History of Communist Party 1920-2020

The Second Congress – 1948

THE Second Congress of the Communist Party was held in Calcutta, February 28-March 6, 1948, five years after the first Congress. These five years were years of great trials and struggles for the Communist Party, years through which despite slander and opposition, despite brutal repression, it had grown in stature as a leading revolutionary force in India.

The Valiant Worli Revolt

THE basic cause of the mass upsurge of the Worlis lay in their abominable condition of wretchedness and their suppression by the tyrant landlords. They had rotted in these conditions for over a century – conditions they had thoroughly hated, but fear and helplessness suppressed their raging fire. They lived with bitter despair and were anxious to end their slavery, but did not know how to do it. The entry of Kisan Sabha led by the communists filled this gap.

The Saga of Punnapra-Vayalar

PUNNAPRA and Vayalar are two villages in the district of Alleppey (Alappuzha). The struggle of Punnapra and Vayalar was the resistance movement of peasants and agricultural labourers against the medieval oppression by landlords; coir industry workers against their employers, and for a responsible government, as against autocratic rule of the dewan of Travancore. The movement started in October 1946.

The Heroic Tebhaga Struggle

DURING the post-war period, late in 1946, the Bengal Provincial Kisan Sabha decided that a movement should be launched on the basis of the demand for the Tebhaga, that is to say, two-thirds share for the bargadar. Thus, while the discussions with the Cabinet Mission and other political developments were taking place, the tide of the Tebhaga movement in Bengal was rising high.

Working Class Upsurge – 1946

DURING the period of the Second World War, the number of industrial workers in India had increased by a little more than 50 per cent. After the end of the war (1945), workers expected that their condition would become better. On the contrary, their problems increased. The Communists, who were leading many of the unions and in the All India Trade Union Council (AITUC) stood in the forefront in taking up these issues and organising huge struggles.

Communists and the RIN Mutiny

THE growing nationalist sentiment that reached a crescendo around the INA trials developed into violent confrontations with British imperialism in the winter of 1945-46. Indian soldiers and young officers serving in the British armed forces in India were greatly influenced by these mass protests. A section of them were skilled professionals and hence were different from the earlier generation of Indians who had served in the British forces.

Communists and the National Question

HINDU and Muslim communalists considered India to consist of two nations – divided on the basis of the religious beliefs of people – Hindus and Muslims. It is for this reason that both Savarkar and Jinnah did not find any problem with the two-nation theory advocated by each other. When the Congress had given the call, ‘Quit India’ in 1942, Muslim League had called, ‘Divide India and Quit’.

Bengal Famine: In the Service of People and the Country

IN 1943, Bengal faced one of the worst famines in Indian history. Grave situation prevailed in Bengal, Orissa, Bihar and Assam. Hunger deaths, scarcity and failure of the official machinery defined this period. Food prices rose by 300 to 1,200 per cent. Food became unobtainable for common people. Food queues became a normal feature. According to news reports, nearly 125 million people were starving and many were eating locusts and leaves for their survival.

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