>Shaheed Hemukalani at 16:26, 30 January 2021

2021-01-30T16:26:12Z

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{{Use Indian English|date=October 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2015}}
{{Infobox political party
| name = Communist Party of French India
| native_name = Parti Communiste de l'Inde Française
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| colorcode = red
| leader =
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| president =
| secretary_general = [[V. Subbiah]]
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| merged = [[Communist Party of India]]
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| student_wing = [[Students' Federation (French India)|Students' Federation]]
| youth_wing = Youth League<ref>''[https://books.google.com/books?id=c9BIAAAAYAAJ Marxist Miscellany]', Volume 1-4. New Delhi: People's Publishing House, 1970. p. 18</ref>
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| ideology = [[Communism]]
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| country = India
| country2 = France
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}}
{{Indcom}}
The '''Communist Party of French India''' ({{lang-fr|Parti communiste de l'Inde française}}) was a [[political party]] in [[French India]]. [[V. Subbiah]] was the secretary of the party.<ref>''[https://books.google.com/books?id=UkAMAQAAIAAJ New age]'', Volume 3, Edition 12.</ref>

==History==
{{Communist Parties}}

===World War II and the National Democratic Front===
The Communist Party of French India rose in prominence during the [[Second World War]].<ref>Neogy, Ajit K. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=5yNuAAAAMAAJ Decolonization of French India: Liberation Movement and Indo-French Relations, 1947-1954]''. Pondichéry: Institut français de Pondichéry, 1997. p. 7</ref> At the time of the outbreak of the war the party was banned and its assets seized. However, the ban was lifted in September 1940 as the [[French Communist Party]] had called for support to the Allied war effort.<ref>Manickam, M. and J. B. Prashant More. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=9S9uAAAAMAAJ Freedom movement in French India: the Mahe revolt of 1948]''. Tellicherry: Inst. for Research in Social Sciences and Humanities, MESHAR, 2001. p. 82</ref>

The communists came to dominate the [[National Democratic Front (French India)|National Democratic Front]].<ref>Neogy, Ajit K. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=5yNuAAAAMAAJ Decolonization of French India: Liberation Movement and Indo-French Relations, 1947-1954]''. Pondichéry: Institut français de Pondichéry, 1997. p. 24</ref> On 6 March 1947 the Communist Party launched a students' wing, the [[Students' Federation (French India)|Students' Federation]].<ref>Madhava Menon, N. R., and D. Banerjea. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=Axfuc5A8mxMC&pg=PA11 Criminal Justice India Series]''. Ahmedabad: Allied Publishers in collaboration with National University of Juridical Sciences, 2002. p. 11</ref>

===Struggle for independence===
Around August 1947, as independence of [[British India]] drew nearer, the Communist Party of French India changed its policy regarding independence and began advocating immediate merger with the rest of India. Until this point the party had advocated union with France in the short term, and integration with India in the long term.<ref name="p1">Madhava Menon, N. R., and D. Banerjea. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=Axfuc5A8mxMC&pg=PA13 Criminal Justice India Series]''. Ahmedabad: Allied Publishers in collaboration with National University of Juridical Sciences, 2002. pp. 13-14</ref> French authorities issued a ban on pro-independence rallies in French India. The Communist Party of French India joined trade unions, the [[French India National Congress]], and the [[French India Students Congress]] in protesting against the ban.<ref>Madhava Menon, N. R., and D. Banerjea. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=Axfuc5A8mxMC&pg=PA12 Criminal Justice India Series]''. Ahmedabad: Allied Publishers in collaboration with National University of Juridical Sciences, 2002. p. 12</ref> The Communist Party of French India issued a call to all municipal authorities to haul down the [[Flag of France]] on 15 August 1947 and hoist the [[Flag of India]].<ref name="p1"/>

===Persecution of Communists===
Communists were persecuted in French India, partly due to the rivalry between [[Edouard Goubert]] (the leading pro-French politician in the colony) and V. Subbiah. Goubert's henchmen conducted lynchings of communist activists.<ref name="c1"/> In 1948 the French authorities served an arrest warrant against V. Subbiah.<ref name="p2">Madhava Menon, N. R., and D. Banerjea. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=Axfuc5A8mxMC&pg=PA21 Criminal Justice India Series]''. Ahmedabad: Allied Publishers in collaboration with National University of Juridical Sciences, 2002. p. 21</ref> In January 1950 the office of the Communist Party, located in the private residence of V. Subbiah, was burnt down. The police chief was present at the scene, but police did not intervene. The houses of Communist Party of French India leaders Clemenceau and Annousamy were also torched by goondas.<ref name="c1">Neogy, Ajit K. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=5yNuAAAAMAAJ Decolonization of French India: Liberation Movement and Indo-French Relations, 1947-1954]''. Pondichéry: Institut français de Pondichéry, 1997. p. 168</ref><ref>Madhava Menon, N. R., and D. Banerjea. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=Axfuc5A8mxMC&pg=PA20 Criminal Justice India Series]''. Ahmedabad: Allied Publishers in collaboration with National University of Juridical Sciences, 2002. p. 20</ref>

The Communist Party contested the October 1948 municipal polls as part of the Progressive Democratic Party (a coalition between the communists and the [[Dravidar Kazhagam]]).<ref>Madhava Menon, N. R., and D. Banerjea. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=Axfuc5A8mxMC&pg=PA17 Criminal Justice India Series]''. Ahmedabad: Allied Publishers in collaboration with National University of Juridical Sciences, 2002. p. 17</ref>

In mid-1951 the arrest warrant against V. Subbiah was withdrawn. V. Subbiah emerged as a major leader of the independence movement. In a public statement he called for the formation of a [[united front]] compromising the Communist Party and other pro-independence groups. The [[Tamil language]] weekly newspaper ''Sutantiram'', published in India, became an important organ of the movement led by V. Subbiah.<ref name="p2"/>

===1954: Final phase of independence struggle===
In early 1954 V. Subbiah addressed a mass meeting in the peripheries of Pondicherry, appealing on the population of the colony to leave past differences behind and unite in the struggle for independence. As tension in French India rose in March 1954, the Communist Party began to prepare a campaign of popular [[direct action]] demanding immediate merger with India.<ref>Madhava Menon, N. R., and D. Banerjea. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=Axfuc5A8mxMC&pg=PA22 Criminal Justice India Series]''. Ahmedabad: Allied Publishers in collaboration with National University of Juridical Sciences, 2002. p. 22</ref> On 7 April 1954 the Communist Party mobilized protests, as the colonial government called out military forces on the streets of Pondicherry. V. Subbiah called upon the thousands of the refugees that had crossed into India to return to take part in the freedom struggle.

[[Tirubhuvanai]] was liberated by the communists on 6 April 1954, marking the climax of the freedom movement.<ref name="p4">Madhava Menon, N. R., and D. Banerjea. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=Axfuc5A8mxMC&pg=PA27 Criminal Justice India Series]''. Ahmedabad: Allied Publishers in collaboration with National University of Juridical Sciences, 2002. p. 27</ref> Together with the [[French India Socialist Party]] and the Merger Congress a temporary united government for the area was set up by the Communist Party in Tirubhuvanai.<ref name="p3"/>

The strength of the communists in the struggle caught the attention of the international press, for example ''[[The New York Times]]'' warned of the possibility of a communist take-over in Pondicherry.<ref name="p3">Madhava Menon, N. R., and D. Banerjea. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=Axfuc5A8mxMC&pg=PA24 Criminal Justice India Series]''. Ahmedabad: Allied Publishers in collaboration with National University of Juridical Sciences, 2002. pp. 24-25</ref> The French communist newspaper ''[[l'Humanité]]'' on the other hand praised the people of French India for their courage in the struggle against colonial domination.<ref name="p4"/>

In the midst of the struggle, a proposal that the colony be converted into a French-Indian condominium was floated from French quarters. The Communist Party immediately rejected the proposal.<ref name="p3"/>

On 26 April 1954 the Communist Party took part in an All Party Conference. The conference condemned the violent repression against protestors in French India. On 29 April 1954 the Communist Party, Central Merger Congress and other leftist groups launched a joint front to coordinate struggles. At the meeting a decision was adopted that the struggles would be conducted along the lines of [[Gandhi]]an non-violence.<ref>Madhava Menon, N. R., and D. Banerjea. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=Axfuc5A8mxMC&pg=PA26 Criminal Justice India Series]''. Ahmedabad: Allied Publishers in collaboration with National University of Juridical Sciences, 2002. p. 26</ref>

On 9 August 1954 Pondicherry observed a ''[[hartal]]'' after a call from the Communist Party and the Youth Congress.<ref>Madhava Menon, N. R., and D. Banerjea. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=Axfuc5A8mxMC&pg=PA30 Criminal Justice India Series]''. Ahmedabad: Allied Publishers in collaboration with National University of Juridical Sciences, 2002. p. 30</ref> V. Subbiah met with [[Jawaharlal Nehru]] on 13 August 1954 to discuss the prospects of the resistance struggle.<ref>Chopra, Pran Nath. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=4fBtAAAAMAAJ Encyclopaedia of India: Pondicherry]''. New Delhi, India: Rima Pub. House, 1992. p. 114</ref> On 1 November 1954 France left French India. V. Subbiah returned from exile, meeting a hero's welcome from jubilant masses.<ref>Madhava Menon, N. R., and D. Banerjea. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=Axfuc5A8mxMC&pg=PA31 Criminal Justice India Series]''. Ahmedabad: Allied Publishers in collaboration with National University of Juridical Sciences, 2002. p. 31</ref>

==See also==
* [[Communist Party of India]]
* [[French Communist Party]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Political parties in French India]]
[[Category:Defunct communist parties in India]]
[[Category:Political parties established in 1940]]
[[Category:1940 establishments in French India]]
[[Category:Political parties disestablished in 1954]]
[[Category:1954 disestablishments in French India]]
[[Category:Political parties in Puducherry]]

Communist Party of French India - Revision history

>Shaheed Hemukalani at 16:26, 30 January 2021