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Socialism in IndiaFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Socialism in India is a political movement founded early in the 20th century, as a part of the broaderIndian independence movement against the colonial British Raj. It grew quickly in popularity as itespoused the causes of India's farmers and labourers against the zamindars, princely class and landedgentry. Socialism shaped the principle economic and social policies of the Indian government afterindependence until the early 1990s, when India moved towards a more marketbased economy.However, it remains a potent influence on Indian politics, with a large number of national and regionalpolitical parties espousing democratic socialism.
Small socialist revolutionary groups arose in India in the aftermath of the October Revolution in Russia.The Communist Party of India was established in 1921, but socialism as an ideology gained anationwide appeal after it was endorsed by nationalist leaders such as Jawaharlal Nehru and SubhasChandra Bose. Radical socialists were amongst the first to call for outright Indian independence fromBritain. Under Nehru, the Indian National Congress, India's largest political party, adopted socialism asan ideology for socioeconomic policies in 1936. Radical socialists and communists also engineered theTebhaga movement of farmers in Bengal against the landed gentry. However, mainstream Indiansocialism connected itself with Gandhism and adopted peaceful struggle instead of class warfare.
After India's independence in 1947, the Indian government under prime ministers Nehru and IndiraGandhi oversaw land reform and the nationalisation of major industries and the banking sector.Independently, activists Vinoba Bhave and Jayaprakash Narayan worked for peaceful land redistributionunder the Sarvodaya movement, where landlords granted land to farm workers out of their own free will.In the 1960s, the Communist Party of India formed India's first democraticallyelected communistgovernment when it won elections in the states of Kerala and later West Bengal. However, when aglobal recession began in the late 1970s, economic stagnation, chronic shortages and state inefficiencyleft many disillusioned with state socialism. In the late 1980s and 1990s, India's government began tosystematically liberalise the Indian economy by pursuing privatisation, aiming to attract foreigninvestment. Nevertheless, the Congress party continues to espouse some socialist causes, and othermajor parties such as the Communists, Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and several others openlyespouse socialism.
Contents
1 History2 Political parties3 See also4 References5 External links
History
The socialist movement began to develop in India with the Russian Revolution. However, in 1871 agroup in Calcutta had contacted Karl Marx with the purpose of organising an Indian section of the FirstInternational. It did not materialise.[1] The first article in an Indian publication (in English) that mentionsthe names of Marx & Engels printed in the Modern Review in March 1912. The short biographical
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article titled Karl Marx – a modern Rishi was written by the Germanbased Indian revolutionary LalaHar Dayal.[2] The first biography of Karl Marx in an Indian language was written by R. Rama KrishnaPillai in 1914.[3]
Marxism made a major impact in Indian media at the time of the Russian Revolution. Of particularinterest to many Indian papers and magazines was the Bolshevik policy of right to selfdetermination ofall nations. Bipin Chandra Pal and Bal Gangadhar Tilak were amongst the prominent Indians whoexpressed their admiration of Lenin and the new rulers in Russia. Abdul Sattar Khairi and Abdul ZabbarKhairi went to Moscow, immediately on hearing about the revolution. In Moscow, they met Lenin andconveyed their greetings to him. The Russian Revolution also had an impact on émigré Indianrevolutionaries, such as the Ghadar Party in North America.[2]
The Khilafat movement contributed to the emergence of early Indian communism. Many IndianMuslims left India to join the defence of the Caliphate. Several of them became communists whilstvisiting Soviet territory. Some Hindus also joined the Muslim muhajirs in the travels to the Sovietareas.[4]
The colonial authorities were clearly disturbed by the growing influence of Bolshevik sympathies inIndia. A first countermove was the issuing of a fatwa, urging Muslims to reject communism. The HomeDepartment established a special branch to monitor the communist influence. Customs were ordered tocheck the imports of Marxist literature to India. A great number of anticommunist propagandapublications were published.[5]
The First World War was accompanied with a rapid increase of industries in India, resulting in a growthof an industrial proletariat. At the same time prices of essential commodities increased. These werefactors that contributed to the buildup of the Indian trade union movement. Unions were formed in theurban centres across India, and strikes were organised. In 1920, the All India Trade Union Congress wasfounded.[6]
One Indian impressed with developments in Russia was S. A. Dange in Bombay. In 1921, he published apamphlet titled Gandhi Vs. Lenin, a comparative study of the approaches of both the leaders with Lenincoming out as better of the two. Together with Ranchoddas Bhavan Lotvala, a local millowner, a libraryof Marxist Literature was set up and publishing of translations of Marxist classics began.[7] In 1922,with Lotvala's help, Dange launched the English weekly, Socialist, the first Indian Marxist journal.[8]
Regarding the political situation in the colonised world, the 1920 second congress of the CommunistInternational insisted that a united front should be formed between the proletariat, peasantry and nationalbourgeoisie in the colonised countries. Among the twentyone conditions drafted by Lenin ahead of thecongress was the 11th thesis, which stipulated that all communist parties must support the bourgeoisdemocratic liberation movements in the colonies. Some of the delegates opposed the idea of alliancewith the bourgeoisie, and preferred support to communist movements of these countries instead. Theircriticism was shared by the Indian revolutionary M.N. Roy, who attended as a delegate of theCommunist Party of Mexico. The congress removed the term 'bourgeoisdemocratic' in what became the8th condition.[9]
The Communist Party of India was founded in Tashkent on 17 October 1920, soon after the SecondCongress of the Communist International. The founding members of the party were M.N. Roy, EvelinaTrench Roy (Roy’s wife), Abani Mukherji, Rosa Fitingof (Abani’s wife), Mohammad Ali (AhmedHasan), Mohammad Shafiq Siddiqui and M.P.B.T. Acharya.[10][11]
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Communist electoral mural inJadavpur
The CPI began efforts to build a party organisation inside India. Roy made contacts with Anushilan andJugantar 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 ShaukatUsmani) and Punjab (led by Ghulam Hussain). However, only Usmani became a CPI party member.[12]
On 1 May 1923 the Labour Kisan Party of Hindustan was founded in Madras, by Singaravelu Chettiar.The LKPH organised the first May Day celebration in India, and this was also the first time the red flagwas used in India.[13][14][15]
On 25 December 1925, a communist conference was organised in Kanpur. Colonial authoritiesestimated that 500 persons took part in the conference. The conference was convened by a man calledSatyabhakta, 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 boththe conference venue in protest.[16] The conference adopted the name ‘Communist Party of India’.Groups such as LKPH dissolved into the unified CPI.[17] The émigré CPI, which probably had littleorganic character anyway, was effectively substituted by the organisation now operating inside India.
Currently, Marxism is especially prevalent in Kerala, WestBengal and Tripura. The two largest Communist parties in Indianpolitics are the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and theCommunist Party of India. The RSP and Forward Block supportthem in some states. These four parties constitute the LeftDemocratic Front.
There are a large number of smaller Marxist parties, includingthe Communist Party of India (MarxistLeninist), MarxistCommunist Party of India, Marxist Coordination Committee in
Jharkhand, Janathipathiya Samrakshana Samithy, Communist Marxist Party and BTREMSAKGJanakeeya Vedi in Kerala, Mazdoor Mukti (Workers' Emancipation) and Party of Democratic Socialismin West Bengal, Janganotantrik Morcha in Tripura, the Ram Pasla group in Punjab, and the OrissaCommunist Party in Orissa.
Political parties
At the 1931 Karachi session of the Indian National Congress, socialist pattern of development was set asthe goal for India. Through the 1955 Avadi Resolution of the Indian National Congress, a socialisticpattern of development was presented as the goal of the party. A year later, the Indian parliamentadopted 'socialistic pattern of development' as official policy, a policy that came to include land reformsand regulations of industries.[18] The word socialist was added to the Preamble of the IndianConstitution by the 42nd amendment act of 1976, during the Emergency. It implies social and economicequality. Social equality in this context means the absence of discrimination on the grounds only ofcaste, colour, creed, sex, religion, or language. Under social equality, everyone has equal status andopportunities. Economic equality in this context means that the government will endeavour to make thedistribution of wealth more equal and provide a decent standard of living for all.[19]
Following independence, the Indian government officially adopted a policy of nonalignment, althoughit had an affinity with the USSR. The party's commitment to socialism has waned in recent years,particularly following the assassination of Indira Gandhi and her son Rajiv Gandhi. Elected in 1991, thegovernment of Narasimha Rao introduced economic liberalisation with the support of finance ministerManmohan Singh, the former prime minister of India.
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Communists were also active in the Indian independence movement and have played a significant role inIndia's political life, although they are fragmented into a multitude of different parties. Communistparties represented in parliament are: (statistics from 2004 General Elections) Communist Party of India(Marxist) (43 seats in the Lok Sabha), the Communist Party of India (10 seats), the RevolutionarySocialist Party (three seats) and the All India Forward Bloc (three seats). The former speaker of the LokSabha, Somnath Chatterjee, is a member of the CPI(M). Left Front parties remain an independent factionin the parliament critical of the policies of both the government and that of the mainstream oppositionparties.
Aside from the Congress and the Left Front, there are other socialist parties active in India, notably theSamajwadi Party, which emerged from the Janata Dal and is led by Mulayam Singh Yadav, the formerChief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. It has 5 seats in the 16th Lok Sabha.[20]
Noted Indian socialists include the founding leader of the All India Forward Bloc and the IndianNational Army Subhas Chandra Bose and the country's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
See also
SocialismIndian secularismCommunist Party of India (Marxist)Communist Party of IndiaList of political parties in IndiaPolitics of IndiaList of Communist PartiesMarxist historiographyCommunism in KeralaFabian SocietyEuropean socialism
References
1. M.V.S. Koteswara Rao. Communist Parties and United Front – Experience in Kerala and West Bengal.Hyderabad: Prajasakti Book House, 2003. p. 103
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
3. M.V.S. Koteswara Rao. Communist Parties and United Front – Experience in Kerala and West Bengal.Hyderabad: Prajasakti Book House, 2003. p. 82
4. M.V.S. Koteswara Rao. Communist Parties and United Front – Experience in Kerala and West Bengal.Hyderabad: Prajasakti Book House, 2003. p. 83
5. M.V.S. Koteswara Rao. Communist Parties and United Front – Experience in Kerala and West Bengal.Hyderabad: Prajasakti Book House, 2003. p. 8283
6. M.V.S. Koteswara Rao. Communist Parties and United Front – Experience in Kerala and West Bengal.Hyderabad: Prajasakti Book House, 2003. p. 8384
7. Riepe, Dale. Marxism in India (http://books.google.com/books?id=3Um04zTdisEC&pg=PA41&lpg=PA41&dq=bhavan+lotvala&source=web&ots=qd4iDEGXba&sig=1XQyAYo2LjhI9DDwXadjschhOBc#PPA41,M1) in Parsons, Howard Lee and Sommerville, John (ed.) Marxism,Revolution and Peace. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, 1977. p. 41.
8. Sen, Mohit. The Dange Centenary in Banerjee, Gopal (ed.) S.A. Dange – A Fruitful Life. Kolkata:Progressive Publishers, 2002. p. 43.
9. 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
10. M.V.S. Koteswara Rao. Communist Parties and United Front – Experience in Kerala and West Bengal.
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External links
Where We Stand, by Mazdoor Mukti
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Socialism_in_India&oldid=663460508"
Categories: History of socialism Political history of India Socialism in India Communism in IndiaSocialism by country
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10. M.V.S. Koteswara Rao. Communist Parties and United Front – Experience in Kerala and West Bengal.Hyderabad: Prajasakti Book House, 2003. p. 8889
11. Ganguly, Basudev. S.A. Dange – A Living Presence at the Centenary Year in Banerjee, Gopal (ed.) S.A.Dange – A Fruitful Life. Kolkata: Progressive Publishers, 2002. p. 63.
12. M.V.S. Koteswara Rao. Communist Parties and United Front – Experience in Kerala and West Bengal.Hyderabad: Prajasakti Book House, 2003. p. 89
13. :: Singaravelar – Achievements :: (http://www.singaravelar.com/achievements.htm)14. M.V.S. Koteswara Rao. Communist Parties and United Front – Experience in Kerala and West Bengal.
Hyderabad: Prajasakti Book House, 2003. p. 11015. 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
16. Satyabhakta then formed a party called National Communist Party, which lasted until 1927.17. M.V.S. Koteswara Rao. Communist Parties and United Front – Experience in Kerala and West Bengal.
Hyderabad: Prajasakti Book House, 2003. p. 929318. 662.PDF (http://www.cid.harvard.edu/hiid/662.pdf)19. http://indiacode.nic.in/coiweb/amend/amend42.htm20. http://eciresults.nic.in/