08-12-2004, 04:30 PM
Commie thread missing ...
Full Marx for August treachery!
Balbir K Punj
Anniversary of two august events connected with India's struggle for freedom, Quit India Movement and Independence Day, occur this month. The former marks the greatest and conclusive mass movement waged under the Congress against British Raj since Swadeshi Andolan of 1905. The latter represents the fructification of their cherished objectives.
However, this year, these anniversaries have a paradoxical significance. A Congress Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, when he will address the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort, will stand under the long shadow of the communists. It's ironical that the Congress, which claims to be the sole legatee of the independence movement, today stands on the crutches of communists who had sabotaged "Quit India" and repudiated Independence as bogus.
All through "Quit India" the communists described Mahatma Gandhi, Nehru, JP and especially Subhas Bose in the vilest of terms. The People's War caricature showed Subhas Bose as a donkey carrying Tojo (July 19, 1942); a mere mask of Japanese imperialist ogre (August 8, 1942); a curr held up by Goebbels (September 13, 1942); and as a midget being led by Japanese imperialists (September 26, 1943).
About Jayaprakash Narayan, People's War (March 21, 1943) wrote: "These vultures have been feeding on the Congress, doing dirty work of their masters." Having abandoned the idea of mass movements since the fiasco of Civil Disobedience Movement (1930) "Quit India" was the last rally that Gandhi led. Precipitated by disappointment with Cripps Mission, this marked a definite turn-around in his stance that the British position should not be imperilled during the War. The CWC's "Quit India" Resolution adopted by AICC on August 8, 1942, asserted that "British Rule should end immediately".
Otherwise, it spoke of launching a nation-wide mass movement under Gandhi. But even before the next day had dawned, the British arrested Gandhi and all eminent Congress leaders. Within a week the entire Congress leadership was behind bars; the AICC and all PCCs except in NWFP were outlawed. The Congress headquarters at Allahabad were seized and its funds confiscated.
"Quit India" had been contemplated as a non-violent movement but following these arrests a conflagration of mob violence engulfed large parts of India. Railway tracks, telegraph, telephone, post offices, electric substations and police stations were destroyed. So "Quit India" ended up as a movement neither led by Gandhi nor non-violent. It was a mass-movement involving mass violence. The retaliatory action by British, going by unofficial figures, claimed more than 10,000 lives.
A little publicised aspect of "Quit India" was the non-participation of the Muslim League and attempts to foil the movement by the communists. Jinnah emphasised that Muslims were opposed to "Quit India" and urged Muslims to keep away from it. He also warned its participants against meddling with Muslim affairs, which might trigger counter-revolution.
While Muslim League was indifferent, the Communist Party of India, with all its wings and branches, tried to sabotage the movement from inside. A ban imposed on CPI by the British in 1934 was lifted on July 23, 1942 (between CWC drafting "Quit India' resolution and AICC adopting it) as per some secret negotiations between communist leaders and British bureaucrats. There was warming up of relations between the British Government and the communists after the USSR switched side in World War II in June 1941.
The erstwhile USSR, since the beginning of the War, was a neutral ally of Nazi Germany that was fighting Britain. So the CPI (Indian Chapter of Moscow based Communist International) went hammer and tongs against "imperialist" Britain. But on June 21, 1941, Hitler surprised its neutral ally, Soviet Union, by launching Oper- ation Barbarosa and wreaking havoc on its peripheral parts. Stalin per force had to join the war on Allied side. Suddenly, from being anti-British and anti-War, Indian communists had become pro-British and pro-War just to be on the right side of the USSR.
For them, it was no longer an 'Imperialist War' but a 'People's War'. No wonder, the British establishment in New Delhi welcomed their changed attitude and reciprocated their gesture cordially. The communists would have carried on their pro-British and pro-War agenda even if there were no "Quit India". "Quit India" came as a providential opportunity to increase the scope of their destructive performance. It happened so that while the entire Congress leadership was imprisoned during "Quit India", the communists were set free to undermine the movement as per British plan.
As Arun Shourie observes in The Only Fatherland: "Issue after issue of People's War, the new organ of the Communist Party, while it railed against the British Government, heaped sarcasm, scorn, abuse on Gandhiji, the Congress, JP and other leaders of the underground movement, and on Subhas Bose. While formerly they had been accused on leading the country to suicide by not disrupting the war effort, they were now accused of leading it to suicide by disrupting it" (p 24). On December 16, 1941, communist intermediary NM Joshi, general secretary of AITUC, sent Home Member of Viceroy's Council Sir Reginald Maxwell to ensure that the communists in detention were released swiftly so that they could press their changed point of view at the forthcoming AICC. Later, there were several secret parleys between them.
On April 23, 1942, a ten-page long "Confidential: Not for publication, Memorandum on Communist Policy and Plan of Work" was submitted to the Government. Joshi also met a senior Intelligence Bureau officer Ghulam Ahmed on May 12, 1942 to convey his plans. But during January, prominent communist prisoners, Sunil Mukherji, Rahul Sankrityayana, AK Ghosh, RD Bhardwaj, Sher Jung, RC Sinha, DN Mazumdar, SA Dange, Soli S Batliwal, etc., lodged in different jails of India, certified in writing that their attitude to war changed and that, if released from prison, they would do their bit towards the War effort. When the issue came to light, they tried to deny writing any such letter, but these are well-preserved in the National Archives.
The actual beginning of "Quit India" certainly altered their plans but also vastly enhanced the scope of showing performance. Judging by the nation's mood, the CPI would risk public ire by advertising its anti-movement and pro-war efforts. So the Marxist masters of falsehood, through December 1942 issues of People's War carried 'disinformation' of government atrocities against them.
The truth, however, was contained in Communist Party's bulky secret performance reports, delivered to Sir Reginald Maxwell and forwarded to Additional Secretary Sir Richard Tottenham. These reports available with National Archives show how the communists were able to prevent hartals and sabotages in Kanpur, Bombay, Jamshedpur, Calicut, Lahore, and Madras, etc., and turn people from anti-British to pro-British (The Only Fatherland, pp 57-85). An enthusiastic Comrade K Satyanarayana, an editor of "Prajashakti", even penned a eulogistic song "People's War" which was broadcast from All-India Radio.
After "Quit India" ended, the communists tried their unsuccessful best to eulogise Gandhi and whitewash its activity during the movement. But there was no full-stop to their treachery. While Jinnah floated his Two-Nation theory, the communists buttressed it by floating multi-nation theory. They claimed that India, like the USSR, was a conglomeration of multiple nations. Basing their arguments on right to self-determination, they supplied all intellectual arsenal needed to justify the creation of Pakistan. The Communists even engaged their cadres to campaign for Pakistan.
However, when Pakistan actually came about, they were the first to be cleansed. The communists denounced the freedom of India: "Yeh azadi jhootha hai, lakhon log bhookha hai" (millions are hungry, this independence is false) and in 1949 planned unsuccessfully to launch an armed insurrection saying India was ripe for armed revolution. The Communists never disappointed us in proving that they are the fifth columnists and vultures from the killing fields of Gulags.
Full Marx for August treachery!
Balbir K Punj
Anniversary of two august events connected with India's struggle for freedom, Quit India Movement and Independence Day, occur this month. The former marks the greatest and conclusive mass movement waged under the Congress against British Raj since Swadeshi Andolan of 1905. The latter represents the fructification of their cherished objectives.
However, this year, these anniversaries have a paradoxical significance. A Congress Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, when he will address the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort, will stand under the long shadow of the communists. It's ironical that the Congress, which claims to be the sole legatee of the independence movement, today stands on the crutches of communists who had sabotaged "Quit India" and repudiated Independence as bogus.
All through "Quit India" the communists described Mahatma Gandhi, Nehru, JP and especially Subhas Bose in the vilest of terms. The People's War caricature showed Subhas Bose as a donkey carrying Tojo (July 19, 1942); a mere mask of Japanese imperialist ogre (August 8, 1942); a curr held up by Goebbels (September 13, 1942); and as a midget being led by Japanese imperialists (September 26, 1943).
About Jayaprakash Narayan, People's War (March 21, 1943) wrote: "These vultures have been feeding on the Congress, doing dirty work of their masters." Having abandoned the idea of mass movements since the fiasco of Civil Disobedience Movement (1930) "Quit India" was the last rally that Gandhi led. Precipitated by disappointment with Cripps Mission, this marked a definite turn-around in his stance that the British position should not be imperilled during the War. The CWC's "Quit India" Resolution adopted by AICC on August 8, 1942, asserted that "British Rule should end immediately".
Otherwise, it spoke of launching a nation-wide mass movement under Gandhi. But even before the next day had dawned, the British arrested Gandhi and all eminent Congress leaders. Within a week the entire Congress leadership was behind bars; the AICC and all PCCs except in NWFP were outlawed. The Congress headquarters at Allahabad were seized and its funds confiscated.
"Quit India" had been contemplated as a non-violent movement but following these arrests a conflagration of mob violence engulfed large parts of India. Railway tracks, telegraph, telephone, post offices, electric substations and police stations were destroyed. So "Quit India" ended up as a movement neither led by Gandhi nor non-violent. It was a mass-movement involving mass violence. The retaliatory action by British, going by unofficial figures, claimed more than 10,000 lives.
A little publicised aspect of "Quit India" was the non-participation of the Muslim League and attempts to foil the movement by the communists. Jinnah emphasised that Muslims were opposed to "Quit India" and urged Muslims to keep away from it. He also warned its participants against meddling with Muslim affairs, which might trigger counter-revolution.
While Muslim League was indifferent, the Communist Party of India, with all its wings and branches, tried to sabotage the movement from inside. A ban imposed on CPI by the British in 1934 was lifted on July 23, 1942 (between CWC drafting "Quit India' resolution and AICC adopting it) as per some secret negotiations between communist leaders and British bureaucrats. There was warming up of relations between the British Government and the communists after the USSR switched side in World War II in June 1941.
The erstwhile USSR, since the beginning of the War, was a neutral ally of Nazi Germany that was fighting Britain. So the CPI (Indian Chapter of Moscow based Communist International) went hammer and tongs against "imperialist" Britain. But on June 21, 1941, Hitler surprised its neutral ally, Soviet Union, by launching Oper- ation Barbarosa and wreaking havoc on its peripheral parts. Stalin per force had to join the war on Allied side. Suddenly, from being anti-British and anti-War, Indian communists had become pro-British and pro-War just to be on the right side of the USSR.
For them, it was no longer an 'Imperialist War' but a 'People's War'. No wonder, the British establishment in New Delhi welcomed their changed attitude and reciprocated their gesture cordially. The communists would have carried on their pro-British and pro-War agenda even if there were no "Quit India". "Quit India" came as a providential opportunity to increase the scope of their destructive performance. It happened so that while the entire Congress leadership was imprisoned during "Quit India", the communists were set free to undermine the movement as per British plan.
As Arun Shourie observes in The Only Fatherland: "Issue after issue of People's War, the new organ of the Communist Party, while it railed against the British Government, heaped sarcasm, scorn, abuse on Gandhiji, the Congress, JP and other leaders of the underground movement, and on Subhas Bose. While formerly they had been accused on leading the country to suicide by not disrupting the war effort, they were now accused of leading it to suicide by disrupting it" (p 24). On December 16, 1941, communist intermediary NM Joshi, general secretary of AITUC, sent Home Member of Viceroy's Council Sir Reginald Maxwell to ensure that the communists in detention were released swiftly so that they could press their changed point of view at the forthcoming AICC. Later, there were several secret parleys between them.
On April 23, 1942, a ten-page long "Confidential: Not for publication, Memorandum on Communist Policy and Plan of Work" was submitted to the Government. Joshi also met a senior Intelligence Bureau officer Ghulam Ahmed on May 12, 1942 to convey his plans. But during January, prominent communist prisoners, Sunil Mukherji, Rahul Sankrityayana, AK Ghosh, RD Bhardwaj, Sher Jung, RC Sinha, DN Mazumdar, SA Dange, Soli S Batliwal, etc., lodged in different jails of India, certified in writing that their attitude to war changed and that, if released from prison, they would do their bit towards the War effort. When the issue came to light, they tried to deny writing any such letter, but these are well-preserved in the National Archives.
The actual beginning of "Quit India" certainly altered their plans but also vastly enhanced the scope of showing performance. Judging by the nation's mood, the CPI would risk public ire by advertising its anti-movement and pro-war efforts. So the Marxist masters of falsehood, through December 1942 issues of People's War carried 'disinformation' of government atrocities against them.
The truth, however, was contained in Communist Party's bulky secret performance reports, delivered to Sir Reginald Maxwell and forwarded to Additional Secretary Sir Richard Tottenham. These reports available with National Archives show how the communists were able to prevent hartals and sabotages in Kanpur, Bombay, Jamshedpur, Calicut, Lahore, and Madras, etc., and turn people from anti-British to pro-British (The Only Fatherland, pp 57-85). An enthusiastic Comrade K Satyanarayana, an editor of "Prajashakti", even penned a eulogistic song "People's War" which was broadcast from All-India Radio.
After "Quit India" ended, the communists tried their unsuccessful best to eulogise Gandhi and whitewash its activity during the movement. But there was no full-stop to their treachery. While Jinnah floated his Two-Nation theory, the communists buttressed it by floating multi-nation theory. They claimed that India, like the USSR, was a conglomeration of multiple nations. Basing their arguments on right to self-determination, they supplied all intellectual arsenal needed to justify the creation of Pakistan. The Communists even engaged their cadres to campaign for Pakistan.
However, when Pakistan actually came about, they were the first to be cleansed. The communists denounced the freedom of India: "Yeh azadi jhootha hai, lakhon log bhookha hai" (millions are hungry, this independence is false) and in 1949 planned unsuccessfully to launch an armed insurrection saying India was ripe for armed revolution. The Communists never disappointed us in proving that they are the fifth columnists and vultures from the killing fields of Gulags.