Workers and Peasants Party
Encyclopedia
The Workers and Peasants Party was a political party
in India
, which worked inside the Indian National Congress
1925-1929. It became an important front organisation for the Communist Party of India
and an influential force in the Bombay labour movement. The party was able to muster some success in making alliances with other left elements inside the Congress Party, amongst them Jawaharlal Nehru
. However, as the Communist International entered its 'Third Period
' phase, the communists deserted the WPP project. The WPP was wound up, as its leadership was arrested by the British authorities in March 1929.
on November 1, 1925, as the Labour Swaraj Party of the Indian National Congress. The founding leaders of the party were Kazi Nazrul Islam
, Hemanta Kumar Sarkar, Qutubuddin Ahmad and Shamsuddin Hussain. The founding manifesto was signed by Kazi Nazrul Islam. During the first three month of existence, the party organisation was very provisional.
At the All Bengal Praja Conference, held at Krishnagar
on February 6, 1926, a resolution was moved by Faizuddin Hussian Sahib of Mymensingh
for the creation of a workers-peasants party. The move was seconded by Braja Nath Das of Bogra
. The resolution was passed by the conference, and in accordance with this decision the name of the party was changed to 'Workers and Peasants Party of Bengal'. Dr. Naresh Chandra Sengupta was elected party president and Hemanta Kumar Sarkar and Qutubuddin Ahmad were elected as joint secretaries.
), the Dhakeswari Mill Workers Union, the Bengal Glass Workers Union, the Scavengers' Union of Bengal (with branches in Howrah, Dacca and Mymensingh) and the Workers Protection League were led by the party.
Soon after the 1926 conference of the WPP of Bengal, the underground Communist Party of India
directed its members to join the provincial Workers and Peasants Parties. All open communist activities were carried out through Workers and Peasants Parties. The Comintern
organiser M.N. Roy took part in the build-up of the WPP.
A WPP was formed in Bombay in January 1927. D.R. Thengdi was elected president and S.S. Mirajkar general secretary. The WPPs gained influence within the Bombay and Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee
s. From the WPP of Bombay, K.N. Joglekar, R.S. Nimbkar and D.R. Tengdi were elected to the All India Congress Committee. From the WPP of Bengal, two party representatives were elected to the AICC. The WPP representatives together with Nehru were able to convince the AICC to make the Indian National Congress an associate member of the League against Imperialism
.
ists. Nehru chaired the meeting.
. During 1928 the WPP led a general strike
in Bombay, which lasted for months. At the time of the strike, the Girni Kamgar Union was founded.
, the WPP played a major role in organising manifestations in Calcutta and Bombay. In Bombay it also mobilised 'hartal
' (general strike) in protest against the Simon Commission.
, in March 1928. After the conference the executive of the party published the conference documents in a book titled A Call for Action. In the book an argument is presented that national independence was not possible as long as capitalists dominated the freedom struggle. British intelligence sources claimed that Spratt had been the author of the book.
in September 1928 the Punjab Kirti Kisan Party (Workers and Peasants Party of Punjab) was formed by the Kirti group. Chabil Das, a Lahore
propagandist of the Naujawan Bharat Sabha
, was elected president of the party. In October 1928 two WPPs were formed in the United Provinces
. One of them was the Bundelkhand Workers and Peasants Party, with N.L. Kadam as its secretary and headquartered in Jhansi
. The party held its founding conference in Jhansi on October 28-October 29, 1928. Jhavwala from Bombay presided over the conference. The other was the U.P. Peasants and Workers Party which was founded at a conference in Meerut. P.C. Joshi was elected president and Dharamvir Singh was elected general secretary The Meerut conference was attended by Philip Spratt
, Muzaffar Ahmed
and Kedar Nath Sahgol.
communist Otto Kuusinen. In his report, he stated that it was 'necessary to reject the formation of any kind of bloc between the Communist Party and the national-reformist opposition' in the colonies. Moreover, he claimed that parties like WPP could develop into petty bourgeois parties. Trotsky concurred with this view. In June 1928, he had submitted a document which called WPP an invention of Stalin and that the party was a 'thoroughly anti-Marxist formation'. Abani Mukherji
, a founding member of CPI, had described WPP as a 'Kuomintang
Party' and that WPP 'is accumulating by itself the elements of future Indian Fascism.'. S.N. Tagore and the delegates of the Communist Party of Great Britain
argued for retaining the WPP. This declaration created confusion amongst the communist ranks in India. On December 2, 1928, the Executive Committee of the Communist International had drafted a letter to the WPP, which singled out the WPP as consisting '...largely of petit-bourgeois intellectuals, and they were tied up with either the system of landlordism and usury or straight away capitalist interests.' The letter did however take long time to reach the WPP. The Tenth Plenum of the ECCI, July 3-July 19, 1929, directed the Indian communists to break with WPP. When the communists deserted it, the WPP fell apart.
On March 20, 1929, arrests against WPP, CPI and other labour leaders were made in several parts of India, in what became known as the Meerut Conspiracy Case
. Most of the WPP leadership was now put behind bars. The trial proceedings were to last for four years, thus outliving the WPP. Tengdi, the WPP of Bombay president, died whilst the trial was still going on.
S.S. Mirajkar stated in his defense that
Abdul Majid on his behalf stated that
The judgement in the case was ended with the following passage;
After the arrests of its main leaders, the WPP was dissolved.
, for the liberation of the masses. The party combined demand for full independence with socio-economic demands. In 1927, the WPP of Bombay presented a programme of action to the All India Congress Committee. The programme proposed struggle for full independence combined with active socio-economic policies for the toiling classes. The WPP of Bengal had submitted a manifesto the Madras Congress session, which sought that the Congress should engage in mass struggles for full independence and that a Constituent Assembly should determine the constitution of an independent India. The party also worked for the abolishment of 'zamindari' system in agriculture.
organ, Lal Nishan ('Red Flag'). A weekly newspaper in Kushtia, Jagaran ('Awakening'), was politically close to the party.
In Punjab the publication Kirti ('Worker') had been started in 1926 by Santokh Singh of the Ghadar Party
. Soon it became the organ of the Punjab Kirti Kisan Party and managed by Sohan Singh Josh.
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
in India
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...
, which worked inside the Indian National Congress
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...
1925-1929. It became an important front organisation for 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...
and an influential force in the Bombay labour movement. The party was able to muster some success in making alliances with other left elements inside the Congress Party, amongst them Jawaharlal Nehru
Jawaharlal Nehru
Jawaharlal Nehru , often referred to with the epithet of Panditji, was an Indian statesman who became the first Prime Minister of independent India and became noted for his “neutralist” policies in foreign affairs. He was also one of the principal leaders of India’s independence movement in the...
. However, as the Communist International entered its 'Third Period
Third Period
The Third Period is a ideological concept adopted by the Communist International at its 6th World Congress, held in Moscow in the summer of 1928....
' phase, the communists deserted the WPP project. The WPP was wound up, as its leadership was arrested by the British authorities in March 1929.
Founding of the party
The party was founded in BengalBengal
Bengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...
on November 1, 1925, as the Labour Swaraj Party of the Indian National Congress. The founding leaders of the party were Kazi Nazrul Islam
Kazi Nazrul Islam
Kazi Nazrul Islam , sobriquet Bidrohi Kobi, was a Bengali poet, musician and revolutionary who pioneered poetic works espousing intense spiritual rebellion against fascism and oppression. His poetry and nationalist activism earned him the popular title of Bidrohi Kobi...
, Hemanta Kumar Sarkar, Qutubuddin Ahmad and Shamsuddin Hussain. The founding manifesto was signed by Kazi Nazrul Islam. During the first three month of existence, the party organisation was very provisional.
At the All Bengal Praja Conference, held at Krishnagar
Krishnagar
Krishnanagar is a municipality and administrative headquarters of Nadia district in the Indian state of West Bengal.-Geography:Krishnanagar is located at . It has an average elevation of 14 metres...
on February 6, 1926, a resolution was moved by Faizuddin Hussian Sahib of Mymensingh
Mymensingh
Mymensingh , pronounced moy-mon-shing-haw, is a city of Bangladesh situated on the river Brahmaputra. It is the headquarters of the administrative unit Mymensingh District. Mymensingh is the anglicized pronunciation of the original name Momenshahi, referring to a ruler called Momen Shah. The cadet...
for the creation of a workers-peasants party. The move was seconded by Braja Nath Das of Bogra
Bogra
Bogra is a town, and one of the oldest towns in northern Bangladesh. It is a centre of commerce and trade within the Bogra District and located under the Rajshahi Division. Bogra is sometimes described as the nerve centre of Northern Bangladesh. Amongst many notable activities, it has been hosting...
. The resolution was passed by the conference, and in accordance with this decision the name of the party was changed to 'Workers and Peasants Party of Bengal'. Dr. Naresh Chandra Sengupta was elected party president and Hemanta Kumar Sarkar and Qutubuddin Ahmad were elected as joint secretaries.
Build-up of the WPPs of Bengal and Bombay
As of 1926, the WPP of Bengal had only 40 members, and its growth in membership was very slow. A two-room party office was set up at 37, Harrison Road, Calcutta. British intelligence perceived that the Bengal Jute Workers Association, the Mymensingh Workers and Peasants Party (with branch in AtiaAtia
Atia Balba Caesonia , sometimes referred to as Atia Balba Secunda to differentiate her from her two sisters, was a Roman noblewoman...
), the Dhakeswari Mill Workers Union, the Bengal Glass Workers Union, the Scavengers' Union of Bengal (with branches in Howrah, Dacca and Mymensingh) and the Workers Protection League were led by the party.
Soon after the 1926 conference of the WPP of Bengal, the underground 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...
directed its members to join the provincial Workers and Peasants Parties. All open communist activities were carried out through Workers and Peasants Parties. The Comintern
Comintern
The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern, also known as the Third International, was an international communist organization initiated in Moscow during March 1919...
organiser M.N. Roy took part in the build-up of the WPP.
A WPP was formed in Bombay in January 1927. D.R. Thengdi was elected president and S.S. Mirajkar general secretary. The WPPs gained influence within the Bombay and Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee
Pradesh Congress Committee
The elected committee that directs the Congress Party in an Indian state is known as a PCC, or Pradesh Congress Committee. It is elected by card-holding members of the Congress, the world's largest political organisation, and in turn elects State Congress Presidents and delegates to the All India...
s. From the WPP of Bombay, K.N. Joglekar, R.S. Nimbkar and D.R. Tengdi were elected to the All India Congress Committee. From the WPP of Bengal, two party representatives were elected to the AICC. The WPP representatives together with Nehru were able to convince the AICC to make the Indian National Congress an associate member of the League against Imperialism
League against Imperialism
The League against Imperialism was founded in the Egmont Palace in Brussels, Belgium, on February 10, 1927, in presence of 175 delegates, among which 107 came from 37 countries under colonial rule. The Congress aimed at creating a "mass anti-imperialist movement" at a world scale, and was...
.
Madras Congress
At the 1927 annual Congress session in Madras a leader of the WPP of Bombay, K.N. Joglekar presented a proposal for a resolution in the Subjects Committee, that the Indian National Congress should demand full independence for India. The proposal was seconded by Jawaharlal Nehru. At the open session of the Madras Congress, Nehru moved the resolution and Joglekar seconded it. The resolution was passed unanimously. This was the first time in history that the Indian National Congress officially demanded full independence from British rule. During the Madras session, the WPP functioned as a fraction. Directly after the Madras Congress, the WPP took part in a 'Republican Congress' meeting together with other left elements of the Congress Party and radical trade unionTrade 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...
ists. Nehru chaired the meeting.
Trade union struggles
Particularly the WPP of Bombay was successful in mobilising trade union work. It built unions amongst printing press, municipal and dock workers. It gained influence amongst the workers of the Great Indian Peninsular RailwayGreat Indian Peninsular Railway
The Great Indian Peninsula Railway was a predecessor of the Indian Central Railway, whose headquarters was at the Boree Bunder in Bombay . The Great Indian Peninsula Railway was incorporated on August 1, 1849 by an act of the British Parliament. It had a share capital of 50,000 pounds...
. During 1928 the WPP led a general strike
General strike
A general strike is a strike action by a critical mass of the labour force in a city, region, or country. While a general strike can be for political goals, economic goals, or both, it tends to gain its momentum from the ideological or class sympathies of the participants...
in Bombay, which lasted for months. At the time of the strike, the Girni Kamgar Union was founded.
Anti-Simon struggle
During the protests against the Simon CommissionSimon Commission
The Indian Statutory Commission was a group of seven British Members of Parliament that had been dispatched to India in 1927 to study constitutional reform in Britain's most important colonial dependency. It was commonly referred to as the Simon Commission after its chairman, Sir John Simon...
, the WPP played a major role in organising manifestations in Calcutta and Bombay. In Bombay it also mobilised 'hartal
Hartal
Hartal is a term in many Indian languages for strike action, used often during the Indian Independence Movement. It is mass protest often involving a total shutdown of workplaces, offices, shops, courts of law as a form of civil disobedience...
' (general strike) in protest against the Simon Commission.
1928 Bengal party conference
The WPP of Bengal held its third conference in BhatparaBhatpara
Bhatpara is a city and a municipality under Jagatdal police station of Barrackpore subdivision in North 24 Parganas district in the state of West Bengal, India. It is situated on the bank of Hoogly river. It is mainly known for its rich traditions in the field of Sanskrit learning...
, in March 1928. After the conference the executive of the party published the conference documents in a book titled A Call for Action. In the book an argument is presented that national independence was not possible as long as capitalists dominated the freedom struggle. British intelligence sources claimed that Spratt had been the author of the book.
Formation of WPPs in Punjab and UP
At a conference in LyallpurLyallpur
Lyallpur may refer to* the former name of Faisalabad city, Pakistan* Lyallpur Town, a municipal area of Faisalabad city, Pakistan...
in September 1928 the Punjab Kirti Kisan Party (Workers and Peasants Party of Punjab) was formed by the Kirti group. Chabil Das, a Lahore
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
propagandist of the Naujawan Bharat Sabha
Naujawan Bharat Sabha
Naujawan Bharat Sabha was an association of Indian youth which was established at a convention held in April 1928 at the Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar....
, was elected president of the party. In October 1928 two WPPs were formed in the United Provinces
United Provinces of British India
The United Provinces of British India, more commonly known as the United Provinces, was a province of British India, which came into existence on 3 January 1921 as a result of the renaming of the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh. It corresponded approximately to the combined regions of the...
. One of them was the Bundelkhand Workers and Peasants Party, with N.L. Kadam as its secretary and headquartered in Jhansi
Jhansi
Jhansi Hindi:झाँसी, , Marathi: झाशी, is a historical city of India. Jhansi is the administrative headquarters of Jhansi District and Jhansi Division. The original walled city grew up around its stone fort, which crowns a neighboring rock. This district is on the bank of river Betwa.The National...
. The party held its founding conference in Jhansi on October 28-October 29, 1928. Jhavwala from Bombay presided over the conference. The other was the U.P. Peasants and Workers Party which was founded at a conference in Meerut. P.C. Joshi was elected president and Dharamvir Singh was elected general secretary The Meerut conference was attended by Philip Spratt
Philip Spratt
Philip Spratt was a British writer and intellectual. Initially a communist sent by the British arm of the Communist International , based in Moscow, to spread Communism in India, he subsequently became a friend and colleague of M.N...
, Muzaffar Ahmed
Muzaffar Ahmed (politician)
Muzaffar Ahmed was a noted Bengali politician, journalist and communist activist, popularly known as "Kakababu".-Background:...
and Kedar Nath Sahgol.
All India WPP conference
In late November 1928 the WPP of Bengal executive committee met with Philipp Spratt and Muzaffar Ahmed. They decided to appoint Sohan Singh Josh of the Punjab Kirti Kisan Party to chair the All India Workers and Peasants Conference, to be held in Calcutta in December. The provincial WPPs attended All India Workers and Peasants Conference in Calcutta on December 22-December 24, 1928, at which the All India Workers and Peasants Party was formed. A 16-member national executive was elected. The Bengal, Bombay, Punjab and United Provinces were allocated four seats each in the national executive. Out of these 16, ten were either identified as CPI members or as 'communists'. R.S. Nimbkar was the general secretary of the party. The conference discussed an affiliation of the party with the League against Imperialism. Spratt and Ahmed urged the conference to approve the affiliation of the party to the League. The conference decision to postpone a decision on the issue to a later occasion.1929 Bombay municipal election
The party contested the January 1929 Bombay municipal election, mustering around 12,500 votes.Comintern turns against the WPP
The political fortunes of the WPP was to be terminated by changes in policy of the Communist International. The July 1928 sixth congress of the Communist International declared that 'The Union of all communist groups and individuals scattered throughout the country into a single, illegal, independent and centralized party represent the first task for Indian communists.' This was a statement made in opposition to the building of the 'multi-class' WPP. The new line was promoted at the congress by the FinnishFinland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
communist Otto Kuusinen. In his report, he stated that it was 'necessary to reject the formation of any kind of bloc between the Communist Party and the national-reformist opposition' in the colonies. Moreover, he claimed that parties like WPP could develop into petty bourgeois parties. Trotsky concurred with this view. In June 1928, he had submitted a document which called WPP an invention of Stalin and that the party was a 'thoroughly anti-Marxist formation'. Abani Mukherji
Abani Mukherji
Abaninath Mukherji was an Indian revolutionary and co-founder of the Communist Party of India. His name was often spelt Abani Mukherjee.-Early life:...
, a founding member of CPI, had described WPP as a 'Kuomintang
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...
Party' and that WPP 'is accumulating by itself the elements of future Indian Fascism.'. S.N. Tagore and the delegates of the Communist Party of Great Britain
Communist Party of Great Britain
The Communist Party of Great Britain was the largest communist party in Great Britain, although it never became a mass party like those in France and Italy. It existed from 1920 to 1991.-Formation:...
argued for retaining the WPP. This declaration created confusion amongst the communist ranks in India. On December 2, 1928, the Executive Committee of the Communist International had drafted a letter to the WPP, which singled out the WPP as consisting '...largely of petit-bourgeois intellectuals, and they were tied up with either the system of landlordism and usury or straight away capitalist interests.' The letter did however take long time to reach the WPP. The Tenth Plenum of the ECCI, July 3-July 19, 1929, directed the Indian communists to break with WPP. When the communists deserted it, the WPP fell apart.
Meerut Conspiracy case
Meerut Conspiracy Case
Meerut Conspiracy Case was a controversial court case, in which several trade unionists, including three Englishmen were arrested for organizing Indian-rail strike, this immediately caught attention back home in England, inspired the 1932 play titled Meerut, by Manchester street theatre group, the...
. Most of the WPP leadership was now put behind bars. The trial proceedings were to last for four years, thus outliving the WPP. Tengdi, the WPP of Bombay president, died whilst the trial was still going on.
S.S. Mirajkar stated in his defense that
"It has already been pointed out to the Court that the Workers' and Peasants' Party was a party inaugurated with a view to establish national independence through revolution."
Abdul Majid on his behalf stated that
"If there is any resemblance between the Communist Party and the Workers' and Peasants' Party is that the immediate programme of the former and the ultimate programme of the latter is one and the same ... As both are revolutionary bodies it is necessary that their national revolutionary programme should resemble each other."
The judgement in the case was ended with the following passage;
"As to the progress made in this conspiracy its main achievements have been the establishment of Workers and Peasant Parties in Bengal, Bombay and Punjab and the U.P., but perhaps of deeper gravity was the hold that the members of the Bombay Party acquired over the workers in the textile industry in Bombay as shown by the extent of the control which they exercised during the strike of 1928 and the success they were achieving in pushing forward a thoroughly revolutionary policy in the Girni Kamgar Union after the strike came to an end."
After the arrests of its main leaders, the WPP was dissolved.
Policies
The founding manifesto of the Labour Swaraj Party stressed that the party was organised on the basis of class struggleClass struggle
Class struggle is the active expression of a class conflict looked at from any kind of socialist perspective. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels wrote "The [written] history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggle"....
, for the liberation of the masses. The party combined demand for full independence with socio-economic demands. In 1927, the WPP of Bombay presented a programme of action to the All India Congress Committee. The programme proposed struggle for full independence combined with active socio-economic policies for the toiling classes. The WPP of Bengal had submitted a manifesto the Madras Congress session, which sought that the Congress should engage in mass struggles for full independence and that a Constituent Assembly should determine the constitution of an independent India. The party also worked for the abolishment of 'zamindari' system in agriculture.
Publications
The organ of the Labour Swaraj Party, and later the WPP of Bengal, was Langal ('Plough'). The chief editor of Langal was Kazi Nazrul Islam and the editor was Manibhusan Mukhopadhaya. Langal stopped publication after 15 issues. On August 12, 1926 it was substituted by Ganavani. In 1928, the party also had a weekly HindiHindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
organ, Lal Nishan ('Red Flag'). A weekly newspaper in Kushtia, Jagaran ('Awakening'), was politically close to the party.
In Punjab the publication Kirti ('Worker') had been started in 1926 by Santokh Singh of the Ghadar Party
Ghadar Party
The Ghadar Party was an organization founded by Punjabi Indians, in the United States and Canada with the aim to liberate India from British rule...
. Soon it became the organ of the Punjab Kirti Kisan Party and managed by Sohan Singh Josh.