100 Years of Communist Party of India (CPI)
Context:
The year 2025 marks the centennial of the first Communist Party of India (CPI) conference, held from December 25-27, 1925, in Kanpur.
This historic session, chaired by M. Singaravelu, adopted the resolution for the formal formation of the CPI.
Key Highlights of the 1925 Conference:
The conference was presided over by M. Singaravelu
He is a freedom fighter and trade union pioneer who had previously organized India's first May Day celebrations in Madras
The session formally adopted a resolution to form the Communist Party of India
Ideological Stance on National Issues:
Singaravelu defined untouchability as a purely economic and agrarian problem rather than just a social one.
He argued that without relieving economic dependence, symbolic measures like temple entry were basely insincere.
He also critiqued Mahatma Gandhi's Khadi campaign as bad economics asserting that asking workers to drudge at the charkha prevented them from enjoying the leisure and progress offered by machines
Definition of Communism:
He presented communism as ancient, claiming it was taught by Buddha and practiced by Jesus Christ, before Karl Marx gave it a scientific form
The party's goal was defined as securing Swaraj for the masses, preventing exploitation, and ending caste distinctions
The Congress was criticized as a bourgeois party that sought power rather than true Swaraj for the workers.