Communism in India: Unpublished Documents, 1935-1945

430 Pages·1976·43.088 MB·English

by  Subodh Roy

communism
in |
india
— Unpublished Documents
1935 — 1945
EDITED BY
SUBODH ROY
COMMUNISM IN INDIA
7
Unpublished Documents
1935—1945
EDITED BY
SUBCDH ROY
Selling Agents
NATIONAL BOOK AGENCY PRIVATE LTD.
CALCUTTA 700 012

~
© Subodh Roy
April, 1976
Publisher :
S. Roy
33 Alimuddin Street
Calcutta 700 016

Printer :
Samir Dasgupta
Ganashakti Printers Private Ltd.
33 Alimuddin Street
Calcutta 700 016
Selling Agents :
Nationa! Book Agency Private Ltd.
12 Bankim Chatterjee Street
Calcutta 700 012
Price :
Paper Back—Rs. 20/-; £ 150; $ 3°50
Hard Cover— Rs. 30/- ; £ 2°00 ; $ 4°50
PREFACE
The documents included in this volume cover the period from
1935 to 1945. The readers will find in these documents the
gradual growth and development of the Communist Party of India,
inspite of its being declared illegal by the British rulers, emerging
as a political force to be reckoned with not only amongst the
workers and peasants but also a section of intellectuals. Anda
centralised all-Indiao leadership came into being to guide and
co-ordinate the activities of the Party.
It is only an humble attempt of mine to place before the people
the available documents to help them analyse and come to an
objective conclusion regarding the events and their impact on the
Indian political scene, and the role of different political parties and
classes (though only in a nascent stage) that played an active role
in changing the political situation in India in alliance with the
progressive peoples of the world.
In this volume the readers will find the impact of Second World
War on the life of the people and the different political parties,
specially the Communist Party of India before and after Soviet
Union actively participated in the war against fascism. The
documents will explain the gradual transformation of communist
policy towards war and the communist support to war against
fascism was not against the Congress policy but only a carry
forward of the ideals of anti-imperialist and anti-fascist role of
Congress when Jawharlal Nehru actively championed the cause
of Republican Spain after Mussolini and Hitler started their
interventionsist war against the lawful government.
The gradual transformation of CPI policy has been elaborately
enunciated in ‘Jail Document" and ‘Policy Statement of the
Party”.
In this volume the readers will find Congress sending a Medical
Mission to China to help in the fight against the Japanese invaders
of that country, which evoked warm greetings from Mao Tse-Tung
and Chu Teh in their letters sent to Indian National Congress and
Communist Party of India.
It will be a day of real happiness for me if the documents can
be of some use to students of history and future historians to whom
all my labour is dedicated.
In these few lines | want to express my thanks to National
Archives of India for allowing and helping me to go through the
documents.
1 will be failing in my duty if f do not acknowledge my
gratitude to Sunil Basu, whe has very kindly and carefully gone
through the manuscript and but for whose help | could not bear the
burden. Others | should have named are many but they want to
be anonymous. ‘ ,
Lastly, | leave it to the readers of this volume to judge if the
labour | have undertaken has been worthwhile.
Calcutta,
14.4.1976 SUBODH ROY
CONTENTS
Year Pages
1935 1— 55
55— 76
1936
1937 76— 87
1939 87— 159
159—231
1940
231—249
1941
250—382
1942
383—410
1943
1944 wee All—412
we 412—419
1945
ABBREVIATIONS
A.LK.S. All-India Kisan Sabha
A.LS.F. All-India Students Federation
A.1.T.U.C.
All-India Trade Union Congress
GI.
Communist International
C.P.I.
Communist Party of India
C.P.G.B.
Communist Party of Great Britain
C.S.P.
Congress Socialist Party
LNG.
Indian National Congress
H.D.
Home Department
HM.
Home Member
M.L. Muslim League
Home/Poll/1935
eceee memDemSES
F. 7/6
VERY SECRET
Serial No. 103
Brief Note dated 8th May 1935 on the present
position of the Communist Movement in India.
The present phase of the Communist movement in India may be
said to date from the release some eighteen months ago of the
majority of the prisoners in the Meerut Conspiracy case. It will
be remembered that this case was launched in March 1929 in
consequence of the very grave situation which had been brought
about by the Communists in India, particularly in the industrial
centres in Bombay and Bengal. The institution of the case, which
removed from the scene all the capable and experienced leaders,
caused a serious setback to the communist movement. In the
years that followed continuous efforts were made by the Commu-
nist International to rebuild the system which had received so
shattering a blow, but these were frustrated as much by the
incapacity of those on whom the mantle of leadership had fallen
and the constant bickering between the various communist groups
as by the preventive measures of the authorities. Indeed, during
this period the stage may be said to have been occupied less by
the “official communist parties than by a powerful opposition
group led by the ex-Comintern leader, M. N. Roy. .
2. While they were still in jail, the opportunity was taken by
a number of the Meerut prisoners to draw up a comprehensive
report recommending an intensification of communist work in India,
and foreshadowing importatnt changes in Indian communist
tactics. The report was duly forwarded to Moscow for the appro-
val of the Communist International. Since the release of the
prisoners, many many of whom succeeded in re-establishing their
2 : COMMUNISM IN INDIA
position as leaders in different provinces, effect has been given to
a number of recommendations made in this report. Attempts have
been made to overcome factional jealousies existing between the
various communist groups and to build up a central body (known
as the Communist Party of India) with a subordinate branch in
each province. A certain measure of success has already been
achieved ‘in this direction, and, although in some provinces the
differences between rival groups persist, a Provisional Committee
of the Communist Party of India is actively functioning as a branch
of the Communist International in Moscow. Communist literature
is now being published in several provinces; this in the main
consists of reprodyction of articles from ‘International Press
Correspondence” and other Communist organs received from
abroad. Phillips Spratt, the British Communist, who was released
last October, promptly commenced an extensive tour of provincial
centres in an endeavour to establish the local branches ona
satisfactory basis: his activities has since been curbed by his
arrest and internment. The most recent development in the
movement has been an atiempt by the Bombay Communists to form
a “United Front’ with Roy group and the Congress Socialist
Party. ,
3. In March 1934 a comprehensive Communist thesis
prepared by Dr. -Adhikari, one of the ablest of Meerut convicts
was accepted by the provisional Central Committee of the
Communist Party of India. This thesis, which outlined the course
which the Communist revolution in India should take, was based on
the ‘Draft Platform of the Communist Party of India‘’, a notorious
document which was originally drawn up in Moscow, and
continually quoted in the Communist Press. It laid down that the
first step was to be the transformation of individual strike intoa
general strike; this was to be accompanied by a, peasant
campaign against the payment of rents, by a _ nationwide
agitation in favour of complete independence, and by the spread
of revolutionary propaganda amongst the police and the army;
the second stage was to be the overthrow of British imperialism,
the princes and landlerds by means of an armed insurrection. !n
accordance with the first of these aims strenuous efforts have been
made during the first year by the communists to foment industrial
disputes. A general strike of textile workers was started in
UNPUBLISHED DOCUMENTS 1935-45 3
Bombay in April 1934. The situation rapidly deteriorated and
murderous attacks were made on the police and the loyal workers,
which were only repulsed by resort to firing ; fourteen communist
ring-leaders were arrested and from then onwards the strike lost
its political significance. An attempt to follow up this strike with
a more or less general strike throughout India largely miscarried.
There is little doubt that the Communist strategy in Bombay and
elsewhere during these months was founded on the instructions
contained in a Communist booklet imported from Europe. A
Calcutta Dock workers’ strike which lasted three weeks took place
in November ; and preparations have since been under way for a
tailway strike throughout India which was to have taken place in
May, but owing to lack of support now seems likely to be post-
poned.
4. The situation brought about by these and other activities
of the Communists has had to be met by a series of prosecutions
under the ordinary law in many cases by resort to special Emer-
gency powers. Last July the Government of India issued a
notification declaring the Communist Party of India to be an
unlawful association and similar action has since been taken
againsta number of local communist organisations. The effect
of these measures has been to cause a considerable disorganisa-
tion in the Communist movement and to drive it underground.
5. It will be recalled that Meerut Conspiracy case established
to the satisfaction of Indian courts the close connection which
existed between the Communist International and Indian Commu-
nists prior to March 1929. There is ample evidence that this
felationship still continues and that the present Communist Party of
{ndia is working under the instructions of Communist International.°
Through the agency of the Communist Party of Great Britain,
whose increased participation in Indian Communist activity was
one of the recommendations made to Moscow by the Meerut
prisoners (c.f. paragraph 2 above), there has been in recent months
set up a network of machinery by which couriers of British
nationality are secretly sent at frequent intervals to India carrying
both instructions and funds from the Communist International in
Moscow. B. F. Bradley, the most practical of the Meerut prisoners,
who returned to this country just a year ago, and thereafter spent
some months in Moscow, is handling most of the secret Indian