JULY 8, 2014 marks the culmination of the birth centenary year of Comrade Jyoti Basu, one of the most outstanding leaders of the Left movement in India, the longest-serving chief minister in the country who led West Bengal for nearly a quarter century, and the last of the CPI(M) Navaratnas. These Navaratnas – and innumerable other veteran Communist leaders of that generation – made immense contributions and untold sacrifices during extremely difficult times for the building of the CPI(M) and the Left movement in India. On January 19, 2010, we witnessed the massive outpouring of over 10 lakh people on the streets of Kolkata for Jyoti Basu’s funeral. We saw the tremendous love and respect in the hearts of the people who, surmounting all the walls of religion, caste, language, province, age and class, thronged the streets to pay their last respects to Jyoti Basu. In today’s situation, with the BJP-RSS combine (which Jyoti Basu time and again publicly berated as a ‘barbarian’ force) in power at the centre, with an equally barbarian party like the Trinamul Congress (TMC) conducting unprecedented repression against the CPI(M) and the Left, and with the Left suffering a severe but temporary setback in the country, recalling the rich legacy of leaders like Jyoti Basu assumes even greater significance. UNCOMPROMISING ANTI-IMPERIALIST In 1930, when Jyoti Basu was just 16 years old, Surya Sen (Masterda) and his band of valiant freedom fighters attacked the British armoury at Chittagong. For this they were hanged by the British. These developments had a deep impact on the youth of Bengal. It was in the four year period from 1935 to 1939, when he was studying law in England, that Jyoti Basu ideologically became a staunch anti-imperialist. That was an explosive period in world politics. Mussolini in Italy, Franco in Spain and Hitler in Germany were the fascist dictators that had come to power. In these three countries, they had begun the persecution and elimination of Communists and other democrats. In Germany, the butchering of Jews had begun. The black clouds of the Second World War had begun to gather in the political sky. It was at precisely such a time that Jyoti Basu came in contact with Marxism and the British Communist Party. Georgi Dimitrov, general secretary of the Comintern, had stated in its Seventh Congress held in 1935, that, “Fascism in power was the open terrorist dictatorship of the most reactionary, most chauvinistic and most imperialist elements of finance capital.” Communists in various countries showed that they were the most effective fighters against fascism. In the Second World War, the Soviet people, the Communist Party and the Red Army led by Joseph Stalin were to break the back of Hitler and his fascism through an epic struggle that sacrificed 20 million Soviet lives out of the 50 million worldwide casualties of the War. All these experiences, buttressed by a rigorous study of Marxism, turned Jyoti Basu into an uncompromising anti-imperialist fighter. When he returned to India at the age of 25 in 1940 as a barrister, instead of practicing law, he became a member and whole-timer of the Communist Party and plunged into the freedom struggle against British imperialism. Even after Independence, the Communist movement in West Bengal led by Jyoti Basu and other Left leaders mobilised lakhs of people in solidarity with anti-imperialist struggles worldwide. In the 1960s, the CPI(M) mobilised lakhs of people in solidarity with Vietnam under the famous slogan “Amaar Naam, Tomaar Naam, Vietnam, Vietnam!” Huge solidarity actions were also organised in support of the Cuban struggle against US imperialism, the South African struggle against the apartheid regime, the Palestinian struggle against Israeli aggression and so on. Massive receptions were organised in Kolkata to welcome iconic anti-imperialist fighters like Fidel Castro, Nelson Mandela, Vo Nguyen Giap and Yasser Arafat. STAUNCH SECULARIST In 1946, Jyoti Basu was first elected to the Bengal state assembly from the railway workers constituency. A few months later on August 16, communal riots broke out in Bengal as a result of the ‘Direct Action’ call given by the Muslim League. In a few days over 20,000 people – both Hindu and Muslim – were slaughtered in Kolkata alone. A year later, with the dawn of Independence and the Partition of India as a result of the ‘Divide and Rule’ policy of the British imperialists, an unprecedented communal holocaust devoured lakhs in Punjab and Bengal. The Muslim League and the RSS-Hindu Mahasabha were quick to pour oil in this inferno. These ghastly events naturally had a deep and lasting impact on all secularists in Bengal and Punjab, which were the two provinces that were the worst hit by Partition. They included Jyoti Basu, Harkishan Singh Surjeet and many other Communist leaders, who were then in their thirties. This direct experience of communal riots created in their minds a deep anger and an abiding hatred against the communal forces. In the 34 years of Left Front rule since 1977, there was not a single communal riot in the state. Bengal remained completely peaceful even in the communally surcharged atmosphere following the assassination of Indira Gandhi in 1984 and the razing of the Babri Masjid in 1992. It was the administrative firmness of Jyoti Basu and the role played by thousands of Communist activists in local areas to prevent riots that resulted in this communal amity. It is for this same reason that communal forces like the BJP could not raise their heads in Bengal while the Left Front was in power. But the TMC which was in an opportunist alliance with the BJP for many years, and Mamata Banerjee as minister under the BJP-led Vajpayee regime, were responsible for strengthening the communal forces in West Bengal. BATTLE AGAINST THE RULING CLASSES The Communist movement in West Bengal grew as a result of intense class and mass struggles against the ruling classes, whose main representative then was the Congress Party. These struggles were combined with constant political campaigns and the building of a strong Party organisation. Among the stalwarts who built up the Communist movement in West Bengal were Comrades Muzaffar Ahmad, Jyoti Basu, Pramod Dasgupta, Hare Krishna Konar, Saroj Mukherjee, Benoy Krishna Choudhury, Bankim Mukherjee and others. The participation of the Communist movement in the freedom struggle against British colonialism, struggle against the terrible Bengal famine of 1943, the massive Tebhaga movement of the peasantry against landlordism in the 1940s, the food movement in the 1950s, the land movement in the 1960s, and constant struggles of the working class, peasantry, agricultural workers, teachers, women, youth and students – these were some of the major movements through which the Communist Party in West Bengal was built. Jyoti Basu began his political career by organising railway workers. He subsequently led several working class struggles and was elected all India vice president of the CITU at its founding conference at Kolkata in May 1970. He continued in that post till the end of his life. There was constant live mass contact of the Party leadership with the people – the need for which Jyoti Basu always stressed unfailingly. Jyoti Basu was directly involved in many of these struggles and therefore had an accurate grip of the ground situation. It was this grip that gave him the uncanny ability to gauge the pulse of the people and take appropriate decisions. During the fifty years that he was an MLA, ten years as opposition leader, two years as deputy chief minister and 23 years as chief minister, he constantly raised, and when in power helped to solve, the myriad problems of all sections of the working people. He became a role model for all Communists on how to work in parliamentary institutions and serve the people. STRUGGLE AGAINST REVISIONISM & SECTARIANISM The decade-long struggle against revisionism in the Indian Communist movement finally led to a split in the CPI. The CPI(M) was formed at the 7th Party Congress held at Kolkata in November 1964. Three years later, left sectarian elements broke away from the CPI(M) and formed the CPI(ML), also known as Naxalites. Their most virulent form today is the Maoists. Jyoti Basu was the secretary of the undivided CPI West Bengal state committee from 1953 to 1961 and was elected to the CPI central committee in 1951. A predominant section of the Party in West Bengal joined the CPI(M). Jyoti Basu and Pramod Dasgupta were elected to the first Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) in 1964. Jyoti Basu remained in that post till his demise. Jyoti Basu was also elected the first Editor of the CPI(M)’s central weekly organ People’s Democracy, which began publication on June 27, 1965. His first editorial titled Our Mission is a lucid and succinct statement of the aims and objectives of the CPI(M). FIGHT AGAINST SEMI-FASCIST TERROR In order to crush the CPI(M) which was then surging towards gaining power in Bengal, the central and state governments of the Congress hatched a conspiracy and unleashed a regime of semi-fascist terror against the Party from 1972 to 1977. At that time, the Congress government was being supported by the CPI, which went to the extent of supporting the hated Emergency rule. The CPI was not a part of the Left Front that came to power in West Bengal for the first time in the assembly elections in June 1977 and it joined the Left Front only after breaking away from the Congress in 1982. The Naxalites joined the Congress in physically attacking CPI(M) activists during the semi-fascist terror. This was again seen three decades later when the Maoists joined the TMC in eliminating CPI(M) activists in West Bengal. Over 1,200 activists of the CPI(M) in West Bengal were martyred in the semi-fascist terror. Over 20,000 activists had to go underground. Women activists of the Party were molested and humiliated. Hundreds of Party offices were captured by Congress goons. On March 31, 1970, an Anand Margi assassin shot at Jyoti Basu himself at the Patna railway station; Basu had a miraculous escape but another Party worker died. The CPI(M), ably led by Jyoti Basu, Pramod Dasgupta and others, valiantly combated the semi-fascist terror unleashed by the Congress. While taking steps to protect the Party, special efforts were made to keep up live contacts with the working people. The glorious resistance of the CPI(M) to this state repression finally resulted in the Left Front coming to power with a massive majority, and Jyoti Basu taking over as chief minister on June 21, 1977. POWER FOR THE PEOPLE For over 23 years from 1977 to 2000, Jyoti Basu continuously served as the chief minister of West Bengal. This still remains a record in the country for any state, any party and any individual. The Left Front won five assembly elections under his leadership, and two more assembly elections even after he stepped down as chief minister. In all theses elections, the Left Front won a majority of over two-thirds and the CPI(M) won a clear majority by itself. The Left Front government under Jyoti Basu conducted far-going land reforms. 13 lakh acres of land was distributed gratis to 29 lakh 72 thousand landless and land-poor families. Of these land beneficiaries, 55 per cent were Dalit and Adivasi families. There were also thousands of Muslim beneficiary families. Over 7.5 lakh land pattas were given jointly in the names of the husband and wife, or independently in the name of the woman. Under Operation Barga, the names of 15 lakh 30 thousand bataidars or unprotected tenants were registered and security of tenure was guaranteed to more than 11 lakh acres of land that they used to till. Among these bataidars also, over 50 per cent were Dalit, Adivasi and Muslim families. Due to these land reforms, 84 per cent of the land in Bengal belonged to peasants owning less than 5 acres of land. In India as a whole, the same proportion was only 43 per cent. West Bengal has only 3.5 per cent of the land in India. But the proportion of land redistributed in West Bengal during 34 years of Left Front rule is 22.6 per cent of the land redistributed all over India in the 65 years since Independence. Of the total 54 lakh 57 thousand land beneficiaries in India, 29 lakh 72 thousand i.e., 54.5 per cent, are in West Bengal alone. The Communist movement in Bengal was able to connect with, and carry forward the progressive legacy of social reformers like Raja Rammohan Roy and Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar. That is one of the reasons why the effect of the caste system appears to be considerably less in Bengal as compared to elsewhere in India. That is why the incidence of atrocities on Dalits and Adivasis in West Bengal is much less than in most other states in the country. Atrocities on women were also negligible during Left Front rule. However, the atrocities on women have increased markedly under the TMC dispensation and it has been established beyond doubt that TMC goons are themselves the culprits in most cases. The Left Front regime in West Bengal also played a pioneering role in overhauling and streamlining the Panchayat Raj system. The proportion of irrigated land in West Bengal shot up from 32 per cent to 71 per cent during Left Front rule. Along with land reforms, this significantly boosted agricultural production and Bengal led other states in the country in the production of paddy, potatoes, vegetables and fish. Due to all these steps, the proportion of people below the poverty line declined markedly under Left Front rule. During Jyoti Basu’s tenure, a new Industrial Policy was adopted and several large industrial projects like the Haldia Petrochemicals Factory, Bakreshwar Thermal Power Plant and the Salt Lake Electronics Complex were completed in spite of the hostile attitude of successive Congress-led central governments. Small scale industries and agro-based industries were given a boost through policy changes. One of the most important announcements made by Jyoti Basu was that the police force would not be used to suppress movements of the working people. He implemented this assurance faithfully all through his tenure as chief minister. CONTRIBUTION TO NATIONAL POLITICS Jyoti Basu’s contribution to national politics was in three important areas. The first was his insistence on radical changes in centre-state relations and his success in mobilising many political parties and chief ministers towards this end. Jyoti Basu’s second major contribution was his success in effectively running a coalition government for over two decades. There had been some coalition governments in other states earlier, but none that lasted so long and so well. The third major contribution of the CPI(M) led by Jyoti Basu and Harkishan Singh Surjeet in the 1990s and 2000s was the successful effort to build a political front of Left, democratic and secular forces to take on the fronts led by the two main representatives of the ruling classes - the Congress and the BJP. However, Jyoti Basu also stressed that this front could gain credibility only if it was forged through joint struggles on people’s burning issues and if it was based on a common programme. Also, if such a joint front were to remain intact, the independent strength of the Left parties, and especially of the CPI(M), must grow manifold. A GREAT REVOLUTIONARY Jyoti Basu’s courage in the face of adversity was legendary. In the case of the attempt on his life at the Patna railway station, many dangerous meetings and rallies during the period of semi-fascist terror and the famous incident of him sternly berating the agitating armed policemen who stormed his deputy chief minister’s cabin – all bore testimony to his courage. In five decades of public life, Jyoti Basu’s probity remained unchallenged. Like E M S Namboodiripad and all other top Communist leaders who wielded state power, he set the ideal of a clean, transparent and spotless public life. Jyoti Basu always considered the Party to be greater than himself. In 1996, when the Party Central Committee by a majority decided not to accept the prime ministership of the country that had been offered to him by the United Front constituents, he accepted the decision with grace. This was the supreme example of his Party discipline. While he was chief minister, Jyoti Basu unfailingly used to visit the Party state committee office at the Comrade Muzaffar Ahmad Bhavan every day in the morning before going to Writer’s Building. In spite of carrying the burden of the chief ministership, he never missed Party meetings. He thus sent out the clear message that the Party must have precedence over everything else. Jyoti Basu never encouraged the building of any personality cult. The emphasis was always on the Party, not on the individual. In 2000, he himself relinquished the chief ministership on grounds of age and health. His donation of his body to medical science was made with the following pledge on April 4, 2003: “As a Communist, I am pledged to serve humanity till my last breath. I am happy that now I will continue to serve even after my death.” That was Jyoti Basu – a great revolutionary and a Communist par excellence. In both theory and practice, Jyoti Basu remained a true Marxist till his last breath. His devotion to the CPI(M) and his faith in revolutionary transformation remained undimmed. We shall end this piece with two passages from Jyoti Basu’s ‘Memoirs’: “The responsibility of the Left has become important as never before. It is a tough struggle ahead. But necessary and vital all the same. History has reposed a great responsibility on us. The true Communist emerges victorious only through such difficult tests. The acid test lies ahead.” . . . “Finally, I would like to repeat what I have always believed in: it is man, and man alone, who creates history. Despite the many crests and thrusts, the people will finally emerge victorious and gain freedom in a classless society free from exploitation of any form.”