Left-wing politics supports social
equality and egalitarianism,
often in opposition to social
hierarchy. It typically involves a concern for those in society whom
its adherents perceive as disadvantaged relative to others as well as a belief
that there are unjustified inequalities that need to be reduced or abolished
(by advocating for social justice). The
term left-wing can also refer to "the radical, reforming,
or socialist section
of a political party or system"
It was the tenth anniversary of
the historic revolution in Russia
that shook the world by establishing that the real power lay in the hands of common people who could rise up to
overthrow their exploiters. The future prime minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru paid
his first ever visit to the land of socialism that he had been studying
minutely since the earliest days of the revolution. In Russia, Nehru strove to find a solution to the
struggles of a colonised India. He studied the works of Marx and Lenin and admitted that he was greatly influenced by their ideologies of development. “We began a new phase in our struggle for
freedom in India at about the same time as the October Revolution led by the
great Lenin. We admired Lenin whose example influenced us greatly,” he
wrote later.
By the second decade of the
twentieth century, Indians were slowly but steadily acquainting themselves with
the Gandhian philosophy of peaceful confrontation as a means to overpower their
colonial rulers. The Russian revolution, however, set in a new course in the
trajectory of nationalist struggle. The Marxist
ideology of the working class, overthrowing the propertied exploiter, by sheer
force, struck a chord deep within the hearts of the agitators of nationalism.
The appeal was almost uniform among all those looking for an alternative to the
Gandhian mode of peaceful demonstration, and in fact, inspired even a staunch
Gandhian like Nehru. The aggressive
revolutionary, Bhagat Singh, is noted to have studied in detail the life of Lenin and the Communist Manifesto
during his time in jail. So deep was his attachment to the Russian philosophy,
that his last wish was to complete reading the life of Lenin. Down South, on
the other hand, the social activist
Periyar, who started the ‘self-respect
movement’ and also the Dravida Kazhagham, is known to have drawn inspiration from the Russian Communist
method of bringing social justice,
which he thought was best applicable to
the plight of the lower castes in India. But, of course, it was M N Roy, the founder of the Communist Party
of India(CPI), who was personally
mentored by Lenin in Russia to prepare Indian soil for revolution against the
foreign colonisers.
The history of Left politics in
India runs deep into the very heart of the freedom struggle. It can hardly be
denied that both the freedom struggle and the political landscape of free India
was for the longest period of time hued in various shades of red. “It is very
difficult to conceptualise Leftism in terms of one country of India as a whole.
You need to think of the cultural specificity of the context in which you are
talking about ideology. For instance, Periyar drew on empowerment of
underprivileged. Now this is leftist ideology, but this is also the ideology of
Jyotirao Phule, of Hinduism, of Jainism,” explains political scientist Bidyut
Chakrabarty speaking about the unique way in which Leftism in India developed
in close ties with the culture in which it was rooted.
A party is born
Despite the broad appeal of Left
ideology though, it was MN Roy’s CPI and
its later offshoots that went on to become the face of Left politics in India.
During its initial days, the CPI focused on mobilising peasants and workers towards a revolutionary cause,
while at the same time influencing the
Congress in developing a sturdy Left leaning ideology.
However, having its roots in the international Communist movement meant that the
CPI struggled hard to keep its feet rooted in the nationalist movement.
Trouble arose when in the 1940s Gandhi
launched the Quit India movement against the British almost at the same
time when the Soviet Union urged the CPI
to back the British war efforts in the fight against Fascism. In their
efforts to please the Russians, they alienated
themselves from the nationalist struggle.
Part 2: Post independence history
of Left Politics in India (HISTORY)
Credit: Indian Express Research
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