COMMUNISM IN INDIA

As I watched the last journey of Communist stalwart JYOTHI BASU, I noticed that he was the first communist leader of INDIA to recieve the full state honours. Even the largest democracy of the world garlanded "the comrade". He was a great patriarch of marxist communism and his political ideas were astounding. His ability to run 23 years of uninterepted state government itself speaks of it. Although having great communist leaders like him, communism didnt flourished much in India.As I started searching the reasons for it the following thoughts came to my mind.I would like to mention that Iam not a staunch supporter of communism though I accept some of their policies. These are just my opinion from a neutral point of view.

Communism was basically an outcome of industrial revolution. During those industrialization periods wealth was accumulated by a small group of people and was never distributed equally among the working class.Thus two groups of masses came into existence -one the oppressor minority called BOURGEOIS and the other, the oppressed majority called the PROLETARIANS. Communism was nothing but the revolt of the working class(proletarians) against the brutal aristocracy of the BOURGEOIS. It was aimed at distributing wealth equally among all and it always opposed capitalist system. "THE COMMUNIST MANIFESTO", a historic work by KARL MARX and FRIEDRICH ANGELS is the basis for all communists systems. Communism came into existence in INDIA in 1920's as a alternative path to congress led by GANDHIJI. They didnt just revolted against the British government but also against the local provinces and capitalists who tried to oppress the working class. Communists were successful in uniting factory workers and railway unions. In an united front they fought against the laws imposed against the welfare of workers.

But after independence the popularity of GANDHIAN ideas flooded across INDIA and communist ideas were curtailed. INDIA had a strong relation with The Soviet Union, which encouraged the flourish of Communism in INDIA.But it was limited only to KERALA, WEST BENGAL and ANDRA PRADESH. After INDO-SINO war the CPI(M) bifurcated from the main communist stream. There was division among themselves as internationalist and nationalist . Some section of the community even went to the extent of supporting China. They were imprisoned immediately. Now there is decrease of communist popularity in KERALA , they somehow managing to form a govt with coalition. But in West Bengal they still have a very strong hold. Thanks to the great leaders like legendary JYOTHI BASU , the incorruptible BUDHADEV BHATHACHARJI(even his critics agree to this), PRAKASH KARAT, SITARAM YELCHURY and many more.

Comunists should be given some credits for their way of governance. FOR e.g during the communal riots bcz of death of INDIRA GANDHI and also during the BABRI MASJID row the whole country was boiling with violence. But the state of west Bengal which had a strong communists govt managed the situation well. Peace was maintained in most part of the state. The great advantage of communism is that they can produce a casteless society. While, as we can see, the democratic political parties are waiting for such opportunities to gain political advantage.

But there are many pitfalls in INDIAN Communism which led to their decreased popularity. Firstly, Indian communists never tried to propel people to the main stream. Their movements were limited only to a particular class or group. They couldn’t arise national spirit among them. They were agitating only for their demands and the concept of nationhood didn’t arise. In contradictory, the communism started in RUSSIA and CHINA in order to evolve the national spirit. Also without widespread knowledge of communism , it was reduced to mere agitations and revolt. The people involved knew neither MARX and ANGELS nor their idealogies. The only thing they knew was to revolt against the capitalist system. Thus the communist ideas never reached the masses.

Thus inspite of receiving constant support from neighbor country the communism couldnt evolve as an alternate to congress party. Some of its policies have proved to be good. It has helped in bringing in the much needed variety in the Indian policies. Thus it has added its part to VIBRANT Indian democracy. It has a major role to play in future Indian politics, where a single party is finding it difficult to get the majority.