P.C. Joshi and the National Politics

Abstract

This is a short political profile of P.C. Joshi underlying his relationship with the Communist Party of India (CPI). This article seeks to engage with Joshi and the CPI (in Joshi years) as a political organization, and to understand the reasons for its limited outreach. It also seeks to address the issue of CPI's and Joshi's, in particular, opinion on Gandhian and Nehruvian ideas to attain independence. Chandra argues that Joshi did not accept the notion that in colonial countries nationalism was a bourgeois concept and that this concept clashed with internationalism. Instead he put forth the notion of multiple loyalties to party, people and India. He did not see any clash among these three loyalties either.

P.C. Joshi started out with the Workers and Peasants Party holding the position of the General Secretary in 1928 until he joined the CPI formally in 1929. In late 1935 Joshi became the General Secretary of CPI, holding the position for twelve years. Joshi also had a long standing with students and young intellectuals, guiding them through various moments in their lives and advising them on their education.

In 1936–37 Joshi toured various provinces forming provincial party committees. He successfully continued to build the Party during 1939–41 until the resignation of the Congress ministry and a spate of repressions was imposed upon the CPI once again. During these years a large number of party leaders and activists were arrested. During Joshi's period, there was a resurgence of peasants, workers, writers and the students. The Party also organized several massive mass struggles of the people around their demands during this period. Kayyur, Punnapra-Vayalar, Tebhaga, Worli and Telengana are some of these names. The Party also played an important role in the Naval Revolt of 1946 and in the campaign to get the Indian National Army officers and soldiers released. The party members and leaders also did commendable work during the 1947 communal holocaust both in Bengal and Punjab.

This article is a lecture given by Professor Bipan Chandra on 17 August 2007, on the occasion of P.C. Joshi Birth Centenary Memorial Lecture organized by the Archives on Contemporary History, Jawaharlal Nehru University.