Articles
Will The Communists Respond To The Questions Raised In This Article ?
Dt:16/9/26
Will The Communists Respond To The Questions Raised In This Article ?
Dr T H Chowdary*
On the evening of 17 September 1948, the 5th day of Indian armies’ advances deep into the Nizam’s territories, the Nizam broadcast his order over radio to his army ( and the people) to ceasefire and stop resistance to the advances of the Indian army and that he was requesting the Indian army to enter his territory to reign in the Razakars and establish law and order that his Prime Minister Laik Ali had resigned and that he has himself taken over the administration of his territories and that he asked his representative at the Security Council of the UNO meeting in Paris to withdraw his complaint against India’s aggression.
2. The Communists in Hyderabad decided to obstruct the advance of the Indian forces into the Nizam’s territory. The communists who had taken to arms against the Razakars and the Nizam’s forces earlier, had recently struck an alliance with the Nizam, his Razakars and his army. The communist party’s guerrillas had liberated about 1000 villages in Nalgonda and Warangal districts and had planned to convert Telangana into a communist base on the lines of Yenan in China from where the communist armies under the leadership of Mao Tse Tung were fighting the nationalist government of Chiang Kai Shaik . The Indian communists under the leadership of Com. B.T Ranadive and instructions of the Soviet communist party and Stalin had planned to make Telangana the base for communist revolution, overthrow the Nehru government and establish a government under their hegemony all over India. The Nizam’s army was defeated and disarmed by the Indian forces .
3. The armed actions of the Indian armed and police forces did not stop from 18th May 1948 . The communists in Telangana opposed the Indian forces and administration in Telangana. They took to guerrilla war against the Indian army and India’s special police forces for the next three years that is, until almost the end of 1951. Hundreds of communist guerrillas were killed. They were almost decimated by middle of 1951.
4. A delegation of communists led by Com Ajay Ghosh, the Secretary General went to Moscow to seek help and directions from Stalin, the Soviet ruler and mentor and master and director of communist parties in the world. They explained to him that as per his advice and direction, they were fighting the Indian army and had got almost decimated. They could still fight provided the Soviet Union gave them arms and ammunition and inspiration. They sought Soviet Union’s help and its inspiration so that they can still continue the fight and convert Telangana into Yenan of India.
5. After considerable discussion Stalin told them to discontinue the war against India , call for negotiations for ceasefire and termination of the conflict. He further advised that if the parleys with Indian government don’t result in any agreement, they should forge a popular front of politicians and parties and fight the elections that were due in the first few months of 1952. The communist delegation came to back India and called upon the government to have negotiations to end the conflict. The then Home Minister, Kailash Nath Katju of India dismissed the call of the communists for negotiations , asked them to surrender unconditionally ( this is just like the Maoist PWG guerrilla armies of India asking for negotiations in 2025-26 and the Home Minister of India, Amit Shah dismissing those calls and appeals and finally determinately decimated the PWG armies ).
6. Will the communists answer the following questions.
· Did not they become allies of the Nizam and the Razakars to resist India’s Police Action (13 -17 Sept 1948) ?
· Did they not continue their guerilla war actions against the Indian army and the special police forces till Sept 1951 that is, for 3 years after the surrender of the Nizam and the extension of India’s rule and integration of nizam’s territories with India ?
· Were they not all along guided by the communist party of Russia and Stalin, its leader ?
· Did not Com Ravi Narayana Reddy plead for the discontinuance of the communists fight against the Indian army after 17 Sept 1948 ? Was he not sentenced to death by the communist party ? Did he not run away to Bombay and took refuge at Com S.A. Dange’s residence ?
· Did they not in accordance with Stalin’s direction, forge the Peoples Democratic Front under the Chiarmanship of Dr N.M. Jayasurya, the son of Sarojini Naidu and fight the 1952 general elections ?
· Were not all these actions in accordance with Stalin’s and Russia’s advice and direction?
7. The Nizam lifted the ban on communist party in Telangana in May 1948 but from 1946 when the Nizam declared to be independent , relations between Nizam and Razakars on one hand and the communists on the other, become less antagonist an d gradually collaborationist to oppose Nizam’s accession to and merger with India.
8. Currently, the CPI ( not the CPM) is surviving by it becoming a camp follower of the Congress party, getting one MLA and MLC seat in Telangana State Legislative Assembly & Council .
9. Communists have their clout in West Bengal and Tripura years ago and recently in Kerala too. For the first time, there is no communist government anywhere in India.
10. Finally, will CPI & CPM explain why there are about 10 different communist parties in India?
(869 words)
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