The Decline of the Indian Left

Are they even relevant anymore ?

There was a time when I used to frequently visit Ajoy Bhavan which houses the headquarters of the second oldest political party in India, the Communist Party of India. It was founded on Christmas Day in 1925 in Kanpur (though, according to some sources it was founded even earlier). In a few years will celebrate a century of existence. Ajoy Bhavan is a building that is conspicuous by its size vis a vis the
strength of the political party that it houses. The Communist Part of India has two members in the Lok Sabha and one in the Rajya Sabha. Quite a fall from the 1st LokSabha where the undivided Lok Sabha had the undivided CPI as the largest Opposition party. Today the Bhavan is largely deserted, quite resembling the state of the Left Parties in India.

The Left as an organised political entity and as an intellectual establishment seems as good as dead in India. This is unfortunate as the Left and progressive elements have largely been a driving force in the Indian political system and have played a pivotal role in shaping the dynamics of the society in India. It has definitely been a long downward journey. But for those who are not formally part of the Left, it has also underlined the continued relevance of and need for the Left as a political orientation and movement in spite of its aberrations.

The aberrations are of course many. Ramachandra Guha, the historian has often spoken of how since its birth in India the Left has come to mean rigid, doctrinal politics. It has meant adherence to Marxism, or rather its narrow interpretation by Lenin or Mao. This ideology required a theory of history, an analysis of the capitalist political economy, a belief in the inevitability of revolution, a vision of state socialism, and the dictatorship of the proletariat.

For much of the Left, the Soviet Union and other Communist regimes were the exemplars of what a future society would look like. These politics was represented by the Communist Party of India, which fragmented over the years into CPI-M, CPI-Maoist, and several fractions of CPI-ML (Marxist-Leninist). Ram Guha has often lamented that in spite of having produced a galaxy of leaders in its century of existence, any Communist Party event has on its walls the portraits of a dead German
(Marx), dead Russians (Lenin and Stalin), and a dead Chinese (Mao). Not a single Left or Communist leader is on the walls be it Jyoti Basu, or EMS Namboodripad, or any other – not even the legendary Bhagat Singh, who was certainly a Communist in his thinking if not in terms of party membership.

The death of this orthodox Left is not accidental. It can be argued that looking at social realities from a purely European lens, the Indian Left fully understood Indian society. However, their Euro-centric mental orientation prevented them from meaningfully engaging with the Indian national movement, Indian traditions, and religions, or taking on the caste system. In that sense, Mao in China and Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam were more pragmatic, they took Marxist principles and adapted them to their contexts and countries, and became successful interpreters of a Left ideology in their country. Arguably, so did Castro in Cuba. So in the face of a resurgent Right in India, the Left movement in India had no counterbalancing face to project. The known faces were all Western-educated and elitist; not that there were no grassroots or homegrown leaders. There were, but they along with Dalit and Tribal leaders were never given adequate recognition or authority by the leaders of the Left.

Would it be tragic if the Left were to disappear from our public life? Why?

The Communist Party of India was active in the Indian freedom struggle and since then has been a key originator or promoter of some great ideas, guidelines, and policies from Land Acquisition to reservations. Back during the time of the British many members of the left were imprisoned and hanged for their comprehensive efforts that led to India’s independence. Many cases were lodged against communist leaders; some of them include the Peshawar case, Meerut Conspiracy case, and the Kanpur Bolshevik case which led to mass arrests and severe crackdown on progressive thinking and ideology during the British Raj. It can hardly be denied that both the freedom struggle and the political landscape of free India was for long hued in various shades of red. Of course, mistakes were made here too. The Communists took their cues from Moscow. As long as the UK and the USSR were on opposite sides, this served India well. But when Hitler attacked the Soviet Union, so that Britain and the USSR were on the same side, the equation changed and the cues from Moscow changed too. The result was that the popular Quit India movement was opposed by the Communists, an odium that no spin doctor has been able to reduce or dissipate.

For all its failures, the Left played a critical role in maintaining the secular democratic character in Indian polity. Its somewhat rigid stance and comments on the stark economic inequalities in India kept the inhumanity and corruption of an unfettered capitalist system under check. Through their self-effacing work, Leftist workers mobilised millions of people in an attempt to bring about far-reaching changes in society. They fought sectarian religious strife and caste discrimination, mobilised workers and peasants to fight to advance their rights, and worked to change the mindset of people so that it became more inclusive and humane, and made society more livable for all people.

Besides producing some of the finest, most selfless and most reflective political leaders, the Left has also contributed innumerable artists, poets, writers, teachers, journalists, scientists, rationalists, and activists in all walks of life. Indian politics and modern Indian culture would be poorer in the absence of the Left. The Progressive Writers’ Association, as well as the Indian People’s Theatre Association in 1943 in particular, produced legendary actors, journalists, poets, songwriters, and composers. The first organization of agricultural workers was also started by the communists. These mass organisations helped channel the quest of various sections of people seeking justice and rights to produce at least a somewhat more inclusive world view and society.

As a person with definite humane views, I do want them to again come back to the political scene. But to reinvent themselves, the new Left leadership would largely need to come from the grassroots, particularly from peasants, tribals, and Dalits. These are the most oppressed classes in the Indian context, and yet they are also the most resilient and vigorous. Historically, these people have consistently resisted state power, before and after independence, and right up to today. They have fought against mining corporations, protected their lands, and struggled for self-governance. Clearly, in the absence of a well-defined and structured working class today, and the increasing rise of white-collar workers and gig workers, only politically conscious lower castes and tribals and landless farmers can re humainse India.

First published by Pippa Rann Books and Media on Nov 5, 2021