A Page from History : CPI Through Comrade’s EyesIconsistent—Servile

The policies of the ‘Communist Party of India’ have been quite an enigma to students of public affairs. After severe and prolonged criticism of World War II they all of a sudden supported it as “People War”. They lost no opportunity to rapport Jinnah in his Pakistan demand, but have since come to think differently about it. In February 1949 last at their Calcutta Congress they ousted their erstwhile leader Shri PC Joshi for daring to omit from M Stalin’s comment on Bharat, his adverse comments on the leadership of Pandit Nehru. Their present leader is one Shri Ranadive under whose guidance they have launched a campaign of sabotage. Disgusted by constant shifts in policy at the dictation from outside in total disregard of “inner-party democracy”, Shri Kumaresh Chandra of Nadia, a prominent member of the ‘Communist Party of India’ in a statement announces his severance of connection with the CPI (“Communist Party of India”) Ed]

Explaining the reasons which impelled him to take this step Mr Chandra says :
1948 Party Line
In 1948 at the Second Party Congress, when a new policy was formulated and the reformist leadership changed, we all thought that a bold revolutionary leadership had been established and the ‘Communist Party of India’ was going to develop tremendously under their able leadership. But to our great surprise and dismay we find that the policy chalked out by the Second Party Congress is fundamentally wrong and contrary to the teachings of Marxism-Leninism and the Cominform has come out with a new policy, pointing out that the correlation of forces in the political thesis as formulated by the Second Congress of the ‘Communist Party of India’ is basically wrong.
Victims of 1948
The leadership of our Party (CPI) to save their face, has once welcomed it without consulting the rank and file members. Am I to understand that whipped from outside our leadership always changes its policy overnight?
Needless to say that the Cominform policy is to be accepted. But that new policy is to be judged in the light of local conditions. After the second Party Congress, those who raised their voice against the validity of its political thesis, have either been expelled or suspended. In the name of ‘Marxism Leninism’ and in the name of ‘democratic centralism’ the leadership of the CPI has done gross injustice against many of our honest comrades.
CPI & War
In 1936, one of the Party leaders wrote an article, frankly stating that the Communists would support the Soviet Union in her fight against Hitler’s aggression, and if Britain were on the same side as Soviet, that fact wont alter the Communist attitude to war. When Hitler’s ruthless war against Soviet Union was six months’ old, one fine morning our leadership came out with a statement of “People’s War” which was quite contrary to the then policy of ‘Imperia-list war.’ This was the leader-ship’s conception about the Proletarian internationalism.
CP I & Pakistan
Leadership’s conception about the National questions during the first Congress of the Communist Party of India in May 1943 was as follows: “Eastern Bengal forms a special problem. Here generally speaking there is a Muslim population of more than 60 per cent. Within the frame-work of a common nationality, the Muslim, peasantry of Eastern Bengal has distinct cultural complex of its own which made its impress on Eastern Bengal as a separate entity. We have to recognise this. Here nationality was conceived as based on religion and that is why the Party never expressed in clear language its stand on Pakistan.
Fruitless Adventures
After the Second Congress of the Communist Party the leadership had taken altogether a “left adventuristic stand” in many places. The leadership had launched many campaigns of unequal fight with the Authority even inside prisons. I have been serving as a member of the ‘Communist Party of India’ since 1939 and I am sure I have consistently served the cause of revolution to the best of my abilities. But now I feel disillusioned by the failure of our leadership at the critical juncture of history. At present I think I shall not be of any help to the party because I believe that the Party completely lack “Inner-party-democracy”. Henceforth I am severing all connections with the Communist Party of India’ i.e. resigning my membership from the ‘CPI’.