Failing to give Indian face in 100 yrs, Indian communists still differ on when party was formed

By Rajiv Shah

I have come across a Communist Party of India poster seeking to begin the party's centenary year celebrations on January 2, with D Raja, the party general secretary, as the chief guest. In Hindi, the poster has been released by the party's Bihar unit, which used to be one of the strongest in India, but like rest of the country, it too appears to have gone phut.

Reproduced on a Facebook page, two things particularly struck me. First of all, at the very top embellish Lenin, Engels and Marx, in that order. No quarrel with that. However, as a former CPI cardholder, I wondered, why even 40 years after I left the party to pursue my journalistic career as a person not attached with any political party, they have not been able to identify even one Indian Communist whose photograph could be put on the poster.

And secondly, ironical though it may seem, while CPI is celebrating its centenary year, the other, bigger Communist party, CPI(Marxist), is not. A visit to the social media of both the parties shows, CPI(M) has no mention of the centenary year, while CPI has several photos of the celebration.

This took me back to my student days. I was somewhat actively associated with the CPI(M) student wing, the Students' Federation of India (SFI), which lasted for five years (1971-75). We were told that the Communist party was formed much earlier. No without reason, it marked the centenary year in 2019-20, coinciding with the formation of the Indian Communist Party (ICP) as an émigré unit in Tashkent by the Second World Congress of the Communist Third International in 1920.

I am left wondering. Why do the two Communist parties even now differ on such trivial a thing. Why is there no celebration by the CPI(M) on the formation of the party in 1925 on the Indian soil? Or is it because CPI, which claims to be the "original party", didn't take part in the CPI(M)'s celebration of the formation of the Indian Communist group in Tashkent in 1920?

Interestingly, yet another Communist party (there are several of them across India!) which can claim to have some mass base, too, CPI (Marxist-Leninist), agrees with CPI that the party was formed in 1925, and not in 1920. Its website carries what is called a presentation by its general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, under the heading, "Centenary of the Communist Movement In India: Achievements, Lessons and Challenges", pointing out at least on the year 1925 he agrees with CPI.

Let me put facts straight. CPI believes that the party was formed on December 26, 1925 at the first Party Conference in Kanpur. SV Ghate was its first general secretary. Meanwhile, several communist groups had already been formed across India, including the one in Bombay (led by SA Dange), Madras (led by Singaravelu), United Provinces (led by Shaukat Usmani), Punjab, Sindh (led by Ghulam Hussain) and Bengal (led by Muzaffar Ahmed).

However, CPI(M), which split from CPI in 1964, disagrees. It considers October 17, 1920 as the founding day of CPI. On this day, MN Roy, Evelyn Trent-Roy, Abani Mukherji, Rosa Fitingov, Mohd Ali, Mohamad Shafiq, and MPT Acharya met in Tashkent to form the communist movement in India, it believes.

Amidst so much talk of Left unity and the alleged fascist onslaught that India is experiencing today, what stops the two or three or even more Communist parties to come together under one umbrella? They talk of "democratic centralism", the term I learned way back in early 1970s on how the party functions from within. Theoretically, all differences are allowed within the party, but you must agree to what the central leadership, "elected" at the party congress every five years or so, has to decide upon.

I have always wondered: doesn't democratic centralism prohibit views and practices relevant for progressive movements to come in from the "outside" world? Or does one have to wait for what the Central leadership has to say in the matter?

Comments

Rajiv Shah said…

I don't deny CPI's contribution, but here I have only dealt with the centenary year celebrations. As for contributions and despite these CPI has become a non-entity, some other time

January 02, 2025

Gujarat Information Commission issues warning against misinterpretation of RTI orders

By A Representative The Gujarat Information Commission (GIC) has issued a press note clarifying that its orders limiting the number of Right to Information (RTI) applications for certain individuals apply only to those specific applicants. The GIC has warned that it will take disciplinary action against any public officials who misinterpret these orders to deny information to other citizens. The press note, signed by GIC Secretary Jaideep Dwivedi, states that the Right to Information Act, 2005, is a powerful tool for promoting transparency and accountability in public administration. However, the commission has observed that some applicants are misusing the act by filing an excessive number of applications, which disproportionately consumes the time and resources of Public Information Officers (PIOs), First Appellate Authorities (FAAs), and the commission itself. This misuse can cause delays for genuine applicants seeking justice. In response to this issue, and in acc...

A comrade in culture and controversy: Yao Wenyuan’s revolutionary legacy

By Harsh Thakor* This year marks two important anniversaries in Chinese revolutionary history—the 20th death anniversary of Yao Wenyuan, and the 50th anniversary of his seminal essay "On the Social Basis of the Lin Biao Anti-Party Clique". These milestones invite reflection on the man whose pen ignited the first sparks of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and whose sharp ideological interventions left an indelible imprint on the political and cultural landscape of socialist China.

'MGNREGA crisis deepening': NSM demands fair wages and end to digital exclusions

By A Representative The NREGA Sangharsh Morcha (NSM), a coalition of independent unions of MGNREGA workers, has warned that the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is facing a “severe crisis” due to persistent neglect and restrictive measures imposed by the Union Government.

Gandhiji quoted as saying his anti-untouchability view has little space for inter-dining with "lower" castes

By A Representative A senior activist close to Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) leader Medha Patkar has defended top Booker prize winning novelist Arundhati Roy’s controversial utterance on Gandhiji that “his doctrine of nonviolence was based on an acceptance of the most brutal social hierarchy the world has ever known, the caste system.” Surprised at the police seeking video footage and transcript of Roy’s Mahatma Ayyankali memorial lecture at the Kerala University on July 17, Nandini K Oza in a recent blog quotes from available sources to “prove” that Gandhiji indeed believed in “removal of untouchability within the caste system.”

Targeted eviction of Bengali-speaking Muslims across Assam districts alleged

By A Representative A delegation led by prominent academic and civil rights leader Sandeep Pandey visited three districts in Assam—Goalpara, Dhubri, and Lakhimpur—between 2 and 4 September 2025 to meet families affected by recent demolitions and evictions. The delegation reported widespread displacement of Bengali-speaking Muslim communities, many of whom possess valid citizenship documents including Aadhaar, voter ID, ration cards, PAN cards, and NRC certification.

'Centre criminally negligent': SKM demands national disaster declaration in flood-hit states

By A Representative The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) has urged the Centre to immediately declare the recent floods and landslides in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand, and Haryana as a national disaster, warning that the delay in doing so has deepened the suffering of the affected population.

Saffron Kingdom – a cinematic counter-narrative to The Kashmir Files

By Syed Ali Mujtaba* “Saffron Kingdom” is a film produced in the United States by members of the Kashmiri diaspora, positioned as a response to the 2022 release “The Kashmir Files.” While the latter focused on the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits and framed Kashmiri Muslims as perpetrators of violence, “Saffron Kingdom” seeks to present an alternate perspective—highlighting the experiences of Kashmiri Muslims facing alleged abuses by Indian security forces.

'Govts must walk the talk on gender equality, right to health, human rights to deliver SDGs by 2030'

By A Representative With just 64 months left to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), global health and rights advocates have called upon governments to honour their commitments on gender equality and the human right to health. Speaking ahead of the 80th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), experts warned that rising anti-rights and anti-gender pushes are threatening hard-won progress on SDG-3 (health and wellbeing) and SDG-5 (gender equality).

From lazy to lost? The myths and realities behind generational panic about youth

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak Older generations in many societies often describe the young with labels such as “lazy, unproductive, lost, anxious, depoliticised, unpatriotic or wayward.” Others see them as “social media, mobile phone and porn addicts.” Such judgments arise from a generational anxiety rooted in fears of losing control and from distorted perceptions about youth, especially in the context of economic crises, conflicts, and wars in which many young lives are lost.

Counterview

Search This Blog