2nd Congress of the Communist Party of India
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The 2nd Congress of the Communist Party of India was held in
Background
The party had seen a rapid growth in membership in the years preceding the Second Party Congress, reaching around 89,000.[4] In 1935 there had been only around 1,000 CPI members, and by 1943 the number had increased to around 16,000.[5]
Whilst the CPI constitution stipulated that an All India Party Conference be held yearly under normal conditions, the last one had been held in 1943.
When the Second Party Congress convened, CPI stood at a crossroads. Either they would work within the constitutional framework of the newly independent Indian state or it would engage in insurrectional revolutionary struggles.
Delegates
919 delegates were elected by the party branches, but only 632 were able to attend.
Three delegates represented party branches in
From
Proceedings
The congress was held under a big tarpaulin in Mohammad Ali Park.[10] BTR held the opening speech of the conference, outlining the new party line.[2] His speech lasted four and a half hours, and presented detailed criticism on the performance of the party leadership.[3]
So far we have been taking a reformist path. We dovetailed with bourgeois interests. We could not take an independent stance in the movement on the issue of freedom. As a result, the reactionary forces of Congress and Muslim League through a forged alliance ushered in a so-called Independence. This is not real independence, it is false! Just as in a postwar situation, there is still grounds for revolution. That is why we must continue our struggle against the bourgeoisie. Strikes, mass rallies, demonstrations, and armed struggles must be used to challenge this false sense of freedom.
BTR echoed the notion that the world was divided in two camps, and in the struggle between the Anglo-American imperialist camp and the Soviet-led democratic camp the Indian state had aligned itself with the imperialists.[2] The second speech was held by Bhowani Sen who presented an overview of tactical questions.[2] Sen presented criticism of the performance of the party 1942–1948, including the support to Sheikh Abdullah's movement in Jammu and Kashmir.[2] The Telangana struggle was presented as the model to be replicated throughout the subcontinent.[2]
BTR and Bhowani's speeches were followed by a long presentation by the now isolated P.C. Joshi.[2] P.C. Joshi expressed self-criticism, stating that he had 'confused and corrupted' the party during his tenure as General Secretary.[2]
The main document debated by the Second Party Congress was its Political Thesis.[2] Many amendments to the document were suggested by delegates, and the Central Committee was tasked with amending it later.[2] The party constitution was amended at the Second Party Congress.[12]
CC election
BTR was elected as new General Secretary of the party.[1] In the election to the new Central Committee all of the candidates proposed by the outgoing leadership were elected, with the exception of P.C. Joshi, who was left out of the new Central Committee.[2]
New party line
The line adopted at the Second Party Congress became popularly known as the 'Ranadive thesis', the 'Ranadive line' or 'Calcutta thesis'.[13][14][15] The Second Party Congress raised the slogan that the independence achieved in 1947 was 'sham independence'.[6] The Indian National Congress was denounced as a party of the bourgeoisie.[16] The People's Democratic Revolution was outlined as a one-stage revolution, to be achieved through a united front of workers, peasants and revolutionary intellectuals.[17] Thus the Second Party Congress implied a drastic shift in CPI policy, gearing towards armed insurrection against the nascent Indian state.[17] The new line found inspiration in the Zhdanov Doctrine of the All-Union Communist Party (bolsheviks), which saw the world divided in an imperialist camp and a camp of people's democracies.[17] It also drew upon the experiences of Bengali communists in the post-Partition chaos in Calcutta and the resistance against the Nizam regime in the Hyderabad State.[17][14]
Another meeting held in the city around just a few days before the Second Party Congress was the Conference of Youth and Students of Southeast Asia Fighting for Freedom and Independence, which has been credited with disseminating the Zhdanov insurrectional line throughout the continent.[4][18][19][20]
Founding of the Communist Party of Pakistan
Bhowani Sen presented a 'Report on Pakistan' to the Second Party Congress.[3] He argued that both India and Pakistan were dominated by similar reactionary elites in alliance with imperialist forces.[3] Thus the task of communists in both countries would be the same, to struggle for people's democratic revolution.[3] The Second Party Congress deliberated on the Pakistan question for some time, and eventually agreed that a separate Communist Party should be built in Pakistan.[3] Sen's 'Report on Pakistan' was adopted with some amendments.[9] After the vote the delegates from West Pakistan held a separate meeting at the sidelines of the CPI congress on 6 March 1948 and constituted the Communist Party of Pakistan.[9][10] Sajjad Zaheer, founder of the All India Progressive Writers Association and a CPI Central Committee member, was named general secretary of the Communist Party of Pakistan.[7] The other eight Central Committee members were Mohammad Hussain Ata, Jamaluddin Bokhari, Ibrahim (a labour leader), Khoka Roy, Nepal Nag, Krishna Binod Roy, Syed Abul Mansur Habibullah (from West Bengal, but moved to East Pakistan after the foundation of CPP) and Moni Singh.[10]
After the congress Zaheer travelled to West Pakistan to build the party there.[9] He was no longer considered a CPI Central Committee member.[9]
Notably, the party structure in East Pakistan would remain under the supervision of the West Bengal committee of CPI for some time afterwards.[9]
Foreign delegations
Four foreign delegations attend the Second Party Congress: the
Dedijer's speech detailed the struggle of Yugoslav Partisans and was met with heavy applause from the assembled delegates.[22] Acting as de facto representatives of Cominform, the Yugoslav delegates provided important symbolic support to legitimize B.T. Ranadive's coming to power in the party.[22] The Burmese communist leader Thakin Than Tun also aroused the revolutionary fervour in his speech, highlighting that armed struggle alone would provide a path towards liberation.[10]
Along with the Asian Youth Conference, the CPI Calcutta Congress is credited to have influenced the Burmese communists to initiate armed rebellion at home.[21] Nevertheless, Bertil Lintner argues that the impact of the Calcutta meetings on CPB line is a myth, and that H.N. Goshal (who is credited with the 'Goshal thesis' of armed insurrection in Burma) never attended neither of the two Calcutta conferences.[23]
Aftermath
Following the Second Party Congress and under the leadership of BTR, the party embarked on an 18-month campaign of armed uprisings in
After the Second Party Congress CPI suffered a number of set-backs and repression, and party membership dropped to around 25,000 in early 1950.
In January 1950 the
The
References
- ^ ISBN 0-14-027825-7, p.204
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Marshall Windmiller (1994). Communism in India. University of California Press. pp. 229, 270–274. GGKEY:NSY99CAKNFU.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-19-940308-0.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-520-02393-2.
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- ^ ISBN 978-1-317-32560-4.
- ^ a b Talukder Maniruzzaman (1975). Radical politics and the emergence of Bangladesh. Bangladesh Books. p. 4.
- ISBN 978-1-4008-7780-5.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-19-940308-0.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8223-5318-8.
- ^ ISBN 978-93-80607-23-8.
- ^ a b Amar Farooqui (2000). Remembering Dr. Gangadhar Adhikari: Life, Reminiscences, Tributes, Selected Writings. People's Publishing House. pp. xlvi, 384.
- ^ Késavakurup Raman Pillai (1969). India's foreign policy: basic issues and political attitudes. Meenakshi Prakashan. p. 11.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-317-66805-3.
- ISBN 978-0-275-96832-8.
- ISBN 978-81-8064-129-9.
- ^ ISBN 0-8223-0849-5.
- ISBN 978-0-521-39265-5.
- ^ Low, Francis. Struggle for Asia. Essay index reprint series. Freeport, N.Y.: Books for Libraries Press, 1972. pp. 96–97
- ISBN 978-0-8229-7586-1.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-87727-123-9.
- ^ a b Miskovic, N. The pre-history of the non-aligned movement: India's first contacts with the communist Yugoslavia, 1948–1950
- ISBN 978-0-300-21332-4.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-84467-699-6.
- ISBN 978-81-7099-795-5.
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- ^ ISBN 90-6032-066-2.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8047-0592-9.
- ISBN 978-81-7211-051-2.
- ISBN 978-1-4008-7841-3.
- ISBN 978-81-7099-619-4.