brought the capitalist s%stem into disrepute and drew attention towards /ar"ism and socialism. ithin the (ongress the left-wing tendenc% found re:ection in formation of the (ongress #ocialist art%. Jawaharlal Nehru and Socialism
It was above all &awaharlal 'ehru who imparted a socialist vision to the national movement and who became the s%mbol of socialism and socialist ideas in India after 1929. he notion that freedom could not be dened onl% in political terms but must have a socioeconomic content began increasingl% to be associated with his name. 'ehru became the president of the historic +ahore (ongress of 1929 at a %outhful fort%. 4e was elected to the post again in 193; and 193. As president of the (ongress and as the most popular leader of the national movement after *andhii, 'ehru repeatedl% toured the countr%, travelling thousands of miles and addressing millions of people.
In his boos
ppression and imperialism, held at )russels, and came into contact with communists and anti-colonial ghters from all over the world. )% now he had begun to accept /ar"ism in its broad contours. he same %ear he visited the #oviet 8nion and was deepl% impressed b% the new socialist societ%. In 1925, &awaharlal oined hands with Su!has to organize the Independence for India +eague to ght for complete independence and ?a socialist revision of the economic structure of societ%. It was also not possible for the (ongress to hold the balance between capital and labour and landlord and tenant, for the e"isting balance was ?terribl% weighted@ in favour of the capitalists and landlords. 'ehru@s commitment to socialism found a clearer and sharper e"pression during 1933-3;. uring these %ears, 'ehru also emphasized the role of class anal%sis and class struggle. 'ehru developed a comple" relationship with *andhii during this period. 4e criticized *andhii for refusing to recognize the con:ict of classes, for preaching harmon% among the e"ploiters and the e"ploited, and for putting forward the theories of
trusteeship b%, and conversion of, the capitalists and landlords. In fact, 'ehru devoted a whole chapter in his Autobiograph% to gentl% combating some of the basic aspects of *andhian ideolog%. At the same time, he full% appreciated the radical role that *andhii had pla%ed and was pla%ing in Indian societ%. efending *andhii against his left-wing critics, /oreover, *andhii@s actions and teachings had ?inevitabl% raised mass consciousness tremendousl% and made social issues vital. And his insistence on the raising of the masses at the cost, wherever necessar%, of vested interests has given a strong orientation to the national movement in favour of the masses.@ 'ehru, therefore, did not favour the creation of an organization independent of or separate from the (ongress or maing a brea with *andhii and the right-wing of the (ongress. he tas was to in:uence and transform the (ongress as a whole in a socialist direction. And this could be best achieved b% woring under its banner and bringing its worers and peasants to pla% a greater role in its organization. And in no case, he felt, should the +eft become a mere sect apart from the mainstream of the national movement. "ormation of Communist Parties
Attracted b% the #oviet 8nion and its revolutionar% commitment, a large number of Indian revolutionaries and e"iles abroad made their wa% there. he most well-nown and the tallest of them was /.'. 7o%, who along with +enin, helped evolve the (ommunist International@s polic% towards the colonies. #even such Indians, headed b% 7o%, met at ashent in >ctober 1920 and set up a (ommunist art% of India. Independentl% of this e6ort, as we have seen, a number of left-wing and communist groups and organizations had begun to come into e"istence in India after 1920. /ost of these groups came together at Banpur in ecember 192C and founded an all-India
organization under the name the (ommunist art% of India <(I=. After some time, #.D. *hate emerged as the general secretar% of the part%. he (I called upon all its members to enroll themselves as members of the (ongress, form a strong left-wing in all its organs, cooperate with all other radical nationalists, and mae an e6ort to transform the (ongress into a more radical mass-based organization. he main form of political wor b% the earl% (ommunists was to organize peasants@ and worers@ parties and wor through them. he rst such organization was the #a!our$Swara Party of the Indian 'ational (ongress in )engal in 'ovember 192C. "ormation of %he &or'ers and Peasants Party
In late 192;, a (ongress +abour art% was formed in )omba% and a Birti-Bisan art% in unab. A +abour Bisan art% of 4industan had been functioning in /adras since 1923. )% 1925 all of these provincial organizations had been renamed the &or'ers and Peasants Party (&PP) and nit into an All India part%. All (ommunists were members of this part%. he basic obective of the s was to wor within the (ongress to give it a more radical orientation and mae it ?the part% of the people@ and independentl% organize worers and peasants in class organizations, to enable rst the achievement of complete independence and ultimatel% of socialism. he s grew rapidl% and within a short period the communist in:uence in the (ongress began to grow rapidl%, especiall% in )omba%. /oreover, &awaharlal 'ehru and other radical (ongressmen welcomed the s@ e6orts to radicalize the (ongress. Along with &awaharlal and #ubhas )ose, the %outh leagues and other +eft forces, the s pla%ed an important role in creating a strong left-wing within the (ongress and in giving the Indian national movement a leftward direction. he s also made rapid progress on the trade union front and pla%ed a decisive role in the resurgence of woring class struggles during 192-
29 as also in enabling in (ommunists to gain a strong position in the woring class. he rapid growth of communist and &PP inuence over the national movement was* however* chec'ed and virtually wiped out during 1929 and after b% two developments. >ne was the severe repression to which (ommunists were subected b% the *overnment. )% 1929, the *overnment was deepl% worried about the rapidl% growing communist in:uence in the national and trade union movements. It decided to strie hard. In a sudden swoop, in /arch 1929, it arrested thirt%-two radical political and trade union activists, including three )ritish (ommunists who had come to India to help organize the trade union movement. he basic aim of the *overnment was to behead the trade union movement and to isolate the (ommunists from the national movement. he thirt%-two accused were put up for trial at /eerut. he /eerut (onspirac% (ase was soon to become a cause celebre. #peeches of defence made in the court b% the prisoners were carried b% all the nationalist newspapers thus familiarizing lahs of people for the rst time with communist ideas. he *overnment design to isolate the (ommunists from the mainstream of the national movement, not onl% miscarried but had the ver% opposite conse!uence. It did, however, succeed in one respect. he growing woring class movement was deprived of its leadership. At this earl% stage, it was not eas% to replace it with a new leadership.
Separation from Congress
As if the *overnment blow was not enough, the (ommunists in:icted a more deadl% blow on themselves b% taing a sudden lurch towards what is described in leftist terminolog% as sectarian politics or ?leftist deviation@.
*uided b% the resolutions of the #i"th (ongress of the (ommunist International, the (ommunists broe their connection with the 'ational (ongress and declared it to be a class part% of the bourgeoisie. /oreover, the (ongress and the bourgeoisie it supposedl% represented were declared to have become supporters of imperialism. (ongress plans to organize a mass movement around the slogan of oorna #wara were seen as sham e6orts to gain in:uence over the masses b% bourgeois leaders who were woring for a compromise with )ritish imperialism. he (ommunists were now out to ?e"pose@ all tal of non-violent struggle and advance the slogan of armed struggle against imperialism. In 1931, the *andhi-Irwin act was described as a proof of the (ongress betra%al of nationalism. Einall%, the &or'ers and Peasants Party was also dissolved on the ground that it was unadvisable to form a twoclass
he situation underwent a radical change in 193C when the (ommunist art% was reorganized under the leadership of .(. &oshi. Eaced with the threat of fascism the #eventh (ongress of the (ommunist International, meeting at /oscow in August 193C, radicall% changed its earlier position and advocated the formation of a united front with socialists and other anti-fascists in the capitalist (ountries and with bourgeois-led nationalist movements in colonial countries. he Indian (ommunists were to once again participate in the activities of the mainstream of the national movement led b% the 'ational (ongress. he theoretical and political basis for the change in communist politics in India was laid in earl% 193; b% a document popularl% nown as the +utt$,radley %hesis. According to this thesis, the 'ational (ongress could pla% ?a great part and a foremost part in the wor of realizing the anti-imperialist people@s front.@ he (ommunist art% now began to call upon its members to oin the Congress and enrol the masses under their in:uence to the (ongress. In 1935, it went further and accepted that the (ongress was ?the central mass political organization of the Indian people ranged against imperialism.H At the same time, the part% remained committed to the obective of bringing the national movement under the hegemon% of the woring class, that is, the (ommunist art%. (ommunists now wored hard inside the (ongress. /an% occupied ocial positions inside the (ongress district and provincial committees$ nearl% twent% were members of the All India (ongress (ommittee. Socialist Party
he move towards the formation of a socialist part% was made in the ails during 1930-31 and 1932-3F b% a group of %oung (ongressmen who were disenchanted with *andhian strateg% and leadership and attracted b% socialist ideolog%. /an% of them were active in the %outh movement of the late 1920s. In the ails the% studied and discussed /ar"ian and other socialist ideas. Attracted b% /ar"ism, communism and #oviet 8nion,
the% did not nd themselves in agreement with the prevalent political line of the (I. /an% of them were groping towards an alternative. 8ltimatel% the% came together and formed the Congress Socialist Party (CSP) at ,om!ay in -cto!er /01 under the leadership of Jayapra'ash Narayan* 2charya Narendra +ev and 3inoo 3asani . Erom the beginning, all the (ongress socialists were agreed upon four basic propositionsJ that the primar% struggle in India was the national struggle for freedom and that nationalism was a necessar% stage on the wa% to socialism$ that socialists must wor inside the 'ational (ongress because it was the primar% bod% leading the national struggle he (# from the beginning assigned itself the tas of both transforming the (ongress and of strengthening it. he tas of transforming the (ongress was understood in two senses. >ne was the ideological sense. (ongressmen were to be graduall% persuaded to adopt a socialist vision of independent India and a more radical pro-labour and pro-peasant stand on current economic issues. his ideological and programmatic transformation was, however, to be seen not as an event but as a process. he transformation of the (ongress was also seen in an organizational sense, that is, in terms of changes in its leadership at the top.he (# was to develop as the nucleus of the alternative socialist leadership of the (ongress. his perspective was, however, soon found to be unrealistic and was abandoned in favour of a ?composite@ leadership in which socialists would be taen into the leadership at all levels. he notion of alternate +eft leadership of the (ongress and the national movement came up for realization twice at ripuri in 1939 and at 7amgarh in 19F0. )ut when it came to splitting the (ongress on a +eft-7ight basis and giving the (ongress an e"ecutive left-wing leadership, the (#
and that, in fact, there was at the time no alternative to *andhii@s leadership. 4owever, unlie &awaharlal 'ehru, the leadership of the (#, as also of other +eft groups and parties, was not able to full% theorize or internalize this understanding and so it went bac again and again to the notion of alternative leadership. he (# was, however, rml% well-grounded in the realit% of the Indian situation. herefore, it never carried its opposition to the e"isting leadership of the (ongress to breaing point. henever it came to the crunch, it gave up its theoretical position and adopted a realistic approach close to that of &awaharlal 'ehru@s. his earned it the condemnation of the other left-wing groups and parties Erom the beginning the (# leaders were divided into three broad ideological currentsJ the /ar"ian, the Eabian and the current in:uenced b% *andhii. his would not have been a maor weaness in fact it might have been a source of strength for a broad socialist part% which was a movement. )ut the (# was alread% a part, and a cadre-based part% at that, within a movement that was the 'ational (ongress. /oreover, the /ar"ism of the 1930s was incapable of accepting as legitimate such diversit% of political currents on the +eft. he result was a confusion which plagued the (# till the ver% end. he part%@s basic ideological di6erences were papered over for a long time because of the personal bonds of friendship and a sense of comradeship among most of the founding leaders of the part%, the acceptance of Achar%a 'arendra ev and &a%apraash 'ara%an as its senior leaders, and its commitment to nationalism and socialism. #everal other groups and currents developed on the +eft in the 1930s. •
/.'. 7o% came bac to India in 1930 and organized a strong group of 7o%ists who underwent several political and ideological transformations over the %ears.
•
•
#ubhas )ose and his left-wing followers founded the Eorward )loc in 1939 after )ose was compelled to resign from the residentship of the (ongress. he 4industan #ocialist 7epublican Association, the 7evolutionar% #ocialist art%, and various rots%ist groups also functioned during the 1930s. here were also certain prestigious left-wing individuals, such as #wami #ahaanand #araswati, rofessor '.*. 7anga, and Indulal Kagni, who wored outside the framewor of an% organized left-wing part%.
he (I, the (# and &awaharlal 'ehru, #ubhas )ose and other +eft groups and leaders all shared a common political programme which enabled them, despite ideological and organizational di6erences, to wor together after 193C and mae socialism a strong current in Indian politics. %he !asic features of this programme were J consistent and militant anti-imperialism, anti-landlordism, the organization of worers and peasants in trade unions and isan sabhas, the acceptance of a socialist vision of independent India and of the socialist programme of the economic and social transformation of societ%, and an antifascist, anti-colonial and anti-war foreign polic%. 2ppraisal of #eft 3ovement Causes for "ailure •
•
espite the fact that the +eft cadres were among the most courageous, militant and sacricing of freedom ghters, the +eft failed in the basic tas it had taen upon itself to establish the hegemon% of socialist ideas and parties over the national movement. It also failed to mae good the promise it held out in the l930s. his is, in fact, a maor enigma for the historian. he +eft invariabl% fought the dominant Congress leadership on wrong issues and, when it came to the
•
•
•
•
crunch, was either forced to trail behind that leadership or was isolated from the national movement. 8nlie the (ongress right-wing, the +eft failed to show ideological and tactical :e"ibilit%. It sought to oppose the right-wing with simplistic formulae and radical rhetoric. It fought the right-wing on slipper% and wrong grounds. It chose to tight not on !uestions of ideolog% but on methods of struggle and on tactics. he +eft also failed to mae a deep stud% of Indian realit%. ith the e"ception of &awaharlal 'ehru, the +eft saw the dominant Congress leadership as !ourgeois its polic% of negotiations as woring towards a compromise with imperialism an% resort to constitutional wor as a step towards the ?abandonment of the struggle for independence It constantl% counterposed armed struggle to nonviolence as a superior form and method of struggle, rather than concentrating on the nature of mass involvement and mobilization and ideolog%. It was convinced that the masses were ever read% for struggles in an% form if onl% the leaders were willing to initiate them. It constantl% overestimated its support among the people. Above all, the +eft failed to grasp the *andhian strateg% of struggle.
2chievements •
•
•
he +eft did succeed in maing a basic impact on Indian societ% and politics. he organization of worers and peasants, discussed elsewhere, was one of its greatest achievements. L!uall% important was its impact on the (ongress. >rganizationall%, the +eft was able to command in:uence over nearl% one-third of the votes in the All-India (ongress (ommittee on important issues. 'ehru and )ose were elected (ongress presidents from 193; to 1939. oliticall% and ideologicall%, the (ongress as a whole was given a strong +eft orientation.
•
he (ongress, including its right-wing, accepted that the povert% and miser% of the Indian people was the result not onl% of colonial domination but also of the internal socioeconomic structure of Indian societ% which had, therefore, to be drasticall% transformed. he impact of the +eft on the national movement was re:ected in the resolution on Eundamental 7ights and Lconomic olic% passed b% the Barachi session of the (ongress in 1931, the resolutions on economic polic% passed at the Eaizpur session in 193;, the Llection /anifesto of the (ongress in 193;, the setting up of a 'ational lanning (ommittee in 1935, and the increasing shift of *andhii 30C G he rise of the +eft- ing towards radical positions on economic and class issues.
