Moni Guha
Encyclopedia
Moni Guha was an India
n communist.
lower middle class family whose economic circumstances did not allow him to complete his school education. He joined the struggle for Indian independence, and became an activist of Anushilan Samiti
in Faridpur. He was jailed because of his political activities. In prison he met communist leaders, and in the 1940s he became a member of the Communist Party of India
.
In the latter part of his life, Guha was accorded pension as a freedom fighter.
and Abdul Halim
. He was also active in the Tebhaga movement
, and was again imprisoned for a period. After being released from jail he was a trade union
organiser amongst factory workers in Calcutta.
He sharply criticized the new line adopted at the 20th congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, and published a pamphlet with his views (which he handed out to delegates at the 1958 congress of the Communist Party of India). Guha, who had condemned the 20th congress within weeks of its holding, was one of the first anti-revionist dissidents in the international communist movement. Subsequently, Guha was expelled from the Communist Party.
In 1975 he took part in the founding of the Unity Centre of Communist Revolutionaries of India (Marxist–Leninist) (UCCRI(ML)) and became one of the five Central Committee
members of the new party. In 1976 UCCRI(ML) was divided, and Guha was elected general secretary of one of the two UCCRI(ML) factions (the other being led by D.V. Rao). During his days as a UCCRI(ML) leader, Guha went underground. His party nom-de-guerre was Nakul.
In 1978 Guha split with the UCCRI(ML) and left the underground. In the same year he took part in the founding of the India-Albania Friendship Association
.
. After 1969, Guha was a proponent of Marxism-Leninism-Mao Tse-Tung Thought
and New Democratic Revolution. After breaking with UCCRI(ML) in 1978, Guha formulated a position that India had become a capitalist country and was thus ripe for socialist revolution. He also came to characterise the Communist Party of China
and its Three Worlds Theory
as 'revisionist'. His viewpoints were elaborated in his work Revisionism against Revisionism.
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n communist.
Biography
Guha was born to a BengaliBengali people
The Bengali people are an ethnic community native to the historic region of Bengal in South Asia. They speak Bengali , which is an Indo-Aryan language of the eastern Indian subcontinent, evolved from the Magadhi Prakrit and Sanskrit languages. In their native language, they are referred to as বাঙালী...
lower middle class family whose economic circumstances did not allow him to complete his school education. He joined the struggle for Indian independence, and became an activist of Anushilan Samiti
Anushilan Samiti
Anushilan Samiti was an armed anti-British organisation in Bengal and the principal secret revolutionary organisation operating in the region in the opening years of the 20th century. This association, like its offshoot the Jugantar, operated under the guise of suburban fitness club...
in Faridpur. He was jailed because of his political activities. In prison he met communist leaders, and in the 1940s he became a member of the Communist Party of India
Communist Party of India
The Communist Party of India is a national political party in India. In the Indian communist movement, there are different views on exactly when the Indian communist party was founded. The date maintained as the foundation day by CPI is 26 December 1925...
.
In the latter part of his life, Guha was accorded pension as a freedom fighter.
Communist party
Guha moved to Calcutta in 1947. He had close contacts with party leaders such as Muzaffar AhmedMuzaffar Ahmed
Dr. Muzaffar Ahmed is a leading Bangladeshi economist and a professor at the Institute of Business Administration of the University of Dhaka. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. He is also the Chairman of the Trustee Board of Transparency International Bangladesh...
and Abdul Halim
Abdul Halim
Abdul Halim is a male Muslim given name, and in modern usage, surname. It is built from the Arabic words Abd, al- and Halim. The name means "servant of the all-clement", Al-Halīm being one of the names of God in the Qur'an, which give rise to the Muslim theophoric names.The letter a of the al- is...
. He was also active in the Tebhaga movement
Tebhaga movement
The Tebhaga movement was a militant campaign initiated in Bengal by the Kisan Sabha in 1946. At that time share-cropping peasants had to give half of their harvest to the owners of the land...
, and was again imprisoned for a period. After being released from jail he was a trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
organiser amongst factory workers in Calcutta.
He sharply criticized the new line adopted at the 20th congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, and published a pamphlet with his views (which he handed out to delegates at the 1958 congress of the Communist Party of India). Guha, who had condemned the 20th congress within weeks of its holding, was one of the first anti-revionist dissidents in the international communist movement. Subsequently, Guha was expelled from the Communist Party.
UCCRI(ML)
In the early 1970s, Guha, Sunil Sen Gupta, and Shanti Rai founded the West Bengal Co-ordination Committee of Revolutionaries (WBCCR). He also became joint editor of Proletarian Path, along with D.V. Rao.In 1975 he took part in the founding of the Unity Centre of Communist Revolutionaries of India (Marxist–Leninist) (UCCRI(ML)) and became one of the five Central Committee
Central Committee
Central Committee was the common designation of a standing administrative body of communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, whether ruling or non-ruling in the twentieth century and of the surviving, mostly Trotskyist, states in the early twenty first. In such party organizations the...
members of the new party. In 1976 UCCRI(ML) was divided, and Guha was elected general secretary of one of the two UCCRI(ML) factions (the other being led by D.V. Rao). During his days as a UCCRI(ML) leader, Guha went underground. His party nom-de-guerre was Nakul.
In 1978 Guha split with the UCCRI(ML) and left the underground. In the same year he took part in the founding of the India-Albania Friendship Association
India-Albania Friendship Association
The India–Albania Friendship Association was an organisation in India. Moni Guha was one of its founders. The association published Socialist Albania. Some of the organisers of the association later started the periodical Revolutionary Democracy...
.
Political views
Guha denounced the post-1956 line of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union as 'revisionist'. He argued that it had its roots in bourgeois nationalism and could be traced to TitoismTitoism
Titoism is a variant of Marxism–Leninism named after Josip Broz Tito, leader of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, primarily used to describe the specific socialist system built in Yugoslavia after its refusal of the 1948 Resolution of the Cominform, when the Communist Party of...
. After 1969, Guha was a proponent of Marxism-Leninism-Mao Tse-Tung Thought
Maoism
Maoism, also known as the Mao Zedong Thought , is claimed by Maoists as an anti-Revisionist form of Marxist communist theory, derived from the teachings of the Chinese political leader Mao Zedong . Developed during the 1950s and 1960s, it was widely applied as the political and military guiding...
and New Democratic Revolution. After breaking with UCCRI(ML) in 1978, Guha formulated a position that India had become a capitalist country and was thus ripe for socialist revolution. He also came to characterise the Communist Party of China
Communist Party of China
The Communist Party of China , also known as the Chinese Communist Party , is the founding and ruling political party of the People's Republic of China...
and its Three Worlds Theory
Three Worlds Theory
The Three Worlds Theory , developed by Chinese Communist leader Mao Zedong , posited that international relations comprise three politico–economic worlds: the First World, the superpowers, the Second World, the superpowers' allies, and the Third World, the nations of the Non-Aligned...
as 'revisionist'. His viewpoints were elaborated in his work Revisionism against Revisionism.