The CPI's Emergency stumble

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THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF INDIA AND THE INDIAN EMERGENCY
David Lockwood
Sage
228 pages; Rs 795

At the heart of David Lockwood's brilliant study of the Communist Party of India (CPI)'s support for the Emergency is the question: What was the nature of the Congress? For the majority of India's history, political parties have reached differing conclusions on the nature of the freedom struggle and the class interests of the Indian National Congress (INC).

In their brilliant three-volume study titled The Struggle for Hegemony in India, Shashi Joshi and Bhagwan Josh concluded that the INC was not a monolithic party, but a movement. In this view, the Congress had a very diverse shade of opinions within it, from those supporting the free market to socialists and communists.

From its inception, the CPI grappled with this question. In fact, one of the reasons for the split in the party in 1964 were differences over the understanding of the Congress, which led to the formation of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). The CPI(M) felt the Congress was a party of the national bourgeoisie on the one hand and landlords on the other.

However, the CPI, though opposed to the nascent Indian state, saw in the second five-year plan the beginnings of a tilt towards socialism. As a result, its relationship with the Congress changed to one of "unity and struggle."

Mr Lockwood documents how this changed with Jawaharlal Nehru's death. The Lal Bahadur Shastri government sought to liberalise the economy. Even Indira Gandhi continued on this path. In 1966, she said: "We have weeded out some controls and we will always be ready to eliminate those that outlive their utility."

Opposition to this came not just from the communists, but also, surprisingly, from big business houses, according to Mr Lockwood. However, regulation of the economy was reintroduced from 1968 onwards and the Congress moved to the left, because of electoral reverses in 1967, where the might of the Congress was challenged for the first time. This leftward tilt became more pronounced with the split in the Congress in 1969.

The CPI felt vindicated with the Congress' turn to the left. It now tried to make common cause with the left wing of the Congress, which seemed to have the backing of Mrs Gandhi herself.

According to the book, when the JP movement emerged, so called because it was headed by freedom fighter Jayaprakash Narayan (JP), the CPI was opposed to it as it felt this was a reaction against the leftist turn in the economy. While the movement elicited some support from the bourgeoisie in the beginning, Mr Lockwood notes, with the promise of further "chaos" in the following year, they decided to support the government instead.

The other problem the CPI had with the movement was the participation of what it saw as "fascist forces." These were the Jana Sangh (JS) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), both of which played a crucial role in mobilising support for the movement. JP's statement that "if the Jan Sangh is fascist, then I too am fascist," cleared any lingering doubts in the CPI, according to Mr Lockwood.

When the Emergency was declared, the CPI initially supported it with few reservations. It believed in the government's 20-point programme, and concentrated its efforts on mobilising people to try and make the government implement the programme.

Yet, by 1976 things had begun to change. The CPI was uneasy about the repression of political opponents, and was up in arms over the lack of interest in the Congress in implementing the 20-point programme.

However, the support of the Emergency cost the CPI dearly in the elections of 1977. A theoretical debate raged within the party, and support for the Emergency was criticised. The party also took a critical view of its relationship with the Congress.

For this reason, this book seems all the more timely as reports filter in about Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union President Kanhaiya Kumar's meeting with Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi. Mr Kumar, a member of CPI-affiliated All India Students Federation, called for Left unity in his rousing speech the day he was released from custody after he was charged with sedition. That unity seems unlikely, however, if the CPI cosies up to the Congress now. If anything, this book highlights the limits any such move can have. Any attempts to differentiate between the communalism of the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party will inevitably bring to the surface the inherent differences between the Left parties.