Ajit Randeniya

The death last Sunday of Mr Jyoti Basu, the best-known face of communism in India marks the end of an era when the privileged classes created by colonialists gave birth to Communists who led the campaign against it, proving one of the enduring maxims of Marxism.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Basu was a member of the Communist Party of India (CPI) from 1940 until 1964 when whe walked out to found the CPI-M party, also known as ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Bharat ki Kamyunist Party (Marksvadi), and ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Marksvadi Kamyunist PartyƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ (MaKaPa) in Hindi.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ BasuƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s other claim to fame lies in becoming the longest serving Chief Minister of West Bengal as head of the Left Front government for 23 years, from 1977 to 2000, until his retirement on health grounds. -1…

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Jyoti BasuƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s background and introduction to Communism (while studying in London) was almost identical to that of the first generation Sri Lankan leftists S.A.Wickremasinghe, N.M. Perera, Colvin R. de Silva, and even S.W.R.D.Bandaranaike; he arose from an elite community of English educated Bengalis, a social class created by the British for running the colonial state, and referred to by the ordinary Bengalis, rather contemptuously, as ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”BhadralokƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢. (The Bengali compound noun ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”BhadralokƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ roughly translates as ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”respectable gentlemenƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢, necessarily of the Brahmin caste).

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Jyoti Basu was born in East Bengal (modern Bangladesh) on 8 July 1914 to a wealthy family; his father an Americam qualified doctor, and mother the only daughter of a wealthy zamindari (landowner). Basu had his primary education at the first Indian college to teach in the English language in India, Loreto House, a girlsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ school in Kolkata (Calcutta). He had his secondary and tertiary education at the exclusive St XavierƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s School and Presidency College, graduating with honours in English in 1935. Having received his education in the English medium, like most of his generation of Bhadralok, Basu did not know much Bengali.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Although coming from a non-political family, Basu has recalled three events from the 1930s freedom movement that affected his political conscience greatly : GandhijiƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s fast; the arrest of Subhas Chandra Bose by the British; and the 1930 Chittagong Armoury raid by the freedom fighters.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ He left for London in 1935, aged 21, and to his fatherƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s disappointment, failed the examination to enter the Indian Civil Service. Instead, he enrolled at University College London to study law, and became immersed in Indian student political activities.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ During his five years as a law student in Britain, Basu came in contact with the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) that was also responsible for inducting almost all Sri Lankan and Indian Communists. He was influenced by British communists such as Ben Bradley, Harry Pollitt, and the British- Indian Rajani Palme Dutt. He was also inspired by independence campaigners such as Krishna Menon, the founder of India League, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Jawarhalal Nehru and Subhas Chandra Bose.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ During his time in London Basu had become convinced that only the British Left was sincere about granting India independence, and was trying to generate British public awareness about the independence movement that was gathering momentum back home. He was elected general secretary of ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”London MajlisƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢, an Indian studentsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ body in Britain, formed for the purpose of holding rallies to welcome Indian leaders such as Nehru, Subhas Chandra Bose, Bhulabhai Desai, Vijaylakshmi Pandit when they visited London.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Basu was called to the Bar by Middle Temple in 1940. But he had headed home even before the final results of his exams were released. Upon returning to India, Basu enrolled as a barrister at the Calcutta High Court but never practiced law even for a day. He is supposed to have remarked: ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-After studying law, the last thing I want to do is practising law.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Instead, Basu joined the Communist Party of India (CPI) in 1940, only days after his return, and started working among railway workers. The CPI Basu joined had been founded in 1925, while he was still a young boy. Communists were also an important part of the independence struggle, working through the socialist wing of the Indian National Congress, until they were expelled due to British insistence. Jyoti Basu got elected to the Bengal Legislative Assembly for the first time in 1946.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ At the time of BasuƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s joining, and until well after independence, Indian Communists were committed to gaining power through armed revolution. Their first attempt was a peasant uprising in Andhra Pradesh, known as the Telangana uprising. However, in 1951, they adopted the strategy of working within the framework of Indian democracy. The CPI however was unable to succeed electorally at state level due to the ruthless undermining by the capitalist controlled Indian Congress, mainly through the tactic of imposing President’s Rule whenever they gained power.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ In the early 1960s, Jyoti Basu and the Indian Communists in general, faced crucial ideological choices precipitating from a combination of broader international developments as well as domestic issues: relations between the Communist Parties of the Soviet Union and China had soured on ideological grounds; and Sino-Indian relations were deteriorating due to border disputes, culminating in the Indo-China war of 1962.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Communists were forced to choose between the intermingled issues of patriotism and ideological rectitude, dividing the party in to “nationalist”, “centrist”, and “internationalist” factions. The Communists party founder S.A. Dange was in the nationalist faction. Basu, as a member of the Bengalis in the Communist party, sided with the “internationalist” faction who supported the Chinese on ideological grounds. This breakaway group was the nucleus of the CPI-M party formed in 1964.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The CPI(M) leaders included great Marxist ideologues such as E.M.S. Namboodiripad, B.T. Ranadive, and M. Basavapunniah and others such as P. Sundarayya, Promode Dasgupta, and Harkishan Singh Surjeet who had great organisational skills. Jyoti Basu is not renowned to have possessed such intellectual prowess or managerial ability; his great strength was his charisma and the ability to win over masses due to his Trade Union background and slightly quirky, amicable personality; Basu was known for his diminutive physique, immaculate dress sense and personal grooming, and a trademark, brisk stride.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The CPI(M) was born into an extremely hostile political environment. Its leadership and members were automatically branded as ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢unpatrioticƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢, for siding with China who was at war with India. There were many arrests, detentions without trial and worse, imprisonment, over the next several years.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ In 1967 CPI(M) won power in West Bengal through a coalition named ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Left FrontƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢. But the government was dismissed by the central government and following a short-lived minority government, West Bengal was put under President’s Rule. Enmity created by the suppression of the Naxalbari uprising by the CPI (M) controlled state government also led to further divisions among Communists, leading to the formation in 1969, of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist), CPI (M-L), by the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”NaxalitesƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢. Fresh elections were held in 1969, with CPI(M) winning 80 of the 97 seats, becoming the largest party in the West Bengal legislative. But CPI ruled until 1970 when the central government imposed President’s Rule again.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ It was in the 1977 election that followed the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Indian EmergencyƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ of Indira Gandhi that the CPI(M) managed to gain state power conclusively in West Bengal, defeating the Congress (I) party in a landslide; Jyoti Basu became chief minister of West Bengal, and held office until 2000 when he retired on health grounds. The CPI(M) has held the majority in the West Bengal government continuously since 1977.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Under Basu’s leadership, the CPI-M brought about sweeping agrarian reforms, devolved power to rural bodies or ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”panchayatsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ and supported agricultural development. The land reforms in West Bengal were hailed as a model across India and Basu led the Marxists to power five times in a row. However, BasuƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s record as the countryƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s longest serving chief minister is tainted by his neglect of the basics such as the health, education and transport infrastructure. Kolkata today resembles a city where time has stood still since 1977. He is also blamed for doing nothing to stop his party commissars from turning the stateƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s bureaucracy, its police force and higher education institutions into instruments of political patronage.

His progressive social policies prevented violence between Hindus and Muslims common in other parts of India, but the caste conscious Bengali exclusivity remains as stubborn as ever.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ In the broader Indian political arena, Basu became a national figure by playing a leading role in the negotiations in the run up to the formation of non-Congress governments in 1989, 1996, 1997 and 2004. In 1996 Basu could have become IndiaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s first communist prime minister, except for the CPI(M) politburoƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s vetoing the offer by a coalition of parties. He counted former prime ministers, and his political enemies, Indira Gandhi and Atal Bihari Vajpayee personal friends.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ At 95 years of age, basu breathed his last in Kolkata on Sunday 16 January. True to his commitment to a rational belief system, Basu donated his mortal remains for medical research; a radical practice for a good Brahmin to adopt. But Basu has made much larger sacrifices while he was alive.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The death of Jyoti Basu probably marks the end of an era in terms of people born in to privileged backgrounds giving up their comfortable, but intellectually dull life style for fighting injustice. The idealism that motivated the attempts of people of his ilk to change entrenched social systems for the benefit of the underprivileged also is nonexistent. But us Sri Lankans have seen it all before.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ May Jyoti Basu rest in peace.