Beginnings of Socialist Movements

Beginnings of Socialist Movements

Inspired by the Russian Revolution of 1917 the Communist Party of India (CPI) was founded at Tashkent, Uzbekistan in October 1920.

M.N. Roy, Abani Mukherjee, and M.P.T. Acharya were some of its founding members.The M.N. Roy British government in India made vigorous efforts to suppress the communist movement by foisting a series of cases in the 1920s. In a further attempt to eliminate the threat of communism M.N. Roy, S.A. Dange, Muzaffar Ahmed, M. Singaravelar among others were arrested and tried in the Kanpur Conspiracy Case of 1924.

(a) Foundation of Communist Party

The communists used it as a platform to propagate their views and to expose the ‘true colour of British rule in India’.

In an attempt to form a party an All India Communist Conference was held at Kanpur in 1925. Singaravelar gave the Presidential Address. It led to the founding of the Communist Party of India in Indian soil. Their efforts eventually led to the establishment of the All India Workers’ and Peasants’ Party in 1928.

(b) Revolutionary Activities

The youths who were disillusioned with the sudden withdrawal of the Non Cooperation Movement by Gandhi took to violence. In 1924 Hindustan Republican Army (HRA) was formed in Kanpur to overthrow the colonial rule by an armed rebellion. In 1925 Ram Prasad Bismil, Ashfaqulla Khan and others held up a train carrying government money and looted in Kakori, a village near Lucknow. They were arrested and tried in the Kakori Conspiracy Case. Four of them were sentenced to death while the others were sentenced to imprisonment.

Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and their comrades reorganized the HRA in Punjab. Influenced by socialist ideas they renamed it as Hindustan Socialist Republican Association in 1928. Sanders, a British police officer, responsible for the lathi charge that led to Lala Lajpat Rai’s death was assassinated. Bhagat Singh along with B.K. Dutt threw a smoke bomb inside the Central Legislative Assembly in 1929. They shouted ‘Inquilab Zindabad’ and ‘Long Live the Proletariat’. He along with Rajguru was arrested and sentenced to death. Bhagat Singh’s daring and courage fired the imagination of the youth across India, and he became popular across India.

In April 1930, the Chittagong Armoury Raid was carried out by Surya Sen and his associates. They captured the armories in Chittagong and proclaimed a provisional revolutionary government. They survived for three years raiding government institutions. In 1933 Surya Sen was caught and hanged after a year.

(c) Left Movement in the 1930s

By the 1930s the Communist Party of India had gained strength in view of the economic crisis caused by world-wide Great Depression. Britain transmitted the effects of Depression to its colonies. The effects of Depression were reflected in decline in trade returns and fall in agricultural prices. The governmental measures included forcible collection of land revenue which in real terms had increased two-fold due to a 50% fall in agricultural prices, the withdrawal of money in circulation, retrenchment of staff and expenditure on developmental works.

In this context, the Communist Party, fighting for the cause of peasants and industrial workers hit by loss of income and wage reduction, and problems of unemployment gained influence and was therefore banned in 1934. The Congress, as a movement with a wide spectrum of political leanings, ranging from the extreme Left to the extreme Right, welded together by the goal of Swaraj, emerged as a powerful organisation. In 1934 the Congress Socialist Party was formed by Jayaprakash Narayan, Acharya Narendra Dev and Minoo Masani.

‘Real Swaraj will come not by acquisition of authority by a few, but by the acquisition of the capacity by all to resist authority, when abused.’ - M. K. Gandhi