Socialism in India is a political movement founded early in the 20th century, as a part of the broader movement to gain Indian independence from colonial rule. The movement grew quickly in popularity as it espoused the causes of India's farmers and labourers against the zamindars, the princely class and the landed gentry. After independence and until the early 1990s, socialism shaped some economic and social policies of the Indian government, although they mostly followed the principles of dirigisme.[1][2] After this period, India moved towards a more market-based economy, though, India is officially declared a socialist state as per the constitution.[3][4]
In 1871 a group in Calcutta had contacted Karl Marx with the purpose of organizing an Indian section of the First International.[5] The first article in an Indian publication (in English) that mentions the names of Marx & Engels printed in the Modern Review in March 1912. The short biographical article titled Karl Marx – a modern Rishi was written by the German-based Indian revolutionary Lala Har Dayal.[6] The first biography of Karl Marx in an Indian language was written by R. Rama Krishna Pillai in 1914.[7]
Marxism made a major impact in Indian media at the time of the Russian Revolution.[citation needed] 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 affected émigré Indian revolutionaries, such as the Ghadar Party in North America.[6]
The Khilafat movement contributed to the emergence of early Indian communism. Many Indian Muslims left India to join the defense of the Caliphate. Several of them became communists whilst visiting Soviet territory. Some Hindus also joined the Muslim muhajirs in their travels to the Soviet areas.[8]
The colonial authorities were clearly disturbed by the growing influence of Bolshevik sympathies in India. A first counter-move was the issuing of a fatwa, urging Muslims to reject communism. The Home Department established a special branch to monitor the communist influence. Customs was ordered to check the imports of Marxist literature to India. A great number of anti-communistpropaganda publications were published.[9]
The First World War was accompanied by 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 buildup of the Indian trade union movement. Unions were formed in the urban centers across India, and strikes were organized. In 1920, the All India Trade Union Congress was founded.[10]
One Indian impressed with developments in Russia was S. A. Dange in Bombay. In 1921, he published a pamphlet titled Gandhi Vs. Lenin, a comparative study of the approaches of both the leaders with 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.[11] In 1922, with Lotvala's help, Dange launched the English weekly, Socialist, the first Indian Marxist journal.[12]
Regarding the political situation in the colonised world, the 1920 second congress of the Communist International insisted that a united front should be formed between the proletariat, peasantry and national bourgeoisie in the colonised countries. Among 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. 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.[13]
On 25 December 1925, the Communist Party of India formed at the first Party Conference in Kanpur, then Cawnpore.[18]S.V. Ghate was the first General Secretary of CPI. The conference held on 1925 December 25 to 28. 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 the conference venue and later the party in protest. Satyabhakta then formed a party called National Communist Party, which lasted until 1927. [citation needed] The conference adopted the name ‘Communist Party of India’. Groups such as LKPH dissolved into the unified CPI.[19] The émigré CPI, which probably had little organic character anyway, was effectively substituted by the organisation now operating inside India.
At the 1931 Karachi session of the Indian National Congress, socialist pattern of development was set as the goal for India. Through the 1955 Avadi Resolution of the Indian National Congress, a socialistic pattern of development was presented as the goal of the party. A year later, the Indian parliament adopted 'socialistic pattern of development' as official policy, a policy that came to include land reforms and regulations of industries.[20] The word socialist was added to the Preamble of the Indian Constitution by the 42nd amendment act of 1976, during the Emergency. It implies social and economic equality. Social equality in this context means the absence of discrimination on the grounds only of caste, colour, creed, sex, religion, or language. Under social equality, everyone has equal status and opportunities. Economic equality in this context means that the government will endeavour to make the distribution of wealth more equal and provide a decent standard of living for all.[21]
The Communist Party of India (CPI) is the oldest communist party in India. The CPI was founded in modern-day Kanpur on 26 December 1925.
All India Forward Bloc (Ruikar) was a political party in India, emerging out of split from the All India Forward Bloc.
The People's United Socialist Front was an electoral alliance in West Bengal, India, formed ahead of the 1952 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election. The front was composed of the Socialist Party, the Forward Bloc (Ruikar) and the Revolutionary Communist Party of India (Tagore).
The United Democratic People's Front was an electoral alliance in West Bengal, India, formed ahead of the 1957 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election. The front was composed of the Jana Sangh, the Hindu Mahasabha, the Revolutionary Communist Party of India (Tagore) and a section of independent Congress dissidents.
The United Left Front was an electoral alliance in West Bengal, India, formed ahead of the 1957 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election. The front comprised the Socialist Unity Centre of India, the Bolshevik Party of India, the Democratic Vanguard and the Republican Party.
The United Left Election Committee was an electoral alliance in West Bengal, India, formed ahead of the 1957 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election. The Committee consisted of the Communist Party of India, the Revolutionary Socialist Party, the Praja Socialist Party, the All India Forward Bloc and the Marxist Forward Bloc. The formation of the electoral alliance was announced at a mass meeting at Shahid Minar in January 1957.
The Price Increase and Famine Resistance Committee was a mass movement in West Bengal, India, formed in late 1958 by the Communist Party of India and other left groups, in response to the ongoing food crisis. The PIFRC led one of the most massive and militant political campaigns in the history of West Bengal. The PIFRC demanded total price controls, immediate redistribution of state lands and confiscations without compensation of excessive private lands owned by landlords. The tactics of PIFRC included scouting for hidden rice storages and forced sales of confiscated rice.
The United Left Front was an electoral alliance in West Bengal, India, formed ahead of the 1962 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election. A key issue that provoked various left parties to join hands was the prevailing food crisis in the state. The front comprised the Communist Party of India, the Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist), the All India Forward Bloc, the Marxist Forward Bloc, the Revolutionary Communist Party of India, the Bolshevik Party of India and the Revolutionary Socialist Party. The front won 74 seats out of 252.
The United Left Front was an electoral alliance in West Bengal, India, formed in December 1966, ahead of the 1967 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election. The front comprised the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Samyukta Socialist Party, the Socialist Unity Centre of India, the Marxist Forward Bloc, the Revolutionary Communist Party of India, the Workers Party of India and the Revolutionary Socialist Party. The front won 63 seats out of 280. After the election ULF merged with the People's United Left Front, forming the United Front. The UF formed a state government, dislodging the Indian National Congress for the first time in the state.
The West Bengal State Assembly Election of 1952 was a part of the series of Legislative Assembly elections in 1952. It was the first ever assembly election held in West Bengal.
Labour Kisan Party of Hindustan was a political party in India. The party was founded by Singaravelu Chettiar on 1 May 1923 in Madras. This was the first May Day celebration in India. This was also the first time the red flag was used in India.
The Workers and Peasants Party (WPP) (also known as the Kirti Kisan Party) was a political party in India, which worked inside the Indian National Congress in 1925–1929. It became an important front organisation for the Communist Party of India and an influential force in the Bombay labour movement. The party was able to muster some success in making alliances with other left elements inside the Congress Party, amongst them Jawaharlal Nehru. However, as the Communist International entered its 'Third Period' phase, the communists deserted the WPP project. The WPP was wound up, as its leadership was arrested by the British authorities in March 1929.
Communism in India has existed as a social or political ideology as well as a political movement since at least as early as the 1920s. In its early years, communist ideology was harshly suppressed through legal prohibitions and criminal prosecutions. Eventually, communist parties became ensconced in national party politics, sprouting several political offshoots.
The Bolshevik Party of India is an Indian political party in India. The party was founded in 1939. The party had a certain role in the trade union movement in West Bengal and was briefly represented in the state government in 1969. In later years the party has played a negligible role in Indian politics.
Legislative Assembly elections were held in the Indian state of West Bengal in 1962.
Legislative Assembly elections were held in Indian state of West Bengal in 1967 to elect 280 members to the West Bengal Legislative Assembly. United Front led by Ajoy Mukherjee won majority of seats in the election, and formed the first non-Congress government of the state.
Legislative Assembly elections were held in the Indian state of West Bengal in 1971. The assembly election was held alongside the 1971 Indian general election.
Shantaram Savlaram Mirajkar was an Indian communist politician and trade unionist. He was part of the old guard of the Communist Party of India, led the All India Trade Union Congress as its president for many years and served as mayor of Bombay.
The Communist Party of India is one of the oldest political parties in India. However within the Indian communist movement, there is a controversy on what date to consider as the foundation date of the party. The early history of the Indian communist movement was tumultuous and complicated. An Indian communist group emerged in Tashkent in 1920, led by M. N. Roy. From 1921 onward small local communist groups began to emerge inside India. A national communist conference was held in Kanpur in 1925. The efforts to build a Communist Party organization inside India were hampered by arrests and court cases against leading party members.
Communists were actively involved in Indian independence movement through multiple series of protests, strikes and other activities. It was a part of revolutionary movement for Indian independence. Their main thrust was on organising peasants and working classes across India against the British and Indian capitalists and landlords.
↑ M.V.S. Koteswara Rao. Communist Parties and United Front – Experience in Kerala and West Bengal. Hyderabad: Prajasakti Book House, 2003. p. 103
1 2 M.V.S. Koteswara Rao. Communist Parties and United Front – Experience in Kerala and West Bengal. Hyderabad: Prajasakti Book House, 2003. p. 82, 103
↑ M.V.S. Koteswara Rao. Communist Parties and United Front – Experience in Kerala and West Bengal. Hyderabad: Prajasakti Book House, 2003. p. 82
↑ M.V.S. Koteswara Rao. Communist Parties and United Front – Experience in Kerala and West Bengal. Hyderabad: Prajasakti Book House, 2003. p. 83
↑ M.V.S. Koteswara Rao. Communist Parties and United Front – Experience in Kerala and West Bengal. Hyderabad: Prajasakti Book House, 2003. p. 82-83
↑ M.V.S. Koteswara Rao. Communist Parties and United Front – Experience in Kerala and West Bengal. Hyderabad: Prajasakti Book House, 2003. p. 83-84
↑ Riepe, Dale. Marxism in India in Parsons, Howard Lee and Sommerville, John (ed.) Marxism, Revolution and Peace. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, 1977. p. 41.
↑ Sen, Mohit. The Dange Centenary in Banerjee, Gopal (ed.) S.A. Dange – A Fruitful Life. Kolkata: Progressive Publishers, 2002. p. 43.
↑ M.V.S. Koteswara Rao. Communist Parties and United Front – Experience in Kerala and West Bengal. Hyderabad: Prajasakti Book House, 2003. p. 48, 84–85
↑ M.V.S. Koteswara Rao. Communist Parties and United Front – Experience in Kerala and West Bengal. Hyderabad: Prajasakti Book House, 2003. p. 89
↑ M.V.S. Koteswara Rao. Communist Parties and United Front – Experience in Kerala and West Bengal. Hyderabad: Prajasakti Book House, 2003. p. 110
↑ Report of May Day Celebrations 1923, and Formation of a New Party (The Hindu quoted in Murugesan, K., Subramanyam, C. S. Singaravelu, First Communist in South India. New Delhi: People's Publishing House, 1975. p.169
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
