Period of Radicalism in Anti-imperialist Struggles - Study Notes

Lesson summary

From the late 1920s the Left wing and the revolutionaries gave the freedom struggle a radical edge. The British answered with conspiracy cases and draconian laws, while the Congress, under pressure from the Great Depression, adopted a programme of Fundamental Rights at Karachi. The Depression also opened space for Indian industry.

Communist Party of India

• Formed at Tashkent, Uzbekistan (Soviet Union) in October 1920 by M.N. Roy, Abani Mukherji, M.P.T. Acharya, Mohammad Ali and Mohammad Shafiq.
• The first batch of radicals reached Peshawar on 3 June 1921 and was arrested as Bolshevik agents.
• Five conspiracy cases between 1922 and 1927: Peshawar first, then Kanpur (Bolshevik) 1924; the most famous was Meerut 1929.
• Formally founded in India at the Communist Conference of December 1925, with Bombay as headquarters; Singaravelar attended.

Kanpur Conspiracy Case, 1924

• Aimed at curbing Bolshevism and trade unions in jute, cotton, railways and municipal bodies.
• 13 persons accused, 8 charge-sheeted under Section 121-A of the IPC; Ghulam Hussain turned approver.
• M.N. Roy (Germany) and R.L. Sharma (Pondicherry) charged in absentia; Singaravelar released on bail for ill health.
• Judge: H.E. Holmes, notorious for the death sentence on 172 peasants in the Chauri Chaura case.
• Muzaffar Ahmad, Shaukat Usmani, Nalini Gupta and S.A. Dange got four years of rigorous imprisonment.
• A Communist Defence Committee raised funds; the native press reported the case widely.

M. Singaravelar (1860-1946)

• Born in Madras; an early Buddhist; first in the Congress, later chose the radical path.
• With Thiru. V. Kalyanasundaram organised trade unions in South India.
• Organised the first May Day in India on 1 May 1923; led the Golden Rock railway strike of 1928.

Meerut Conspiracy Case, 1929

• Background: strikes at Kharagpur (1927), Liluah (1928), Calcutta scavengers (1928), Bengal jute mills (1929), Golden Rock (July 1928) and Bombay textile mills (April 1928).
• Repressive laws: Trade Disputes Act, 1928 and Public Safety Bill, 1928.
• 32 leaders arrested, including British communists Philip Spratt, Ban Bradley and Lester Hutchinson; at least eight were Congress members.
• Trial held at Meerut to avoid a jury trial. K.F. Nariman and M.C. Chagla defended; Gandhi and Nehru visited the accused.
• 16 January 1933: 27 convicted. Romain Rolland and Albert Einstein supported them; sentences reduced in July 1933.

Bhagat Singh

• Born 28 September 1907 at Jaranwala, Lyallpur district, Punjab, to Kishan Singh and Vidyavati Kaur.
• Joined the Naujawan Bharat Sabha and the Hindustan Republican Association (founded by Sachin Sanyal and Jogesh Chatterji), reorganised as the H.S.R.A. in September 1928.
• Fellow leaders: Chandrashekhar Azad, Shivaram Rajguru, Sukhdev Thapar.
• 8 April 1929: bombs in the Central Legislative Assembly on the day the Trade Disputes Bill was introduced; nobody killed.
• Second Lahore Conspiracy Case for the murder of Saunders (mistaken for James A. Scott, who assaulted Lajpat Rai). Jatindra Nath Das died after a 64-day hunger strike.
• Death sentence 7 October 1930; hanged with Rajguru and Sukhdev in Lahore Jail on 23 March 1931.

Kalpana Dutt and Chittagong

• Kalpana Dutt (1913-1995), later Kalpana Joshi after marrying P.C. Joshi.
• Surya Sen, a school teacher who wore khadi, led the Indian Republican Army, named after the Irish Republican Army.
• Raid on the Chittagong armouries on the night of 18 April 1930; raids continued for three years.
• Surya Sen arrested February 1933, hanged 12 January 1934. Kalpana Dutt transported for life for waging war against the King Emperor.
• Her book: Chittagong Armoury Raiders' Reminiscences.

Karachi Session, 1931

• Held in March 1931, presided over by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
• Adopted the resolution on Fundamental Rights and Duties: political and economic freedom are inseparable.
• Challenged caste and untouchability; rights later went into Parts III and IV of the Constitution.

Great Depression

• Lasted about a decade from 1929; began in North America after the Wall Street crash.
• Lockouts, wage cuts, unemployment and starvation; labour unrest in Bombay, Calcutta, Kanpur and Madras.
• Exports fell from Rs. 311 crores (1929-30) to Rs. 132 crores (1932-33); Kisan Sabhas fought for rent reduction and abolition of Zamindari.
• Only positive impact: cheap land and labour helped Indian industries that fed local consumption.

Industrial development

• Cotton mills rose from 47 to 271 between 1875-76 and 1913-14; jute mills reached 64 by 1914, all European-owned.
• TISCO output: 31,000 tons (1912-13) to 1,81,000 tons (1917-18).
• Imported cotton piece goods fell from 44 per cent (1929-30) to 20.5 per cent (1933-34).
• In Coimbatore 29 mills and ginning factories came up in 1929-37; sugar factories in the province rose from 2 to 11 (1931-36).

Common exam traps

• CPI: Tashkent 1920, India 1925.
• M.N. Roy was charged in absentia, not arrested.
• Kalpana Dutt: Indian Republican Army, not H.S.R.A.
• Karachi Session president: Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.