GOVERN@,NT''S ATTITUDE TO.CO?!$i\liUf\rISTS 41'JD %AHA SABHAITTS
HOME
1111?31STER S ST ATEU33T IN. PARL4 A U p T
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New D e l h i , March '10, 1S51
The Home Q i n i s t e r Mr. C. ~ a j a g o p a l a c h a r il a i d t h e
f oll.ou'in'g s t a t e m e n t e x p l a i n i n g - ~ o v e f n m ~ nst lp o l i c y , and . a .t t i t u d e
. . . .
.
.
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towards t h e Communist parrty. of I n d i a .and t h e Hindu Mahasabho
o n . t h e t a b l e of t h e House i n r e p l y t o a q u e s t i o n by
I
-
Mr. Venkataraman i n P a r l i a m e n t today.
The Home N i n i s t e r was asked whether t h e a t t e n t i o n of
Goyernment had been drawn t o c e r t a i n s t a t e m e n t s i n t h e P r e s s by
t h e Communist P a r t y and t h e Hindu lviahasabha c h a l l e n g i n g c e r t a i n
s t a t e m e n t s made..by t h e Hon'ble M i n i s t e r i n t h e c o u r s e of t h e
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i c t i o n t h e Government p r o p o ~ e dt o t a k e i n t h i s b e h a l f .
11fr'. ~ a j a ~ o p a l a c h a r ei p l i e d : "Ny answer would have t o h e
r a t h e r l o n g and i n c l u d e q u o t a t i o n s from t h e p o l i c y s t a t e m e a t ; sf
*,
,
one ,of t h e p a r t i e s r e f e r r e d t o and so 1-have p l a c e d i t on t h e
-
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t a b l e of t h e House i n t h e form of a s t a t e m e n t . "
. Following i s t h e t e x t of ' t h e s t a t e m e n t :
The a t t e n t i o n of Government was d r a w t o a p r e s s i t e m
d a t e d 1 7 t h F e b r u a r y , 1951, t o t h e e f f e 6 t t h a t t h e Cor!munist
P a r t y c h a l l e n g e d t h e Home M i n i s t e r t o withdraw t h e P r e v e n t i v e
D e t e n t i o n - ~ c t and d ..-..
.p ......
c e r t a i n o t..h e r t h i n g s . and
,
t h e n i t . was s t - t e d
. .
they would
.
,
.
,
.
a c t a s a r e g u l a r p o l i t i c a l . p a r t y i n t h e open
. presumably d r o p p i n g t h e i r p r e s e n t v i o l e n t and secret a c t i v i t i e s .
'
. ,
.
I f men who have grouped themselves and p r a c t i s e
t e r r o r i s m ind sabotage i n t h e name of ebpmunism w i l l n o t
\
rnesely l s s u e challenges..and make c o n d i t i o n a l o f f e r s of
I
a d o p t i n g p e a c e f u l and open p o l i t i c a l l i f e b u t w i l l back
p r o f e s s i o n w i t h ' praci;ice, we could t a k e t h e r i s k s i n v o l v e d
PZO. 318
i n trusting
.....
i n t r u s t i n g them. P a s t conduct cannot j u s t be wiped o u t by a .
simple p r e s s s t a t e m e n t . Such d e c l a r a t i o n s should be backed by
..
a c t u a l behaviuur. Honlble Eembers have read I g n a z i o ~ i l o n e ' s
n a r r a t i v e .of a meeting of t h e Communist P a r t y .a. t which, when
t h e d r i t i s h Communists were asked on t h e i r r e t u r n home t o mak
& p u b l i c d e c l a r a t i o n i n a c e r t a i n ' s e n s e b u t a c t u a l l y do t h e
c o n t r a r y , and .one of t h e B r i t i s h Communists exclaimed "But
t h a t would be a l i e ! " loud l a u g h t e r g r k e t e d t h i s s i m p l i c i t y
and E l l l e d t h e h a l l . The Communists 'could n o t understand t h e
~ n ~ l i s & as ns t~u p i d o b j e c t i o n t o makink a , m i s l e a d i n g o r f a l s e
,
declarat,-ion! The f a c t of t h e m a t t e r ' i s t h a t t h e Communist
P a r t y t s d i s c i p l i n e e v o l v e s a psychoJogica1 mechanism whereby
each s i n g l e member ,becomes p r o g r e s s i v e l y ' i d e n t i f i e d w i t h t h e
c o l l e c t i v e o r g a n i s a t i o n u n t i l t h e s e n s e of s c r u p l e , . o r moral
hesitation i s
t a t a l l y wiped o u t . E t h i c a l o b j e c t i o n s become j u s t
a n c i e n t wrongs worthy of s c o r n and d e r i s i o n .
.
COfiXTJNIST PARTY OF INDIAiS POLICY
Three l e a d i n g I n d i a n (Eommunists have i s s u e d t o t h s i r
comrades a s t a t e m e n t ,on 23rd ~ e p t e m b e r1950 e x p l a i n i n g t h e
'Communist . P a r t y ! s p o l i c y . It i s c a t e g o r i c a l l y s t a t e d t h e r e i n
t h a t t h e p a r t y should Itput t h e p e a s a n t movement p r o g r e s s i v e l y
on t h e r a i l s of armed s t r u g g l e , and t h a t i-n a g r a r i a n r e l a t i ~ n s ,
t h e y s h o u l d , by mass m o b i l i s a t i o n and d i r e c t a c t i o n a s i n
Telengana, c r e a t e armed f o r c e s i n t h e r u r a l *a r e a s and s t r o n g
'
b a s e s f o r t h e i r o p e r a t i o n . I t is' f u r t h e r c a t e g o r i c a l l y s t a t &
t h e r e i n t h a t t h e r e i s no q u e s t i o n of l i q u i d a t i n g Telengana b u t
t h a t on t h e c o n t r a r y i t i s a q u e s t i o n 'of r a i s i n g t h e movement in
t h e r e s t o f . t h e c o u n t r y t o t h e l e v e l of Te1engana.lt
The P ~ l i t - b u r o of t h e Communist P a r t y of I n d i a i s s u e d a
p o l i c y s t a t e m e n t on 1 5 t h November 2950 i n t h e f o l l o w i n g t e r n s : "Finally, i t i s necessary t o c l e a r l y grasp the t r u t h t h e t the
armed s t r u g g l e h a s become t h e p r i n c i p a l form of s t r u g g l e i n t h ~
?resent agrarian revolutionary stage t h a t our n a t i o n a l l i b a r 3 t i o n
~ o v e a e n th a s grown to.It
1.t was added..
...
1
I t was added t h a t s i m u l t ~ n e o u s l yt h e y should "adopt and
,
.
i
c o - o r d i n a t e a l l o t h e r corlceivable f o r m s ' o f s t r u g g l e , such AS
1
economic and p o l i t i c a l s tI; r i k e s , d e m o n s t r a t i o n s , a g r i c u l t u r a l
i
l a b o u r and t e n a n t s t r u g g l e s , s i g n a t u r e c o l l e c t i o n s f o r peacep l e d g e , e l e c t i o n c o n t e s t s t t and so on.
The f o l l o w i n g i s from a s p e c i a l c i r c u l a r of t h e C e n t r a l
Committee of t h e p a r t y : "The C e n t r a l Committee n o t e s , t h a t c e r t a i n s t a t e m e n t s al"e.,.
b e i n g made, demanding t h e
withdrawal of t h e h e r o i c s t r u g g l e of
Telengana people l e d by t h e Communist P a r t y a g a i n s t t h e i r agel o n g o p p r e s s o r s , w i t h arms i n hand f o r l a n d and l i b e r t y . The
C e n t r a l Committee w i s h e s t h e p a r t y r a n k s t o n o t e t h a t such
s t a t e m e n t s w i l l be d i s r u p t i v e of Telengana s t r u g g l e , t h e h a r b i n g z r
of t h e P e o p l e ' s Eemocratic Revolution i n I n d i a , which t h e meny? i s
t r y i n g t o drown i n blood. The C e n t r a l Committee s t r e s s upon a l l
p a r t y mernhers and p e o p l e t o defend Telengana w i t h a l l t h e m e w s
a t their' d i s p ~ s a l . ~ ~
An i m p o r t a n t ' f o r e i g n Corrmunist who was i n v i t e d t o a d v i s e
' t h e I n d i a n Communist P a r t y gave t h e f o l l o w i n g o p i n i m i n Decexb?r,
"It i s t h e t a s k of t h e Communist p a r t y t o s k i l f u l l y
u t i l i s e t h e stand of Nehru Government on q u e s t i o n s l i k e Korea,
Atom Bomb, e t c .
Regarding 'armed s t r u g g l e 1 , a s we have ; t a t 2 8
iii
our l e t t e r , we do n o t deny t h a t --u l t i m a t e l y , t h e r e v o l u t i o n i~
I n d i a w i l l and must t a k e t h e form of armed s t r u g g l e . I t i s h a r d l y
t o b'e d e b a t e d . "
I t i s t h u s c l e a r t h a t we cannot a c c e p t d e c l a r a t i o n s
aild
' c h a l l e n g e s , b u t must a w a i t f a c t s and whether crime r e p o r t e d fron;
jr
Telengana, Madras and kssam and e l s e w h e r e shows s u b s t a n t i a l
decrease.
HINDU l!/I.AHA SABHA
... .
The a t t e n t i o n of Government w2s a l s o drawn t o a
s t a t e m e k t on b e h a l f of t h e Hindu Z a h a s a b h a , , d a t e d 1 8 t h
F a b r u a r y , 1951.
It i s g r a t i f y i n g t o read i n i t t h z t the
Sabhql s p o l i c y of comkunalism d o e s n o t i n c l u d e v i o l e n c e .
But t h e r e i s t h e b a s i c f a c t t h a t t h e i ~p o l i c i e s have an
i n h 3 r e n t t e n d e n c y t o r o u s e s t r o n g p a s s i o n s between
communities and g e n e r a t e v i o l e n c a . T h e i r l i n e of t h o u g h t 2nd
propaganda and t h e r e f o r e of a c t i o n a r e i n c o n s i s t e n t w i t h t h c
b a s i c p r i n c i p l e of o u r c o n s t i t u t i o n . What i s communalism t o
tis
is ~ m t t ~ a a l i s rt no them. A l l t h e same we can t o l ~ r a t e
a n y t h i n g i f d a c e p t i o n and v i b l a n c e be t r u l y shed. The Hindu
l k h z s a b h a c l a i m s t h a t i t i s a b 2 t t l e of c u l t u r e . T h e r e c o ~ l d
bz no d i f f i c u l t y if t h e Zindu code of c o n d u c t were t r u l y
r e s p e c t e d and f o l l o w e d . I n t h e p a 5 t e r n of b c h a v i o u r known a s
Hindu c u l t u r e t h e r e i s no room f d r v i o l e n c e o r h a t r e d . , If t h z
S i n d u S a b h a i t a s p r e a c h e d and p r a c t i s e d Hinduism a s o u r S a g ~ s
ui d e r s t o o d 2nd t a u g h t , ' t h e y would i n d e e d be i d e a l c i t i z c n s
and t h e most honoured p l a c e s i n t h e S t a t e i n c l u d i n g P a r l i a m z n t
c o u l d u n d o u b t e d l y be f i l l e d by them.