CPI and Sino-Soviet Dispute -CIA

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-; j APPROVED FOR RELEASE .L DATE: MAY 2007

7 February 1962O C I No. 0697/62

THE INDIAN COMMUNIST PARTY AND THE S I N O - S O V I E T D I S P U T E(Reference T i t l e : E S A U X V I - 6 2 )

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THE COMMUNIST PARTY O F INDIA AND THE SINO-SOVIET DISPUTET hi s is a working pape r , t h e second in a se r i es of ESAUs t u d i e s a s s es s in g t h e e f f e c t s of t h e Si no -Sov i et d i sp u t e onc e r t a i n key C o m m u n i s t p a r t i e s . The p a pe r t r ies t o show howt h e development of a b r oa d Si no -S ov ie t c o n f l i c t i n r e c e n tyea r s has fo s t e r ed p ro -Sov i et and p ro-Ch inese f a c t i o na l i s mwhich now threatens t o s p l i t t h e I nd ia n p a r ty .T he p repa ra t i on of this p a p e r h a s be en g r e a t l y a i d e d byt h e c o o p e r a t i o n a n d a s s i s t a n c e of s e v e r a l o t h e r a n a l y s t s ,LEE?, A l le n W hi ti ng o f t h e S p e c i a l S t u d i e se s p e c i a l l yFree WorldGroup of the Department of S t a t e , and t h e a n a l y s t s of t h eRadio Propaganda Branch of FBIS.t h e p a pe r a l s o r e f l e c t a d e b t t o the work of Kautsky (Moscowand the Communist Party of I n d i a , N ew York, 1956). O v e r s t r e e tand Windmiller (Communism i n I n d i a , B e r k e l e y, 1 9 5 9 ), a ndMasani (The Communist Party of I n d i a , N e w York, 1954). Wea l o n e , h ow ever, b e a r r e s p o n s i b i l i t y for t h e c o n c l u s i o n sr e ac h ed i n t h i s p ap e r.

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TEUE I N D I A N COMMUNIST PARTY AND TEE SINO-SOVIET DISPUTE

I . PROLOGUE: CPI STRUGGLE OVER THE FOUR-CLASS ALLIANCE(1947-1951).........,..................................1A.B.C. CPSU S h i f t Toward Broa d Al l i a n c e s , Away From A r m e d

S o vi e t S h i f t t o M i l i t a n t L i n e ( 19 47 ) .............. 2Ranadive R i s e t o Power i n CPI...,..................4Struggle.........................................10

11. THE C P I AND THE CHANGING SOVIET LINE TOWARD NEHRU(1951-1955)....*......................................17A .B. Death of S t a l i n a nd Th i r d ( Ma du ra i) C P I Congress, .20C. The C P I and t h e Development of the Bandung Line. . .22CONSEQUENCES O F THE 20TR CPSU CONGRESS (1956-1958)....30A.B .C .

Ev o l u t i o n of Sovie t L i n e B e fo re S t a l i n ' s D ea th .. ..18111.

Th e Ef f e c t s of D e S t a l i n i z a t i o n .................... 31t o Socialism.....................................35Th e Ef f e c t s of t h e L i n e on P e a c ef u l T r a n s i t i o nFormat ion of t h e Kerala Government and I t sAftermath........................................40I V . MOSCOW-PEIPING POLARIZATION O F CPI BEGINS: 1 9 5 9 , . . . . . 4 7

A . The 21st cpsu Congress....*................,......47B. Th e F a l l of t h e Kerala Government (January-Julyi cn\~~~~~.*.**..*....................*.............*.51C . The Tibetan Revolt................................55D. The Border Dispute................................58E . The October Anniver sa ry Talks.....................69

F. I n cr e as i ng L e f t i s t T i e s w i t h P e ip i ng , ............. 4V . THE C P I AND THE SINO-SOVIET POLEMIC: 1 9 6 0 , . . . , , . . . . . . 7 9

A. S o v i e t Moves i n E a r l y 1960........................80B. Pe ip ing ' s Len in Anniver sa ry Articles..............83C . The WFTU Cl a s h i n PeiPing.........................88(cont inued)

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D .E .F.The Bucharest Conference and I t s Aftermath . ...... 90The CPSU's A u g u s t L e t t e r a n d I t s Consequences. . . , .99The H a n o i C o n f r o n t a t i o n a n d t h e CCP's September-L e t t e r . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . l o 4G. The Moscow Conference (November) .................107

VI. THE I N D I A N PARTY APPROACHES A SPLIT: 1961...........111A. Le f t - Fa c t i o n R e su r ge n ce B ef o re t h e A p r i lCongress .............................~..........112B. So vi e t and Chinese Pol ic y Toward I nd ia Beforet h e Congress....................................l25C. The Ind ian Pa r t y Congress, Apr i l . . . . . . . , . . , , . . . . . 1 3 1D. The CPI Between I ts Con gres s and t h e 22nd CPSUCongress ................................~.......153E . The 22nd CPSU Congress and I t s . A f t e r m a t h . . . . . . . . . l 5 9F. Pro spe c t s f o r t h e Ind ia n Communis* Pa r t y ......... 68

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THE I N D I A N COMMUNIST PARTY AND THE SINO-SOVIET DISPUTE

summary

By Jan uar y 1962 t h e Communist P a r t y of India (CPI) hadr e a c h e d a p o i n t a t which a n open s c hi s m i n t h e p a r t y i n t h ecoming year had become a ser ious p o s s i b i l i t y . The r e ne w alof t h e S in o- So vi et c o n f l i c t a t t h e 22nd CPSU Cong res s hadg r e a t l y worsened a n a l r e a d y t e n s e s i t u a t i o n w i t h i n t h e In-d i a n p a r t y , and s t r e n g t h e n e d fo r c e s which f o r many yearshad been working toward a s p l i t i n t h e C P I : t h e g r o w th ofu n pr e ce d en t ed f a c t i o n a l i s m a nd i n d i s c ip l i n e , t h e we ak en in gof t h e a u t h o r i t y of t h e p a r t y c e n t e r a t t h e h an ds of d e f i a n tp r o v i n c i a l p a r t y c om m it te es , t h e slow d e c l i ne i n t h e a u t h o r i t yof t h e CPSU f o r many reasons and t h e growth of C h in e s e p a r typ r e s t i g e i n t h e e y es of many CPI members, and th e st e a d y po l-a r i z a t i o n of l e f t i s t and r i g h t i s t I n di a n p a r t y f a c t i o n s a l o ngpro-Chinese and p r o - S o v i e t l i n e s .

Th i s p r o c e s s h ad r e c e iv e d i t s i n i t i a l i m pet us du r i n g t h ei n t e r n a l CPI b a t t l e between 1947 and 1951 over t h e m etho dsof s t rugg le t h e p a r t y s h o ul d f o ll o w, t h e immediate g o a l i ts h o u ld p u r s u e , a nd t h e c las ses it s h o u ld a d m i t i n to i t s a l l i -ance . A t t h a t t i m e t h e l e f t - f a c t i o n l e a d e r R an adi ve t oo kc o n t r o l of the CPI as g e n e r a l s e c r e t a r y , a nd i n co n f or m i t yw i t h what he though t was CPSU p o l i c y he l e d t h e I n di a n p a r t yi n t h e a p pl i c at i o n of v i o l e n t i n s u r r e c t i o n a r y t a c t i c s a g a i n s tthe Nehru government . Mode ling h i s e f f o r t s on t h e Russianre vo lu t i on , Ranadi've gave pr imary emphasis t o t h e s t r u g g l e i nt h e c i t i e s r a t h e r t h a n i n t h e c o u n t r y s i d e ; and h e c a l l e d f o ra o n e- s ta g e r e v o l u t i o n t o o v er t hr o w b o t h t h e i m p e r i a l i s tenemy and th e Ind ian bo urg eo i s ie s im u l tan eous l y and b r in gabout immediate Communist party r u l e i n I n d i a . R a na d iv e 'st a c t i c s f a i l e d d is m a l l y , a nd were d i s a s t r o u s f o r t h e p a r t y .O p p o s i t i o n t o Ranadive r o s e throughout t h e CPI , and he a t -t em pt ed t o s u p p r e s s i t r u t h l e s s l y , i n c r e a s i n g t h e chaos wi th -i n the p a r t y .

The l eaders of t h e A n d h r a p r o v in c i a l p a r t y c o m m i t t e et h e n came f o rw a rd and a t t a c k e d R a na d iv e 's l i n e ; c i t i n g a


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r e l a t i v e l y s u c c e s s f u l p e a s a n t r e v o l t wh ic h had b ee n g o i n g o nf o r some time i n t h e T ele ng an a d i s t r i c t of s o u t h I n d ia , t h e yc a l l e d f o r t h e p a r t y t o abandon i n s u r r e c t i o n i n t h e c i t i e sand t o r e l y i n s t e a d upon armed s t r u g g l e i n t h e c o un t ry s id e .They a l s o demanded th a t t h e CPI a l l y i t s e l f for t h i s p ur po sew i t h a n t -f e u d a l s e c t o n s o f t h e well-to-do p e a s a n t r y , aswell as w i t h a n t i - i m p e r i a l i s t s e c t i o n s of t h e urban bou rgeo i s i e( t h e " n a t i o n a l b o u r g eo i s ie " ) . T h e r e fo r e t h e y wi sh ed t h e p a r t yt o a i m a t a two-stage r e v o l u t i o n i n which e f f o r t s would b edi rec ted f i r s t a t ou s t i n g f rom power t h e a gen t s of i m p e r i a l i s mand feuda l i sm, and on ly l a t e r a t se cu ri ng f i r m Communist con-t r o l o f t h e Indi an government . The Andhra leaders e x p l i c i t l ys t a t e d t h a t t h e C hi ne se r e v o l u t i o n r a t h e r t h an t h e R us si anr e v o l u t i o n w a s t h e i r m odel , and t hey f e r ve n t l y ha i l e d Mao Tse-t u n g as t h e i r i n s p i r a t o n and g ui d e.

R an ad iv e r es p on de d w i t h p u b l i c a t t a c k s n o t only upon t h eAndhra l ea de rs h i p bu t a l s o upon Mao; Ranadive at tempted t op o r t r a y Mao's a dv oc ac y o f a l l i a n c e w i t h t h e n a t i o n a l b o u r g e o i s i eas a n a n t i- M a r x is t b e t r a y a l o f t h e r e v o l u t i o n and an a t te m p tt o res to re c a p i t a l i s m . T h e r e i s e v id e nc e s u g g e s t i n g t h a tR a na di ve .w a s e n co ur a ge d t o d o t h i s b y si gn S- 'o f s e r i o u s s t r a i nbetween Mao a n d S t a l i n a t t h e t i m e t h e CCP w a s coming t o poweri n 1948 and 1949. Eve ntua l ly , however , t h e CPSU acceptedt h e d e s i r a b i l i t y o f t h e a l l i a n c e w it h t h e n a t i o n a l bourgeois ieand t h e t wo-st age r e vo l u t i on , and R anadi ve f e l l f rom pow eri n t he @ I , t o be r ep l ace d by t h e Andhra l ea de r sh i p . T heAndhra leaders p u b l i c l y a p o l o g i z e d t o Mao f o r R a n a d i v e ' s a t-t a ck s , and a t t em p t ed t o a p p ly t h e l i n e t h e y h ad a dv oc a te d.Peasan t r e v o l t , however , p roved no more su cc es sf u l t ha n urbani n s u r r e c t i o n , a n d armed ' s t r u g g l e was f i n a l l y ab an do ne d a l t o -g e t h e r , w i t h t h e Andhra g ro up i n t u r n r e p l a c e d by a new lead-e r s h i p h e ad ed by Ajoy Ghosh as g e n e ra l s e c r e t a r y .

Two l a s g i n g r e s u l t s f lo we d f ro m t h e s e e v e n t s . F i r s t , a l -t ho u gh t h e " Ch in es e p a t h " h ad n o t p r o ve n e n t i r e l y a p p l i c a b l et o I n d i a , a deg ree o f C h inese i n f l ue nce w a s implanted and per-m a ne nt ly l e g i t i m i z e d w i t h i n t h e CPI as a s o u r c e of i n s p i r a t i o nand gu i dance second on l y t o t h e CPSU. Secon dly, t h e fa c t i o n-a l i s m , b l a t a n t i n d i s c i p l i n e , and r e g i o n a l d i s r e g a r d f o r c e n t r a lh a r d l y an y o t h e r Communist p a r t y . The a u t h o r i t y o f t h e c e n t r a lCPI machinery w a s h e n c e f o r t h s o weakened i n r e l a t i o n t o t h ea u t h o r i t y w hic h ha d grown d u r i n g t h e s t r u g g l e a g a i n s t R a na di vebecame permanent fe a t u re s o f CPI l i f e , t o a d e g r e e s e e n i n

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The 20t h Congress of t h e CPSU i n February 1956 and th eev en ts which f lowed from i t admini s t e red a series of funda-mental shocks t o t he C PI w i t h r e s u l t s which were t o a f f e c tg r e a t l y t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p of t h e India n pa rt y t o Moscow andt o P e i p i n g down t o t h e p r e s e n t d ay . The f i r s t a nd most im-p o r t a n t of t h e s e s h oc k s w a s t h a t of d e s t a l i n i z a t i o n , w h i c hon t h e o ne hand g r e a t l y i n t e n s i f i e d t h e s p i r i t of cynic i sm,t h e i n t e r n a l d i s o r g a n i z a t i o n , a nd t h e p e r s o n a l i n d i s c i p l i n ea l ready widespread because of t h e p a r t y ' s p r ev io u s h i s t o r y ,and on t h e o t h e r h and g r e a t l y a c c e l e r a t e d t h e l o ng -t er m de-c l i n e i n t h e a u t h o r i t y and p r e s t i g e of t h e CPSU which had be-gun w i t h t he d ea t h of S t a l i n , w h i le s i m u l t a ne o u s l y e n h an c i ngt h e a p p e a l of t h e CCP t o t h o s e s e c t i o n s of t h e I n d i a n p a r t ysym pa t he t i c t o P e i p i n g ' s v i e w p o i n t .fo l lowed by t h e S o v i e t - s u p p r e s s i o n o f t h e H u ng ar ia n R e v o l u t i onand t h e subse quen t e xe cu ti on of Nagy, which weakened th e CPSU'sp o s i t i o n among r i g h t i s t s e c t i o n s of the p a r t y . A t h i r d d i f -f i c u l t y was meanwhile occasioned by t h e 2 0 t h C on gr es s l i n e onp e a c e f u l t r a n s i t i o n t o socialism, and p a r t i c u l a r l y by t h eextreme i n t e r p r e t a t i o n of t h a t l i n e as a p p l i ed t o I n d i a p ro -v ided by an a u t h o r i t a t i v e S o v i e t a r t i c l e i n t h e summer of1956 which impl i ed t h a t Nehru, and no t t he CPI, w o u l d l e a dI n d i a i n t o t h e s o c i a l i s t s ys te m. T h is v ie wp oi nt w a s d i r e c t l ycha l l enged i n pu b l i c by ge ne r a l s e c r e t a r y G hosh, and t h e CPSUsoon r e t r ea t ed t o a more orth odox posi t ion--whic h, however,s t i l l enj o in ed CPI sup por t f o r Nehru and CPI r e l i an ce p r i m a r i l yupon parl iamentary t a c t i c s . F o rc e s i n t h e I n d ia n p a r t y f a v o r-i n g t h e p a r l i a me n t a r y p a t h were s t re n g th e n ed by t h e p a r t y ' sa c c e s s i on t o power t h r o u g h e l e c t i o n s i n t h e s t a t e of Keralai n April 1957; and the CPI moved from the April 1956 l i n e oft h e P a l g h at p a r t y c o n g r e s s (where t h e p a r t y c a u t i o u s l y acknowl-edged t h e p o s s i b i l i t y of p e ac e fu l t r a n s i t i o n t o social ismthrough p ar l ia me nt ar y means backed by mass movements, and an-nounced i t s i n t e n t i o n t o e x pl or e t h i s p o s s i b i l i t y by c on du ct -i ng i t s e l f as a p a r l i a me n t a r y o p p o s i ti o n ) t o t h e A p r i l 1958l i n e of t h e Amritsar Congress (which exuded conf ide nce t h a tt h e p a r l i a m e n t a r y t a k e o v e r i n K era l a cou l d be r epea t ed i n o t h e rI n di an s t a t e s a nd e v e n t u a l l y even i n t h e c e n t e r ) .

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This development was

- eanwhi le , by the f a l l of 1956 t he f i r s t i n d i c a t i o n s be-g an t o a p pe a r of growing diver genc e between t h e Chinese andS o vi et p a r t i e s o v er how f a r t h e s o f t l i n e toward t h e n a t i o n a l ,b o u r g e o i s i e of A si an co un t r i e s shou l d be pu r sued . C h i neseo b j e c t i o n s o n t h i s s c o r e , o r i g i n a l l y s u gg e st ed a t t h e t i m e o f

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t h e Ei gh th CCP Congress i n September 1956, were r e i n f o r c e d ast h e Ind ian Communist pa r t y became in cr ea si ng ly committed t ot h e p a r l ia m e n t a ry l i n e i n t h e wake of t h e Kerala e l e c t i o n .Chinese comments began t o be he ard i n 1958 conc ernin g t h ep e r n i c i o u s e f f e c t t h e Kerala M i n i s t r y w a s having on the m i l i -t ancy and Marxist o r t ho d o xy of t h e CPI . A t t h e same t i m et h e l e f t wing of t h e I n d i a n p a r t y l e d by the Andhra, WestB en ga l, and P u n ja b o r g a n i z a t i o n s , i n f u r i a t e d a t t h e r e s t r i c -t i o n s and i n h i b i t i o n s which were imposed upon th e pa r t y asa whole by t h e need t o p r e s e r v e t h e Kerala government i n power,became more and more i n c l i n e d t o r e g a r d t h e l o n g - re s p e ct e dC h i nese pa r t y as a s o u r c e of i n s p i r a t i o n more c o n ge n ia l t o i t si n t e r e s t s t ha n Moscow.A t t h e en d of 1 9 58 t h e r e w a s a momentary hardening of t h eSov i e t l i n e t oward N ehru , occas i oned p r i m ar i l y by t h e cam pa ignbeing conducted by t h e C o ng re ss P a r t y and o t h e r forces i nKerala t o o us t t h e Communist government. This f i rmer Sov i e ta t t i t u d e was exem pl i f i ed by an a r t i c l e by Yudin in Problemsof Peace and S o c i a l i s m r e b u t t i n g N eh ru 's a t t a c k on Communistsas a d d i c t e d t o v i o l e n c e ; Y u di n 's a r t i c l e p l ac e d t h e o nu s f o ra n y p o s s i b l e v i o l e n c e on b o ur g eo is r e s i s t a n c e t o a p e a c e f u lt r a n s f e r of power t o t h e Communist p ar ty .T h i s S o v i e t s h i f t i n em ph as is pr ov ed t o be temp ora ry, how-ev e r , and i n 1959 t h e po l a r i za t i on o f t h e CPI bet ween b moder-a te pro-Soviet wing and a mi l i t a n t pro-Chinese wing w a s t o in-crease g r e a t l y . In 1959 th e CPI f o r t h e f i r s t t i m e becameg r a v e l y a f f e c t e d by t h e growing d i f f e r e n c e s b etw ee n t h e S o v i e tand C h i n e s e p o s t u r e s to wa rd t h e " i m p e r i a l i s t " world', t h e i r a t -t i t u d e s t ow ar d t h e r u l i n g n a t i o n a l b o u r g e o i s i e o f u nd er de ve lo pe dc o u n t r i e s , and t h e i r vi ew s o n t h e most a pp ro pr ia te means ofCommunist assumption of power. The ga p between t h e CPSU andt h e CCP on each of t h e s e i s s u e s , w hi ch had been a l t e rna t e l yexpand i ng and con t r ac t i ng i n prev i ous yea r s , sudden l y widenedg r e a t l y . T hi s w a s p a r t l y t h e r e s u l t of event s over whichn e i t h e r p a r t y had c o n t r o l : t h e T i b e t a n r e v o l t , N eh ru 's d e c i -

s io n t o ou s t t h e Communist government i n Kerala, Washington 'sd e c i s i o n t o i n v i t e Khrus hchev t o t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s . I t w a sa l so , however, t h e r e s u l t of a c o ns c io u s t u r n i n g t o t h e r i g h tby t h e CPSU and t o t h e l e f t by the CCP.t h e r e w a s an appa ren t d ec i s i on t aken i n J anua ry 1959 t o abandont h e s t r o n g e r t o ne used towa rd Nehru i n t h e f a l l of 1958 andt o bear w i t h t h i s b o u r g e o i s n a t i o n a l i s t l eader f o r a cons i de r -ab le d i s t a n c e . T h i s r e s u l t e d f i r s t i n peremptory CPSU r e s t r a i n t

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of t h e CPI upon t h e occas ion of Nehru ' s ou s t e r of t h e Keralagoverniuent, and l a t e r i n t h e S o v i e t a d op t io n of a p u b l i c l yn e u t r a l p o s t u r e t ow ar d t h e S i n o- I nd i an b o r d er d i s p u t e (ap o s t u r e b i t t e r l y r e s e n t ed by t h e CCP), as w e l l as i n v ig o ro u sS ov ie t e f f o r t s t o convince Nehru of S o v i e t f r i e n d s h i p as t h ebo rde r d i s pu t e deve loped . On t h e C h inese s i d e , t he re w a s in -s t e a d a ha rden i ng of a t t i t u d e toward Nehru a t t h e v e r y b e g in n i ngof t h e yea r , w hi ch he l ped t o d e t er m i ne P e i p i n g ' s l a t e r r e s p o n s et o e v e n t s i n Kerala and t o t h e b o r de r d i s p u t e . A t t h e samet i m e , Khrushchev in t h e f a l l of 1959 adop t ed . t he s o f t e s t l i n etoward the West g e n e r a l l y h e h ad e v e r p u b l i c l y v o i ce d i n t h ea f t e r m a t h of h i s v i s i t t o t h e U ni te d S t a t e s , w h i l e P e i p i n ggrew i n c r e a s i n g l y s h r i l l i n i t s warnings ag a i ns t Western t re ach -e r y and i n c o n t r a d i c t i o n of t h e S o v ie t l i n e ,

A ga ins t t h i s backg round o f i nc reas i ng1 y d i ve r g en t p o l i c i e s ,t h e C C P i n 1959 f o r t h e f i r s t t i m e began t o m a k e a g g r e s s i v ee f f o r t s t o p romote i t s viewpoin t among symp athe t i c s ec t i on so f t h e CPI, p a r t i c u l a r l y w i t h in t h e m i l i t a n t West Bengal pro-v i n c i a l p a r t y o r g a n i z a t i o n . A t t h e same t i m e Ranadive and theo t h e r l e f t i s t s i n t h e p a r t y a p pa r at us were draw n i nc reas i ng l yi n t o a n i d e n t i f i c a t i o n w it h a nd de f en s e of P e i p i n g ' s p o s i t i o ni n t h e b or d er d i s p u t e , w h i le r i g h t - f a c t i o n l e a d e r s t hr o ug h ou tt h e p a r t y b ecame i n c r e a s i n g l y i n c l i n e d t o c o n c i l i a t e I n d i a nn a t i o n a l i s t o p i n i o n by s u p p o r t i n g t h e Nehru g o v e rn m en t' s s t a n dand condemning Peiping.In 1960 t h e Sov i e t and C h inese pa r t i e s came i n t o o p en an dr e pe a te d c o n f l i c t , and t h i s c o n f l i c t was t r a ns f o r me d i n t o a no r g a n i z at i o n a l s t r u g g l e w i t h i n t h e world Communist movementi n w hich bo th s i de s eve n t u a l l y found t hem se lves app ea l i n g t ot h e l o y a l t i e s of t h e k ey l e a d e r s o f e a ch o f t h e p r i n c i p a l Com-m u n i s t p a r t i e s of t h e worl d. Although t h e CPSU, b ecau se ofi t s f e a r s of p r e c i p i t a t i n g a formal sc h i sm i n t h e I n di a n p a r t y ,f o r a l o n g t i m e l e f t t h e CPI o u t of i t s e f f o r t s t o m ob il iz efo re ig n Communist su pp or t ag ai ns t Peiping--and even at tem ptedt o c o n ti n u e t o deny t o t h e CPI t h e r e a l i t y o f t h e S i n o- So vi et

d i s pu t e -- t h e I n d ia n p a r t y e v e n t u a l l y had t o be drawn i n t o t h a td i s p u t e i f o n l y because b l oc po l i cy t ow ard I n d i a w a s one oft h e k ey matters a t i s s u e between Moscow and Peiping. C P I r ep -r e s e n t a t i v e s to o k p a r t i n t h e S in o- So vi et c o n f r o n t a t i o n s wh icht o ok p l a c e i n P e i p i n g a nd B u c h a r e s t i n June, i n Hanoi i n Septem-ber , and in Moscow i n October and November. The In di an p a r t yw a s f o r m a l l y a p p r is e d o f t h e S o v i e t p o s i t i o n i n a CPSU l e t t e r

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, .. . .. .

t o t h e p a r t y c e n t e r i n A ug us t, and w a s g i ven a C hi nese r ep l ymore i n d i r e c t l y t h r o ug h Best B enga l channe l s t h e next month.Under t h e i mp ac t o f t h e s e e v e n t s , t h e r i g h t i s t CPI l eader sp r es s ed a n o f f e n s i v e a g a i n s t l e f t i s t - f a c t i o n p o s i t i o n s , whicht h e y were anx i ous t o i c l e n ti f y c l e a r l y w i th CCP r e s i s t a n c e t oCPSU a u t h o r i t y ; t h e l e f t i s t s i n t h e c e n t r a l pa r t y m ach i ne ry ,for t h e i r p a r t , were anxious t o deny t h e i r own estrangementf r o m t h e CPSU by denying as lo iig a s t h e y c o ul d t h e r e a l i t y ofS i no-Sov ie t d i f f e r en ce s . Vhen a c learcu t cho i ce w a s f i n a l l yp os ed i n S ep te mb er , v a c i l l a t i n g a nd o p p o r t u n i s t i c CPI l eaders( t h e ma j o ri t y) swung t o t h e r i g h t i s t s i d e i d e n t i f i e d w it h t h eCPSU, an d t h e CPI p a s s e d a secre t r e s o l u t i o n a t t a c k i n g P e ip i n gand suppor t i ng Moscow. Passage of t h i s r e s o l u t i o n w a s r e s i s t e dby t he l e f t i s t C P I n a t i o n a l l e a d e r s , h ow ev er , a n d w a s b i t t e r l ydenoun ced by l e f t - f a c t i o n r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s i n t h e p r ov i n ce st h r ou g h o ut I n d i a . One i m p or t a nt p r o v i n c i a l p a r t y o r g a n i z a t i o n ,i n West Bengal , went so f a r as t o p a s s a c o u n t e r - r e s o l u t i o nd i r e c t l y a t t ac k i ng t h e conduct o f th e CPSU and Khrushchev byname and su pp or t in g Peiping-- the on ly such r e s o l u t i o n d e f i n i t e l yknown t o have been pa ssed i n any Communist p ar ty i n t h e wor ld .While t h e d el eg at io n l e d by Ghosh t o Moscow supp or ted Khrushchevon m os t i s su es du r i ng t h e Nbvember conference of Communistp a r t i e s , it d i d n o t s u p p o r t h i s demand f o r a condemnation offa c t io na l i s m wi t h i n t h e Communist movement ( i mp l i c i t l y , Chinese

f a c t i o n a l s m ) because of t h e grave dange r t h a t such ac t i o nwould s p l i t t h e CPI. Khrushchev ' s eventua l r e t r e a t a t t h a tc o n f e r e n c e o n t h i s c r u c i a l i s s u e o f d i s c i p l i n e wi t hi n t h e in -t e rn a t i o na l m ovem en t- -t oget he r w i t h t h e i nc l u s i on of many Chi-nese po s i t i on s i n t h e ambiguous document p roduced by th e con-fe rence - - se rved t o encou rage t h e CPI l e f t i s t s g e n e r a l l y andt o le av e t ho se o f them who had openly de fi ed t h e CPSU unrebukedand more f i rm l y en t r enched t ha n be fo re .The year 1960 ended w i t h t h e l e f t f a c t i o n of t h e CPI con-t i n u i n g t o r e p o r t t o t h e C hi ne se p a r t y and t o r e c e i v e g u i d a n c ef r o m it , w h i l e g a t h e r i n g s t r e n g t h t h ro u gh o ut I n d i a f o r a n as-s a u l t o n t h e c e n t r a l p a r t y m ac hi ne ry i n 1 96 1. T he re w a s ag r a d u a l i n c r e a s e in l e f t i s t s t r e n g t h and a s s e r t i v e n e s s th ro ug h-o u t t h e I nd ia n p a r t y before t h e p a r t y c o n g r es s m e t i n A p ri l1961, and Sus l ov , t he CPSU d e l e g a t e t o t h a t c o ng r es s , w a s o b l i g e dt o counse l Ghosh t o m a k e s u b s t a n t i a l c o n c e s s i o n s t o t h e l e f t -is ts on t h e wording o f t h e p a r t y ' s p o l i t i c a l r e s o lu t io n - -i no r d e r t o p r e s e r v e Ghosh i n o f f i c e as g e n e r a l s e c r e t a r y and t op r e v e n t a t h re a t en e d op en s p l i t i n t h e p a r t y ( whic h n e v e r t h e l e s s

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came v er y n e ar t o m a t e r i a l i z i n g ) . There is good evidence, how-e v e r , t h a t t h e CPSU and Ghosh themselves favored a ba lancedl i n e i n c l u d in g b ot h s u p po r t and cr i t i c i sm of a s p e c t s of Nehru ' sf o r e ig n and d o m e s t i c p o l i c i e s , and a lo n g- t er m s t r a t e g y ofb u i l d i n g a n a t i o n a l d e m o c r at i c f r o n t through c o o p e r a t i o n w i t h"progress ive" Congress P a r t y l e ad e r s t o a ch i ev e l i m i t e d non-s o c i a l i s t re fo rms as a p r e l u d e t o t h e g r a d u a l Communist as-sumption of power. Sus lov d i d not have t o con tend w i t h d i r e c tChinese compet i t ion a t t h e CPI Congress , t h e p r o s p e c t i v e CCPr e p r e s e n t a t i v e s h a v i ng be en o r d e re d t o l e a v e I n d i a b e f o re h a ndby t h e N e w D e l h i government.had a r e du c ed r i g h t i s t m a j or i ty - -b e ca u se of t h e l e f t i s t st h r e a t t o break up t h e p a r t y u n l e s s t h e i r w i s h e s were accededt o- -t he r i g h t i s t s s ub s eq u en t ly used t h i s N a t i on a l C o un c ilm a j o r it y t o r e v e r s e l e f t i s t c o n t r o l o f t h e C e n t r a l E x e cu t i veCommittee and t h e C e n t r a l Se c r e t a r i a t , t h e two t o p p a r t y o r g a n scharged w i t h r u n n in g t h e p a r t y . When Ghosh l e d a ba lancedCPI de lega t ion t o t h e 22nd CPSU Cong ress i n Oct ob er , however ,even moderates who were normal ly s t a u n c h CPSU s u p p o r t e r s wereshaken by t h e open a t t a c k s t here on t h e Albanian l e ade r s andthe renewed as s au l t on S t a l i n . Ghosh indicated h i s r e s e r v a -t i o n s a bo u t K h ru s hc h ev ' s c o u r s e o f a c t i o n by d e c l i n in g t o a t -t a c k Alb an i a i n h i s s pe ec h t o t h e CPSU Congress-- l ike a numberof o th er normal ly pro-CPSU f or ei gn delegate s--a l thou gh t w omonths l a t e r , a g a in l i k e t h e l e a d e r s of some o th e r p a r t i e s ,he b e l a t e d l y added- m i l d p u b l i c d i s a p p r o v a l of t h e A lb a n i a n s .Greater t u r m o i l r e s u l t e d w i t h i n t h e CPI as a consequence oft h i s CPSU Congress than had e v e r e x i s t e d b ef o r e , b o t h becauseof t h e new CPSU o ff e n s i v e ag ai ns t Albania and t h e CCP and be-cause of t h e a t t a c k s on S t a l i n and t h e d i sp l ac e me nt of S t a l i n ' sbody. There w e r e w i d e sp r e a d a t t a c k s on Moscow and Khrushchevo v e r these a c t i o n s w i t h i n a l l f a c t i o n s of t h e CPI, and one pro-v i n c i a l p a r t y o r g a n i z a t i o n - - t h a t of Andhra Pradesh--passed ar e s o lu t i o n c on de mn in g t h e C P S U , t h e s ec on d s u c h r e s o l u t i o n t obe passed w i t h in t h e CPI i n l i t t l e more t h a n a year . Ghoshe v e n t u a l l y p u b l i s h e d an a r t i c l e p u b l i c l y r e g r e t t i n g t h e manneri n which Moscow had a g a i n embarked o n d e S t a l i n i z a t i o n , and de-c l a r i n g t h a t t h e CPSU had f o r f e i t e d i t s claim t o i n f a l l i b i l i t y .

While the new National Council elected by t h e Congress

These i n t e r n a l d i f f i c u l t i e s of t h e CPI were g r e a t l y aug-mented by t h e s i m u l t a ne o u s r e k i n d l i n g o f t h e Sino- Ind ian bor -d e r d i s p u t e , a s t a t e m e n t by Ghosh s t r o n g l y a t t a c k i n g t h e C P R ,


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and a s u b se q u en t P e o p l e ' s D a i l y e d i t o r i a l condemning bo th Nehruand Ghosh. A t t h e close o f l , b oth l e f t i s t and r i g h t i s t CPIl e a d e r s were w ar ni ng o f t h e l i k e l i h o o d of an open s p l i t i n t h eI n d i a n p a r t y a f t e r t h e . e l e c t i o n s of Fe b ru a r y 1 96 2. Whi le itseemed l i k e l y t h a t t h e CPSU would make every e f f o r t ag ain t op r e v e n t s u c h a s p l i t , Moscow's long- te rm chances of successin t h i s e f f o r t were d e p en d e nt on s u c h f a c t o r s as t h e f u t u r ec o u r s e o f S i no -S ov ie t r e l a t i o n s , t h e f o r t u n e s o f t h e " p e a c e f u lcoe xis ten ce" l i n e , a r id ' .the number of con ces s io ns Moscow wasw i l l i n g t o make a g a i n t o t h e CPI l e f t i s t s . The S o v i e t p ro bl emw a s f u r t h e r c o m p l i c a t e d by t h e d e a th o f G hosh i n J a n u a r y 19 6 2,and t h e l a c k o f a s u i t a b l e s u c c e ss o r combining l o y a l t y t o t h eCPSU with a c c e p t a b i l i t y t o b o th w in gs o f t h e I n d i a n p a r t y .

; ,: I

. .

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I . PROLOGUE: CPI STRUGGLE OVER THE FOUR-CLASSAzlL IANCE (1 47- 1 51The gradua l g rowth of P e i p i ng s i n f l u e n c e a nd p r e s t i g ew i th i n l a r g e s e c t i o n s of the Indian Communist party as agu i de seconda ry t o t h e CPSU ha s a pp a re nt ly been known andt o l e r a t e d by t h e S o v i e t p a r t y for t h e b e t t e r p a r t of t h e

las t decade. I t was t h i s long- te rm C h i nese p re sence i nt h e C P I which i n 1959 and 1960--when Pe ip in g began ope nl yt o cha l l en ge So vie t a u t ho r i ty wi th in th e Communist move-ment on a world-wide scale--was t o combine w i th t h e f a c t i o n -a l i s m and a s t o n i s h i n g i n d i s c i p l i n e of t h e I n d ia n p a r t y t oproduce a t h r e a t t o CPSU primacy which endures t o t h i s day.Both f a c t o r s - -t h e l e g i t i m i z a t i o n o f a degree of perma-nen t C hi nese i n f l uen ce , and t h e growth of f a c t i o n a l i s m andr e g i o n a l d i s r e g a r d f o r c e n t r a l a u t h o ri t y t o a p o i n t s e e n i nha rd l y any o t he r Communist pa rt y- -had t h e i r o r i g i n* i n t h ei n t e r n a l p a r t y s t r u g g l e b etw ee n 19 47 and 1951 o v e r t h emethods of s t r u g g l e t h e p a r t y s h o ul d f o l l o w , t h e immediate. goal i t shou l d pu r sue , and t h e c las ses i t shou l d a d m i t i n t o

. i t s al l iance. Many of t h e p o s i t i o n s e s p ou se d a t t h a t t i m eby i nd i v i dua l CPI l eaders - -no t t o ment ion the CPSU and theCCP--have s i n c e bee n a l t e r e d o r e v en r e v e r s e d . B u t t h e r e- h a v e b e e n l a s t i n g e f f e c t s from ce r t a i n deve l opm ed t s of t h a tt im e : t h a t t h e c e n t r a l CPI a u t h o r i t y a t te m p te d t o app l y ac e r t a i n l i n e , in conformi ty w i t h what it t hought w a s CPSUp o li c y; t h a t t h i s l i n e proved d i s a st r o u s f o r t h e I n d i a np a r t y ; t h a t o t h e r l eaders openl y proposed ano t he r l i n e ,which t hey s pe c i f i ca l l y acknowl edged t o have been de r i v edfrom Chinese t each ings r a t h e r th an from Moscow; t h a t t h ec e n t r a l l e a d e r s h i p reacted w i t h v i o l e n t d e n u n c ia t i o n s ofhe re sy , w i t h supp r e s s i on , expu l s i ons , and s i m i l a r methods

. .! .

*This is not t o s a y t h a t f a c t i o n a l s t r i f e and r e s p e ct f o rt h e C h in es e p a r t y had n o t e x i s t e d i n t h e C P I b e f or e t h i s p e r io d ,bu t on l y t h a t an eno rm ous qu a l i t a t i v e change occu red on bothc ou nt s a f t e r t h i s t i m e , which Indian Communists have themselvesremarked on.

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. ... . . .

t o e n fo r ce i t s l i n e on t h e p a r t y ; t h a t t h e c e n t r a l l ea d e r s h ips o u r c e of t h i s Indian h e r e s y ; t h a t rebel CPI l eade rs i n thec e n t e r and i n o ne i m p o r t a n t p r o v i n c i a l o r g a n i z a t i o n n e v e rt h e -l ess con t i nued t o d e f y t h e l e a d e r s hi p ; t h a t Moscow e v e n t u a l l ya c ce p te d c e r t a i n e l e me n ts of t h e P e i pi n g l i n e and forced themupon t h e I n d i a n p a r t y ; a nd t h a t t h e o l d CPI l e a d e r s h i p w a s re-moved and t e m p o r a r i l y disgraced . While t h i s w a s n o t t h e en-t i r e s t o r y (Moscow f i r s t and th e CPI l a t e r c o nc l ud e d t h a t t h e"Chinese path" was n o t e n t i r e l y a pp l ic a b le t o Ind i a , and t h ed i s c r e d i t e d CPI l e a d e r s were e v e n t u a l l y r e a d m i t t e d t o a cen-t r a l l e a d e r s h i p c o a l i t i o n of a l l f a c t i o n s ) , n e v e r t h e l e s s t w oe f f e c t s h av e p e r s e v e r e d : on t h e o ne h an d, c o n s i d e r a b l e r e s p e c tf o r t h e w i s d o m a n d a u t h o r i t y of t h e C h i n e s e p a r t y were im-p l a n t e d p e r m a n en t ly w i t h i n t h e CPI; and on t h e o t h e r hand, t h ea u t h o r i t y of t h e c e n t r a l CPI machinery w a s so weakened i n re -l a t i o n t o t h e p r o v i n c i a l p a r t y o r g a n iz a t i o ns t h a t n e v e r a g a i nh a s t h e c e n t r a l p a r t y l e a d e r s h i p made a s e r i o u s a t t em pt t o en-force a u ni fo rm , r i g i d l i n e upon t h e o f t e n d e f i a n t p r o v in c e s.

a l so pub l i shed a d i r e c t a t t ack on t h e C hi ne se p a r t y as t h e

A. S o v i e t S h i f t t o Mi l i t a n t L i ne (1947)

T hese even t s were s e t in motion f o r t h e C P I by t h e S o v i e td e c i s i o n i n 1947 t o d i s c a r d t h e r i g h t i s t , un i t ed f ron t - f rom -above l i n e e n j o i n i n g s u p p o r t f o r bourgeoi s government s whicht h e CPSU had r e q u i r e d of t h e world Communist movement a f t e rt h e USSR's e n t r y i n t o World War 11. The CPSU now ordered ag e n e r a l s h i f t t o a m i l i t a n t s t r a t e g y of v i o l e n t o p p o s i t i o n t obourgeoi s governments , ge ne ra l s t r i k e s , dem ons t r a t ions, armedr e s i s t a n c e , a nd , i n c o l o n i a l areas , "wars of l i b e r a t i o n . " T h ef i r s t ' a u t h o r i t a t i v e s i g n a l f o r t h i s s h i f t was g i ven i n Z hdanov 'srepor t t o t h e found i ng m ee ti ng of t h e Cominform i n Septemb er1947; but because Zhdanov d e a l t e x p l i c i t l y o n ly w i t h Europe,nowhere i n t h i s r e p o r t d i d he i n d i c a t e c l e a r l y w he th er o r n o tt h e a l l i a n c e which was t o c a r r y o u t t h e armed s t r u g g l e i nc o l o n i a l c o u n t r i e s a g a i n s t i m p e r fa l i S t r u l e r s c o u ld i n c l u d es e c t i o n s of t h e n a t i v e b o u r g e o i s i e which might be an t i - imper i -a l i s t ( t h e " n a t i o n a l b o u r g e o i s i e " ) or sect ions of t h e n a t i v ep e a s a n t r y which were not impoverished b u t which might be a n t i -f e u d a l ( t h e "middle" and " r ic h " p e a sa n t r y ) . T h at S t a l i n i n1947 ha d not made up h i s mind on t h i s q u e s t i o n w a s i n d i c a t e dby t h e c o n f l i c t i n g i n t e r p r e t a t i o n s p ro vi de d by a u t h o r i t a t i v eSov i e t speakers a t t h e p r o ce e d in g s of a meet ing of t h e S o v i e t- 2 -


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' . .I

how ever , t h e fo l l ow i ng yea r , i n a passage i n L i u Shao -ch i' sa r t i c l e "N a t iona li sm and In t e r na t i o na l i s m , " w r i t t en i n con -

m LAcademy of S c i e n c e s on I n d i a i n J u n e 1 94 7 wh ich a n t i c i p a t e dt h e S o v i e t s w i t c h t o t h e m i l i t a n t l i n e , and i n ar t i c l es byt h e same e x p e r t s i n December amplifying Zhdanov e s t h e s i s . *

The Chinese Communist Party, on t h e o t h e r ha nd , a d op te da c le a r p o s i t i o n on t h es e ambiguous Sovi e t s t a t e men t s . On25 December 1947 Mao T se - t ung de l i ve red a r e p o r t t o t h e CCPc e n t r a l committee s e t t i n g f o r t h a l i n e which was p r i n c i p a l l yin tended for the Contemporary Chinese scene bu t which w a sa l so i m p li e d t o be v a l i d f o r o t h e r AzSrfan p a r t i e s . ldao con-demned " u l t r a - l e f t " p o l i c i e s toward t h e p e t t y and "mi dd le"b o u r g e o i s i e , e x p l i c i t l y set f o r t h t h e im me dia te aims of h i s"New Democratic" r e v o l u t i o n as t h e e l i m i na t i o n of f e u d a l s man d monopoly c a p i t a l i s m r a t h e r t h a n c a p i t a l i s m in g e n e r a l ,and then added a c a l l f o r " a l l a n t i - i m p e r i a l i s t f o r c e s " oft h e v a r i o u s E as t e r n c o u n t r i e s t o u n i t e t o oppose imper i a l i smand t h e r e a c t i o n a r i e s as he had de fin ed them--by Im pl ic at io n,t h e r e f o r e , t o a i m a t a two-stage r e v o l u t i o n ( f i r s t ant i - imper i -a l i s t and democratic, and on ly l a t e r s o c i a l i s t ) , and t o u s ea f o u r- c l as s a l l i a n c e ( p r o l e t a r i a t , p e as a nt ry , p e t t y b o u rg e o is i e ,a nd n a t i o n a l b o u r g e o i s i e ) a g a i n s t i m p e r i al i s m and t h e p ro -i m p e r i a l i s t s e c t i o n s of t h e b o u r ge o i si e .

I

*For t he d e t a i l s of t h e s e a r t i c l e s , s e e t h e d i s c u s s io n s . b yKautsk y (Moscow and t h e Communist Pa r t y of I n d i a , N e w York,1956) and Ov er st re et and Windmil ler (Communism i n I nd ia ,Berke ley , 1959) ., - 3 -


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t h e n a t i o n a l b o u r g e o i s i e which is s t ill oppos i ng i m per i a l s m .H e added t h a t ' 'should t h e Communists f a i l t o do so i n e a r n e s t ,s h o u l d t h e y on t h e c o n t r a r y o pp os e o r re jec t such an a l l i a n c e " ,t h i s would be a " s e r i o u s m is t a k e , " Although t h i s a r t i c l e w a sw r i t t e n in November 1948, i t was n o t p u b l i s he d i n S o v i e t m ed iau n t i l t h e fo l low ing June , when t h e CPSU showed many-signs ofh a v i n g f i n a l l y accepted t h e l i n e of a n a l l i a n c e w i t h t h e n a t i o n a lb o u r g e o i s i e In t h e m eant ime, t h roughout 1948 au t hor i t a t v eS o v i e t writers had cont inued t o take ambivalent o r c o n t r a d i c -t o r y p o s i t i on s o n t h i s issue, and it seems l i k e l y t h a t t h i sCPSU i n d e c i s i o n w a s one of t h e r e a s o n s for Moscow's l o n g d e l a yin p u b l i s h i n g LiuOs a r t i c l e o *B. Ranadive R i s e t o Power i n CPI

Meanwhile, even as Ldao spoke i n December 1947 a s h i f tw a s o c c u r i n g w i t h i n t h e Indian Communist party which w a s br ing-i n g i n t o c o n t r ol a f a c t i o n which i n t e rp re t e d Z hdanov9s Sept em berd i r e c t i v e s i m p l i s t i c a l l y , n o t on l y a ss um in g it t o be a c a l lfo r armed s t ru gg l e ag a i n s t t h e Nehru gove rnment bu t also seeingi t as a demand f o r a l i m i t e d w or ke r- pe as an t a l l i a n c e a g a i n s ta l l s e c t i o n s of t h e Ind i an bou rgeo i s i e t o b r i n g a b o u t a one-s tage r e v o l u t i o n o v e rt h r ow i ng cap i ta l i sm and usher ing in so-cial ism. T h i s s h d f t t o o k p l a c e a t a December 1947 C P I c e n t r a lcommittee meet ing i n which t h e balance of power within t h eparty swung away f r o m P o C. Josh& - t he o l d CPI g e n e r a l s e c r e t a r ywho had l e d t h e p a r t y s i n c e t h e m i dd le t h i r t i e s , and who hadadvoca t ed suppor t f o r t h e new Nehru government--toward B o ".Ranadive, who h a s s i n c e t o t h i s day r em ai ned a t l e a s t t h et i t u l a r l ea de r of t h e CPI l e f t i s t f a c t io n . The c e n t r a l commit-tee adopted a r e so l u t i on m ak i ng no d i s t i n c t i o n b etween s e c t i o n sof t h e Indian bourg eoi s i e , and lumping a l l of t h e b o u r g e o i s i ew i t h imper i a l i sm and feuda l i sm as the enemy to be fought now.

T h is l i n e was confirmed and developed three months l a t e ra t t h e Second Congress of t h e C P I i n Feb ruar y 1948, when Ranadive

*Another rea son , presumably, vas L i u ' s i n s u f f i c i e n t l y harsha t t i t u d e toward T i t o ,

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f o r m a l ly r e p l a c e d J o s h i as g e n er a l s e c r e t a r y . The P o l i t i c a lT h e si s a do pt ed by t h i s c o n gr e s s i d e n t i f i e d t h e e n t i r e wo rl db o u r g e o i s i e w i t h t h e i m per i a l i s t c am p as t h e common enemy i ne v e r y c ou nk ry ; e x p l i c i t l y re jected t h e n o t i on of s i g n i f i c a n td i f f e r e n c e s among t h e b o u r g e o i si e ; c a l l e d f o r a u n i te d f r o n tfrom below ( to e n t i c e away t h e p r o l e t a r i a n f o l l o w in g of t h eCongress par ty) r a t h e r t h a n a u n i t e d f r o n t f r o m above (whichwould have meant t h e Jo sh i l i n e of a l l i a n c e s w it h and s u p p o r tfor Congress par ty l e a d e r s ) ; h e l d ' t h a t - a r e v o lu t i o na r y s i t u a -t i o n now e x i s t e d i n I n d i a , and c a l l e d f o r a v i o l e n t e f f o r t t obr i ng abou t a o n e -s t a ge r e v o l u t i o n . T h i s p a r t y c o n g r e s s washe l d i n C a l cu t t a i m m ed i a te l y upon t he conc l us i on of an i n t e r --n a t i o n a l y o u th c o n g r e s s t h e r e s p on s or e d j o i n t l y b y t h e WorldFede ra t i on of Democratic Y outh and t he In t e rn a t i o na l Unibn ofStude nt s which is b e l i e v e d t o have g iv en t h e s i g n a l f o r t h earmed Communist uprisings which soon a f t e rw ard began i n anumber of o t h e r Asian c o u n t r i e s .

Fol lowing the Second Congress , Ranadive proceeded t o app l yi n s u r r e c t i o n a r y t a c t i c s ag ai ns t th e Nehru government ; i n so, 'do i ng he sough t t o adhe re t o the model of t h e R u s s ia n r e v o l u -t i o n a n d t o r e l y p r i m a r i l y upon s t r u g g l e i n t h e c i t i e s r a t h e rt h a n i n t h e coun t ry s i de . T he re were a t t e m p t s a t mass ivep a r a l y zi n g s t r i k e s , v i o l e n t d em on st ra t i o n s, ac id- throwings ,and so on, and many party l e a d e r s went underground.government responded w i t h a vigorous crackdown ag a i ns t t h ep a r t y which e f f e c t i v e l y a n t i c i p a t e d and c ou n t e r e d t h e s e meas-u r e s and placed much of t h e p a r t y ' s t op l e a d e r s h i p i n p r is o n .Meanwhile, the CPI's v i o l e n t t a c t i c s s t e a d i l y r e d uc e d t h e numrber of e f f e c t i v e p a r t y members, d ec im a te d t h e f r o n t s , and Ir a p i d l y e li m i n a te d t h e p a r t y ' s i n f lu e n ce o ve r t h e masses; c a l l sf o r s t r i k e s were heeded l e ss and l e s s , and even t ua l l y , as Rana-d i v e ' s o p p o n e n t s l a t e r charged , t h e p a r t y was reduced t o spon-s o r i n g a c t s of " i nd i v i dua l t e r ro r i sm " by t i ny g roups of d i e -ha rd m i l t a n t s .

The Nehru

Andhra C i t a t i o n of Mao as G u i d e : While t h i s was goingon , Communist l e a d e r s i n t h e Tel-na d i s t r i c t o f t h e s o u th -ern I n d i a n p r i n c e l y s t a t e of Hyderabad (which had not yet beeni n c o r p o r at e d i n t o I n d i a ) h ad for t h ree yea r s been l ead i ng ar e l a t i v e l y s uc c e s s fu l r e v o l t among t h e l o c a l p e a s a n t r y by r e l y -ing upon a r a d i c a l p r o g r a m of l a n d re form. The co nt ra s t be tweent h e success of t h i s e f f o r t and t he f a i l u r e of Ranadive ' s t a c -t i c s encouraged the Andhra provinc ia l committee--to which the

. .

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Telengana par ty l e a d e r s were subord ina ted- - to c i r c u l a t e with-i n t h e p a r t y i n June 1948 a document c ha l l en gi ng RanadiveOsl i n e a nd c a l l i n g f o r a l i n e c omb in in g a g r a r i a n r e v o l t w i thCommunist a l l i a nc e w i t h t h e na t i o na l bou rg eo i s i e and a l ls t r a t a of t h e p e a s a n t r y . The Andhra l e a d e r s e x p l i c i t l y ac-knowledged tha t t hey were i n s p i r e d t o ad op t t h i s l i n e b y t h eexpe r i ence of t h e C hi ne s e r e v o l u t i o n , a nd not by what theytermed "c l a s s i ca l R u s s i a n r e v o l u t i o n . '' T hey dec l a red t ha tWao, t h e l e a d er of t h e h i s t o r i c C hin ese l i b e r a t i o n s t r u g gl e ,from h i s u n iq u e a nd r i c h e x p e r ie n c e a nd s t u d y , h a s f o r m u l at e da t h e o r y of new democracy" which was a "new form of revolu-t i o n a r y s t r u g g l e t o advance toward social ism i n c o l o n i e s andsemi-colon ies" and which w a s some th i ng "d i s t i nc t f rom t h ed i c t a t o r s h i p of t h e p r o l e t a r i a t . " An e s s e n t i a l a s p e c t of t h i sMaoist l i n e which t h e I n d i a n p a r t y s h o ul d co py , t h e y f e l t , w a st h e l i m i t a t i o n of t h e s t r u g g l e i n t h e p r e se n t s t ag e t o oneag a i ns t im per i a l i sm and feuda l i sm, and th e consequent forma-t i o n of a b ro ad a l l i a n c e w i th t h e a n t i - i m p e r i a l i s t "middlebourgeoi s i e" of t h e c i t i e s , as w e l l as t h e "midd le peasan t ry"and (if p o s s i b l e ) e ve n t h e " r i c h p e a s a n tr y " of t h e c o un t ry -s i de . The Andhra pa r t y committee c i t e d as t h e j u s t i f i c a t i o nf o r t h i s l i n e a s t a t e m e n t b y Mao on 24 Apri l 1945 t o t h e 7 t hCCP Con gre ss , i n which Mao comp lain ed t h a t "some people cannotunderstand why t h e Communist Party of China, far from be i ngunsympathet ic So c a p i t a l i s m , a c t u a l l y p ro mo te s i t s develop-ment ," and exp lai ned t h a t "what China does not want isfo r e i g n i m per i al i sm and na t i ve f eu da l i sm and not n a t i v e c a p i -t z i l i s m which is t o o w e a k . ' '

Ranadive Attack on Mao: Whi l e ne i t he r Mao nor t h e AndhraCommunists had i n mind e i t h e r t h e i n d e f i n i t e r e t e n t i o n sfc a p i t a l i s m or t h e a b d i c a t i o n of Communist le ad er sh ip , and wh ilet h e r e is no good ev i dence t h a t t he Andhra pa r t y i n h a i l i ng Maoas a model consc i ous l y i n t ended to r e j e c t CPSU a u t h o r i t y ,Ranadive f o r po lemica l purpo ses chose t o p r o f e s s t h e s e c o n c l u -sions i n t h e co un t e ro f fen s i ve he made t o t h e Andhra document.I n h i s f i r s t r e s po n s e, i n t h e CPI j o u r n a l C o m u n i st of Janua ry1949, Ranadive conten ted h imse l f wi th defending h i s l i n e ofa s i n g l e r e v o lu t io n l e ad i ng d i r e c t l y t o socia l i sm, l e d by thep r o l e t a r i a t i n f i r m a l l i n a c e o n ly w it h t h e poor peasan t ry andt h e r u r a l p r o l e t a r i a t , and w i th s u g g e s ti n g t h a t t h e b a t t l ea g a i n s t t h e I n d i a n b o u r g e o i s i e w a s even more impor tant th ant h e s t r u g g l e a g a i n s t f o r e i g n im p e ri a li s m . I n J u l y 1 94 9, how-e v e r , h e wrote an a r t i c l e i n t h e same j o u r n a l which d i r e c t l yassa i l ed not only the Andhra document but i t s i deo l og i ca l

. ..:..r . . ..

. ..,

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'Li n s p i r a t i o n , Mao Tse-tung. In t h i s a r t i c l e Ranadive emphasizedt h a t t h e CPI a c c e p t e d only Marx, E n g el s , L e n in , an d S t a l i n asa u t h o r i t a t i v e sources of Marxism, and no t Mao, whom h e i m pl i -c i t l y compared w i t h T i t o and Browder. H e de l ca red t h a t "someof Mao ' s fo rmula t ions are s uc h t h a t no Communist party can ac-ce p t them; th ey are i n c o n t r ad i c t i on t o t h e wcmld un ders t and-i n g of t h e Communist p a r t i e s . " C i t i n g t h e 1 94 5 Mao q u o t a t i o nfrom t h e Andhra document, he termed t h e f o r m u l a t i o n aboht t h eCCP prom otin g t h e developm ent of c a p i t a l i s m " h o r r if y i n g , ''" r e a c t i o n a r y , 'I and " c o u n te r r e v o lu t i o n a r y , ' and i n h y p o c r i t i c a lf a s h i o n i n t e r p r e t e d Mao l i t e r a l l y , a s kin g: "Are we t o under-s t a n d t h a t w h i l e C ommunists i n Eu ro pe , t h e USSR, a n d I n d i af i g h t world c a p i t a l i s m , t h e C C P proposes t o r e b u i l d i t i nCh i na?"

J o s h i s u b s e q u e n t ly c l a im e d t h a t e i g h t e e n mo nths beforeR an ad iv e e x p r e s s e d t h e s e v i ew s p u b l i c l y h e ha d d i s s e m in a t e dthem i n p r i v a t e o r a l d i s c u s s i o n s w i t h in t h e C P I on t h e e v e of 8t h e February 1948 CPI Congress . Ranadive a t t h a t t i m e hadr e p o r te d l y d e c l a r e d t h a t Mao's "New Democracy" w a s r e e k i n gw i t h reformism and t h a t t h e C h i ne s e r e v o l u t i o n w o u l d n o t bec o n s o l i d a t e d a n d d i r e c t e d t ow ar ds s o c i a l i s m u n t i l i t s l eade r -s h i p r e v i s ed i t s views or was made t o re v i s e them. Ranadivew a s a l s o s a i d t o h a v e p r e d i c t e d t h a t a "whole pack of reform-is ts" who had go t co nt ro l of c e r t a i n o t h e r hm m un is t p a r t i e sa f t e r t h e wartime d i s s o l u t i o n of t h e Cominform would s oo n beo u s t e d . I n a Februa ry 1949 a r t i c l e i n Communist, Ran adiv eindeed made p u b l i c s i m i l a r vague charges of r e v i s i o n i s ma g a i n s t t h e l e a d e r s h i p s of unspecified European Communistp a r t i e s .

For Ranadive t o p a s s f ro m t h e s e p r i v a t e c h a r g es of vaguep u b l i c a l l u s i o n s t o h i s d i r e c t p u bl ic a t t a c k on Mao i n Ju l y1949, however, w a s a remarkab le a c t , p a r t i c u l a r l y i n view oft h e f a c t t h a t t h e CCP a t t h a t moment was i n t h e p r o c e ss ofc o n s o l i d a t i n g i t s conquest of main land Ch ina , wh i le the C P I

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was a t i n y an d h o p e l e s s l y d e f e a t e d r em na nt of a p a r t y . h-s p i t e R a n ad iv e' s u nd ou bted p e r s o n a l f a n a t i c i s m and i r r e s p o n -s i b i l i t y , it seems l i k e l y t h a t he m u s t have had what he con-s idered good ev idence ,of t r o n g f r i c t i o n between S t a l i n andt h e CC P $0 j u s t i f y h i s action.*There a re t w o known i t e m s of e v i d e n c e d a t i n g from l a t e1 9 48 and e a r l y 1 9 49 which d o s u g g e s t t h a t a t t h e v e r y t i m ewhen t h e CCP was coming t o pow er i n C hina , S t a l i n w a s e x p e r i -e nc in g p a r t i c u l a r d i f f i c u l t y i n a d j u s t i n g h im sel f t o t h ehe igh tened s t a t u s of Mao and t h e C hi ne se p a r t y w i t h i n t h e in-te rna t onal movement which was t h e i n e v i t a b l e c on se qu en ce oft h i s e ve n t . F i r s t , t h e Britcish Communist Palme D u t t , i n ar e p o r t t o a Conference on t h e C r i s i s of B r i t i s h I m p e r i a l i s mon 2 October 1948, l i s t e d f i v e new f e a t u r e s of the post -WorldWar I1 "na t i on a l l i b e r a t i o n movement". According t o t h e ve r -s i o n of D u t t ' s r e p o r t p u b li s h ed i n B r i t a i n , t h e second of

. .. ..

. ,

these p o i n t s declared: "The advance of democratic China r e p -r e s e n t s a power fu l force i n t h e world s i t u a t i o n which exer-, c i ses a p r of o un d i n f l u e n c e o n t h e development of t h e l i b e r a -t i o n s t r u g g l e aE t h e c o lo n i a l p e o p l e s t h r o u g h o u t Asia." Thev e r s i o n pu b l is h e d i n t h e Corninform journal on 15 October, how-e v e r , l i s t e d o n l y f o u r f e a t u r e s ; t h e po in t abou t Ch ina was

om i t t ed .Anna Louise Strong Book: A more dramatic p i e c e o f e v i -dence--and a reason why t h e C P S U a t t h i s t i m e may have beenu n w i l l i n g t o pu b l i s h th e seeming ly innocuous s ta te men t above ,which i n s ub s e qu e n t y e a r s h a s been repeated many t i m e s byMoscow--was prov ided by t h e case of Anna L o u i s e St ro ng andher book, "TomorrowCs China ." This book, based on a yearOs

* f i t h ough it is b a r e l y p o s s i b l e t h a t R a n a d i v e was g iv e nd i r e c t i n s t r u c t i o n s b y t h e CPSU t o a t tack Mao, t h i s , s e e ms un-l i k e l y , i f o n l y because--as w i l l be seen--by the t i m e Rana-d i v e wrote i n J u l y 1949 t h e CPSU had a l r e a d y a c c e p t e d t h ep a r t i c u l a r Maoist d o c t r i n e which was t h e cen t ra l ob jec t ofRanadive ' s a s s a u l t , I t appears more l i k e l y t h a t Ranadiveused e a r l i e r broad i n d i c a t i o n s of Sino-Sovie t d i f f i c u l t i e sas j u s t i f i c a t i o n f o r a t t a c k on t h e a u t h o r i t y c i t e d by h i si n t e r n a l p a r t y o p po ne nt s.

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i

s t a y i n C hi na f r o m J u l y 1946 t o J u l y 1947 and on r e p e a t e dc o n v e r s a t i o n s w i th t h e t o p CCP leaders, was p u b l i s h e d by t h eCommunist press of many countr ies l a t e i n 1 94 8 and e a r l y i n1949. In I n d i a , i t was pub l i shed by the CPI's People ' s Pub-l i s h i n g H ouse of Bombay i n t h e f a l l of 1 9 48 u n d e r t h e t i t l ellIhawn O u t of China." In t h i s work M i s s S t r o n g p a i d r e p e a t e dt r i b u t e t o t h e e x pe r ie n ce a nd a u t h o r i t y of t h e C h in e s e Com-m u n i s t p a r t y a n d Yao a nd t h e p a r t i c u l a r a nd un i qu e relevanceof Mao's t e a c h i n g s t o t h e r e v o l u t i o ns of Asia. She even wentso far a s t o s t a t e e x p l i c i t l y t h a t "i t i s to Mao Tse-tung andt o Communist China much more t h a n t o presen t -day Moscow t h a tt h e n a t i o n a l i s t r e v o lu t i o ns of Indonesia, Indo-China, Burma,look f o r t h e i r l a t e s t , m o s t p r a c t i c a l ideas ," a n d t h a t Maovss t r a t e g y was made t o f i t such peop les because Ch ina ' s p rob lemsare s i mi l a r t o t h e i r s . Mao's a n a l y s i s o f C h in a 's r e v o l u t i o n ,s h e s a i d , "is s t u d i e d e a g e r l y in t h e c o l o n i a l l a n d s of South-eas t Asia;" a nd s h e t h o u g h t t h a t W a r x i s t s a l l o v e r t h e w or lda gr ee t h a t i n o r de r t o under s tand t he modern problems of Asia,i t is n e c e s s a r y t o s t u d y Mae's t h o u g h t , " s i n c e Mao w a s t h e" f i r s t Marxist i n Asia" t o s u c ce e d i n a p p ly in g Marxist p r i n -c i p l e s t o new c o n di t i o n s a nd i n g i v i n g t h o s e p r i n c i p l e s a newdevelopment.

One aspect of t h e Mao is t t e a c h in g s t h u s l a u d e d b y t h i sbook is t h e "New Democracy" l i n e c a l l i n g f o r an a l l i a n c e w i t hth e m id dl e b o u r g e o i s i e a nd p r e s e r v a t i o n of some n a t i v e c a p i -t a l i sm f o r t h e s a k e of th e common s t ru gg le ag a i ns t imper ia l -i s m and i t s a d h e r e n t s . In a l a t e r p r iv a t e c o n v e r s a t i o n , AnnaLo u i s e S t r o n g s t a t e d t h a t i n he r l a s t i n t e r v i e w w i t h Mao i n1947, s h e d ec l a r e d h e r i n t e n t i o n t o b r in g t h i s Maoist l i n e f o rt h e a n t i - i m p e r i a l i s t s t r u g g l e t o t h e a t t e n t on of o th e r A s i a nCommunis t par t ies ; thereupon, according t o h e r ac co un t, Maoi n t e r r u p t e d h e r t o u rg e t h a t s h e b ri n g it to t h e a t t e n t i o n oft h e R u s s i an s as w e l l . I n f a c t , a f t e r h e r book had a l readybeen pub l i shed by a number of Communis t par t ies , s h e d id v i s i tt h e S o v i e t Union i n a n e f f o r t to g e t t h e work p u b l i s h e d t h e r e ,and appears t o h a v e b e e n n a iv e ly s u r p r i s e d a t t h e i n s i s t e n c eof the Moscow publ ish ing house tha t d r a s t i c changes be madei n t h e t e x t .i n 1 94 9, charged with e sp ionage , and subseq uen t l y exp e l l ed\ f r o m th e c o u n t r y . H e r o ld f r i e nd Borodin , who had a t te mptedt o h e l p h er i n d e a l i n g w i t h the Moscow publishers, was a l s oa r r e s t e d and l a t e r d i ed i n p r i s o n .

F i n a l l y , she w a s arres ted i n Moscow i n F e b ru a r y

. ...

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The fac t of Anna L o u i s e S t r o n g ' s a r r e s t by t h e S o v i e ta u t h o r i t i e s a f e w months a f t e r t he appearance of he r bookh a i l i n g Mao was l i k e l y t o have been se i zed on by Ranadive asevidence . of S t a l i n ' s a t t i t u d e toward both Mao's p r e t e n s i o n sand Maoist po l i c y . Thus encouraged , Ranadive and h i s l i eu -t e n a n t s i n t h e p a r t y c e n t e r pers i s t ed i n l e ad i ng t h e p a r t y onin i ts v i o l e n t c o u r s e d e s p i t e t h e d i s a s t r o u s e f f ec t s t h i s w a shaving, and d e s p i t e t he g row i ng oppos i t i on t o t h e Ranadivel i n e n o t o n ly f r o m t h e Andhra committee but also from t h ep a r t y t r ad e union l eader s l e d by S. A . Dange. Too deep l y com-m i t t e d t o h i s l i n e t o draw back, Ranadive at tempted t o a p p l yS t a l i n i s t methods of s u p p r e s s i o n w i t h i n t h e CPI, a r b i t r a r i l yd i s s o lv i n g r e b e l l i o u s l oc a l pa r t y com m i t t ee s and expe l l i ngd i s s i d e n t s on a wide sca l e , and thereby compounding t h e chaost h ro u gh o ut t h e p a r t y .C. CPSU S h i f t Toward Broad Alliance5 Away from Armed S t r u g g l e

One of Ranadive ' s opponent s who was f i r s t suspended fromt h e p a r t y and t h e n , i n December 1949 , expe l l ed , w a s t h e formerCPI g e n er a l s e c r e t a r y P. C . Jos h i . Jo sh i r e sponded pugnaci ous -l y t o h i s exp l u s i on by l aunch i ng a one-man campaign a g a i n s tRanadive, sending a l o n g l e t t e r t o S t a l i n and to o t h e r f o r e i g npar t i es document ing Ranadive ' s d e p a r t u r e from S o v i e t i n t e n t i o n s ,and pub l i sh i ng t he se and othe r documents i n a j ou rna l foundeds p e c i a l l y for t h e p u r p o s e , Josh i was a i ded i n t h i s e f f o r t byt h e f a c t t h a t CPSU p o l i c y d o u b t s had a p p a r e n t l y b e en r e s o l v e dby mid-summer 19 49 In f a v o r of t h e l i n e of t h e f o u r - c l a s s a l -l i an ce and t h e t w o-s tage r evo l u t i on . In e a r l y J un e P ra v da ii-n a l l y p u b l i s h e d t h e text of L i u Shao -ch i 's " In t e r na t i on a l i s mand N a t iona li sm "; t h i s f a c t was c i t e d by Josh i * a s havi ng been

*J o s h i 's w r i t i n g s i nd e f e n s e s of t h e C h i n e s eand J o s h i i n su b s e q u e n tm o s t c lose ly i d e n t i f i e d

.

t h i s p er io d were r e p l e t e w i t h polemicall e ade r s aga i n s t R anad i ve 's at tacks ;y e a r s became known as t h e CPI l eaderw i t h Peip ing . J o s h i ' s adherence t ot h e a l l i a n c e w i t h t h e Indian na t i on a l bou rge o i s i e , how ever ,o u t l i v e d t h e e v e n t u a l p a s s i n g of Pe i p i ng ' s fondness fo r t h i sl i n e ; and J o s h i w a s f i n a l l y forced, most r e l u c t a n t l y , t o sup-por t t h e CPSU a g a i n s t t h e CCP when t h e S i n o - S o v i e t c o n f l i c ts u r f a c e d in 1960,- 10 -


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. .I '

. . . .. I .

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i g n o r e d by R a na dive when p u b l i s h in g h i s a t t a c k on Mao. Alsoi n J un e 1949, r e p o r t s d e l i v e r e d a t an im p o r t a n t meeting h e l dby the USSR Academy of Sc ie nces uphe ld bo t h a rmed pea san ts t r u g g l e s and t h e p a r t i c i p a t i o n of t h e n a t i o n a l b o u r g e o i si ei n t h e a n t i - i m p e r i a l i s t a l l i a n c e i n c o l o n i a l c o u n t r i e s ; a ndt h e same l i n e w a s t a k e n i n a c o l l e c t i o n of p a p e r s p u b l i s h e dby t h e S o v i e t P a c i f i c ' I n s t i t u t e l a t e r i n 1 9 4 9 .S o v i e t S u b o r d i na t i o n of C h in e se Ex p e r i e n c e: I n a d d i t i o n ,one of t h e l a t t e r p a p e r s p u b l i s h ed by t h e P ac i f i c I n s t i t u t e

now d e s c r i b ed t h e C h i ne s e r e v o l u t i o n as h a vi ng p r o f i t e d " f r o mt h e t re me nd ou s e x p e r i e n c e o f t h e CPSU", as h a v i n g " c r e a t i v e l ya p p l i e d t h e t e a c h i n g s of Le n in and S t a l i n " u nd er c o n d i t i o n sof a s e m i - c o lo n i a l c o u n t r y , a n d as c o n s t i t u t i n g f o r t h i s rea-son Ita vas t t r e a s u r y of r e v o l u t i o n a r y e x p er i e nc e i t s e l f " f o rc o l o n i a l p e op l e s o f t h e E a s t t o draw upon. This a t t e m p t t os u b o r d i n a t e t h e s i g n i f i c a n c e o f Mao's t h i n k i n g w a s r e i t e r a t edi n a Sovie t message on t h e f o un d in g of t h e CPR pu bl is he d inPravda on 6 October 1949 , i n which th e CCP was d e p i c t e d ashaving won i t s v i c t o r y by " ba s i ng i t s e l f " on S t a l i n ' s " a na l ys i sof t h e . . . c o n d i t i o n s f o r a v i c t o r y of an a n t i - i m p e r i a l i s t a n da n t i - f e u d a l r e v o l u t i o n . " I t t h u s seems t h a t t h e CPSU, f i n a l l yconvlnced of t h e exped iency of Mae's f o ur - c l a ss s t r a t e g y f o rt h e r e v o l u t i o ns of Asian pa r t i e s - -and a lso conf ron ted by Mao'sv i c t o r y w it h t h e n e c e s s i t y of d e f i n i n g t h e CCP's r e l a t i o n t ot h o s e r e v o l u t i m s - - a t t e m p t e d t o r e s o l v e bo t h p ro bl em s by a d op t -i n g t h i s M ao is t l i n e and d e p i c t i n g i t , and a l l C h in e s e e x p e r i -e n c e , as d e r i v e d from S t a l i n i s t t ea ch i ng s .

The CCP seems n e v e r t o ha ve a c c e p t e d t h i s d i s t i n c t l y sub-o r d in a t e n i c h e f o r Ma o , a l t h o u g h Ma0 i n March and Ju ly 1949d i d per fo rm the r i t u a l of acknowledging Chinese successes t ohave been made p o s s i b l e by t h e S o v i e t v i c t o r i e s i n World War11. A t t h e November 1 949 WFTU P ei pi ng C onf ere nce o f Asi an andA u s t r a l a s i a n C o u n t r i e s wh ic h f o r m a l ly r a t i f i e d t h e Maoists t r a t e g y a s s u i t a b l e f o r t h e Asian p a r t i e s , L iu Sh ao -c hi d e -c l a r e d , w i t h o u t any obe isance t o S o v i e t e x p e r i e n c e o r t e a c h -i n g s , t h a t " t h e p a t h t a k e n by t h e C h in es e p e o p l e ... s t h e p a t ht h a t s h o ul d b e t a ke n by t h e p e o p l es of t h e v a r i o u s B C N A Eng-l i s h 7 c o l o n i a l and se m i -c o l on i a l c o u n t r i e s i n t h e i r - f i g h t f o rnatxonal independence and people ' s democracy. I* (Emphasis sup-p l i e d .

*NCNA E n g l i s h v e r s i o n o f 23 November 1949. The Soviet Union w a smentioned only i n p a s s i n g i n t h i s speech; and L i u a l l ud e d t oas I f t h e new democracies ."h e European s a t e l l i t e s - 11 -

. .,

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The Quest ion of t h e S u i t a b i l i t y of Armed S t r u g g l e : T h i s"Chinese path" was de f i ned by L i u as a broad u n i te d f r o n t , i n-c l u d i n g t h e n a t i o n a l b o u r g e o i s i e a nd t h e p e t t y b o u r ge o i si e b u tbased on t h e worker-peasant a l l i ance a nd r e s o l u t e l y d em in at edby t h e Communist party--plus a na t i ona l a rm y l e d by t h e p a r t ywaging armed s t r u g g l e s f r o m bases i n t h e coun t ry s i de w h i l e con -ducting- "legal a n d i l l e g a l mass s t r u g g l e s " i n t h e c i t i e s . *(Emphasis s up p li e d) Although L i U d i n s e r t c e r t a i n q u a l i f i-c a t i o n s - - d e c l a r i n g t h a t t h i s "way of llao Tse- tungf l shou ld befollowed in other coun t r i e s "w here s i m i l a r c o n d i t i on s p r e v a i l , 't h a t an army should be se t up "wherever and whenever p o s s i b l e , "and t h a t armed s t r u g g l e is t h e main form of s t r u g g l e of "many"co lo ni es and semi -co lon ies - - the main t h r u s t of h i s argumentw a s i n t h e oppos i t e d i r e c t i o n , i m p l y i n g t h a t t h e Chinese f e l tthat armed s t r u g g l e on t h e i r model w a s indeed wel l -nigh uni -v e r s a l ly s u i t a b l e i n Asia.

The CPSU h a s s i n c e i n t i m a t e d t h a t a t t h e t i m e i t was n o tin complete agreement w i t h t h e CCP on t h i s p o i n t , i mp ly in g t h a tt h e S o v i e t p a r t y , w h i l e f i n a l l y a c c e p t i n g Mao's d o c t r i n e ofa f o u r -c l a ss a l l i a n c e in c o l o n i a l c o u n t r i e s , may also havebeen j u s t beg i nn i ng t o cons ider abandoning armed s t r u g g l e s i nc e r t a i n c o u n t r i es where t h e y had proven inexped ien t , and t h a tt h e CPSU may' t herefo re h a v e b e e n r e l u c t a n t t o commit a l l t h eAsian WFTU o r g a n i z a t i o n s t o a l i n e s u gg e st in g t h a t v i o l e n tt a c t i c s were s t i l l g e n e r a l l y s u i t a b l e . While there is noc o n c l u s i v e e v i de n c e , c e r t a i n of L i u ' s s t a t e m e n t s hav e ,a h i g h l ypo l em i ca l f l av o r which l e n d s some credence t o t h i s . H e s a i d

* L i Li-san, a former CCP l eader who i n 1930 had been in-s t r um e n ta l i n a p pl y in g S t a l i n ' s d i s a s t r o u s a d v i c e t o t h eC h i n e s e p a r t y to c o n c e n t r a t e on armed s t r u g g l e s i n t h e c i t i e sr a t h e r t h a n i n t h e c o u n t r y s i d e , was a l s o brought o u t a t t h i sWF'TU meet ing t o t e s t i f y t o t h e " h i s t o r i c a l l e s s o n " t a u g h t b yh i s ' m i s t a k e and t o t h e p r o v e n c o r r e c t n e s s of Mae's l i n e ofr e l y i n g o n armed s t r u g g l e i n t h e c o u n t r y s i d e w h i l e e s s e n t i a l l y" l y i n g low" in t h e c i t i e s . L i ' s s t a t e m e n t s were probab l ydi rec ted i n l a r g e p a r t a t Ranadive, who was now r epea t ingL i ' s o l d po l i cy ; ' t hey were p r o b a b l y a l s o i n te n de d as a re-minder to t h e A s i a n p a r t i e s of t h e f a l l i b i l i t y of CPSU ad-v i c e .

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t h a t " i f t h e p eo p le of t h e co l o n i e s and sem i-co l on i es have noarmed f o r c e s t o de fend t hem se l ves , t hey w i l l l o s e e v e r y t h i n g , "t h a t t he e x i s t en ce and deve lopm en t o f t h e worki ng c l a s s ' organ i -z a t i o n a n d t h e u n i t e d f r o n t depends on armed s t r u g g l e , a n dt h a t armed struggle is t h e " i n e v i t a b l e " c o u rs e f o r c o l o n i a lpeoples . H e em phas i zed t ha t " t h e f i g h t e r s of t h e n a t i on a l -- l i b e r a t i o n wars of Vietnam, Burma, I nd on es ia , Malaya, and t h eP h i l i p p i n e s h ave a c t e d e n t i r e l y c or re ct ly "* -- as i f someone hadq u e s t i o n e d t h i s . H e declared t h a t i t is "impossible" t o over-t h r o w i m p e r i a l i s m a n d e s t a b l i s h a people ' s democracy "by tak-ing any o ther eas ie r way" t ha n t h a t of armed s t r u g g l e , andwarned that I f i f anybody at tempts t o do so, it would be a m i s -take.** Ul t imate ly , however , t he WFTU Conrference--presumablyin d e f e r e n c e t o So vi et views-- in one of i t s r e s o l u t i o n s urgedt h e c o l o n i a l and s e m i- c o lo n i al c o u n t r i e s t o take i n t o a cc ou nt" loca l c o n d i t i o n s and n a t i o n a l c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s " i n c ho o s in g" t h e app rop r i a t e m et hods" t o b u i l d a u n i t e d f r o n t a n d d e f e a t

* E a r l i e r , i n h i s s p e e c h , h e h ad a l so h a i l e d I n d i a as oneof t h e cou n t r i e s w he re armed s t r ug g l e s were t a k i n g p l a c e ; t h e._ Mani fes to i ssued by t h e P e i p i ng WFTU C onfe rence d i d n o t do so,sugges t ing&-as does subsequen t ev i dence -- t ha t t h e que s t i o n oft h e s u i t a b i l i t y o f I n d i a f o r armed s t r u g g le may have been oneof t h e p o i n t s a t i s s u e .

* * L i u h e r e added unusu a l l y v i go rous and l en g t h y warn ingsa b ou t t h e u n t r u s t w o r t h i n e s s a nd v a c i l l a t i o n s e v en of t h o s es e c t i o n s of t h e b o u r ge o i s i e which p a r t i c i p a t e d i n t h e a n t i -i m p e r i a l i s t a l l i a n c e ( t h e n a t i o n a l b o u r ge o i s i e) , and t h e i ri n c a p a c i t y t o l e a d t h e n a t i o n a l l i b e r a t i o n movement or accom-p l i s h t h e d e m o c r a t i c r e v o l u t i o n .is ts l o s i n g c o n t r o l of t h e a l l i a n c e t o t h e n a t i o n a l b o u r ge o is i ew ou l d na t u ra l l y come t o t h e f o re wi th th e abandonment of Com-- m unis t - led armed s t ru gg l e aga i n s t a c l ea r l y -de f i ned i m per i-a l i s t and r ea c t i on a r y enemy; i n such cases, t h e r e would bean i nc reased p o ss i b i l i t y t h a t some Communists would c l a s s i f yna t ive government s such as Nehru ' s as n a t i o n a l bo u r ge o i s, a ndhence worthy of being s u p p o r t e d a g a i n s t a common imperial istenemy r a t h e r t h a n f o u g h t . S ome th in g l i k e t h i s , i n f a c t ,e v e n t u a l l y ha pp en ed i n I n d i a i n r e s p o n se t o changes i n Sov i e tpo l i cy w h i ch Pe i p i ng a t f i r s t accepted' b u t f i n a l l y a g a i n camet o denounce.

T h i s dange r of t h e Commun-

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t h e i m p e r i a l i s t s , s u g g es t in g t h a t armed s t r u g g l e was now f a rf ro m g e n e r a l l y o b l i g a t o r y . A l l i n a l l , t h e e v i de n ce s u g g e s t sthat whi le both Moscow and Peiping s t i l l endorsed armed st rug-g l e f o r many A si an cou n t r i e s , and bo t h adm i t t ed t h e need f o rsome p r es e nt ex ce pt io ns , t h e CPSU now saw t h e n e c e s s i t y f o rmore e x c e p t i o n s from t h i s p o l i c y th an t h e C C P w a s y e t w i l l i n gt o adm i t .January Cominform E d i t o r i a l and Fa l l of Ranadive: This

i n t e r p r e t a t i o n is given some support by an e d i t o r i a l p u b l i s h -ed i n t h e Cominform j o u r na l on 27 Janua ry 1950 which r e i t e r a t -ed L i u ' s main p o i n t s b u t i n su c h a f a s h i o n as t o suggest morev i go r ou s ly t h a t t h e r e were some Asian count r ies where armeds t r u g g l e cou ld not now us ef u l ly be employed, and t h a t In d i aw a s o ne s uc h c o u n tr y . T h i s e d i t o r i a l a l s o quoted L i u ' s s t a t e -ment t h a t t h e C h in e se p a t h s h o u l d be t a k e n by t h e p e o p le oft h e v a r i o u s c o l o n i a l c o u n t r i e s , b u t chan ged N C N A ' s "The various"t o "many," p os si bl y meaning t o i n d i c a t e t h a t t h e CPSU s a we x c e p t i o n s t o t h e a p p l i c a b i l i t y of armed s t r u g g l e a n d t o- l i m i t t h e s t a t u r e of t h e C h inese pa r t y and i t s e x p e r i e n c e .The same f u n c t i o n w a s s e r v e d by the e d i t o r i a l ' s s p e c i f i c in -j u nc t i o n t o t h e Ind i an Communist pa r t y t o be guided by " theexpe r i en ce o f t h e n a t i o na l - l i b e r a t i on movement i n C h ina ando t h e r c o u n t r i e s . " ( Em ph as is added . ) I n a d d i t i o n, t h e ed i -t o r i a l now i n s t r u c t e d t h e C P I Po u n i t e w i t h " a l l c lasses ,p a r t i e s , g ro up s and o r g a n i z a t i on s " w i l l i n g t o j o i n i t i n a. b a t t l e a g a i n s t i m p e r i a l i s m , f e u d a l i s m , and " t h e r e a c t i o n a r yb i g bourgeois i e . '

The i n i t i a l r e a c t i o n of t h e I n d i a n p a r t y t o t h i s s i g n a lw a s t o h ee d t h e s ec on d i n s t r u c t i o n - - t o r e j e c t R anad i ve Ps nas-row approach and form a f o u r - c l a s s a l l i a n c e - - b u t t o m i s i n t e r -p r e t t h e more i n d i r e c t s u g g e s t i o n t h a t armed s t r u g g l e i t s e l fbe en de d. I n May 1950, a cent ra l commi t t ee meet ing ous tedRanadive as g e n e r a l sec r e t a r y and i n s t a l l e d i n c o n t r o l t h eAndhra l e a d e r s , headed by Rajeswar R a Q . The triumphant Andhrag roup p roceeded pub l i c l y t o w i t h d r a w and apologize f o r t h eRanadive' a t t a c k s on Mao Tse-tung, and t h e n t o a t t e m p t t o p u ti n t o e f f e c t t h e C hi ne se f o r m u la o f armed struggle i n t h eco unt ry s id e combined wi t h " l eg a l t a c t i c s " i n t h e c i t i e s . T h i s ,however, proved no more successful t han t h e Ranadi ve l i n e .The p a r t y ' s " l i b e r a t i o n war" l o s t supp or t among th e Te lenganape asa n t r y a f t e r t h e I nd ia n government occupied Hyderabad anda p p li e d s t r o n g m i l i t a r y p r e s s ur e on t h e r e v o l t ; and e f f o r t s

, . . 1

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t o open a g r a r i a n r e b e l l i o n s i n o t h e r areas were l a r g e l y un-a v a i l i n g . A t t h e same t i m e , i t proved imposs ib le t o o b t a i nf r o m t h e Nehru government t h e l e ga l s t a t u s i n c i t i e s neces-s a r y t o b u i l d a u n i t e d f r m t t h e r e s o l o n g as t h e p a r t y w a su s i ng v i o le n c e i n t h e coun t ry s i d e . The p roc es s of d i s o r g a n i -z a t i o n w i t h in t h e p a r t y accelera ted,* and a campaign of op-p o s i t i o n t o t h e l i n e of t h e new l eade r sh i p w a s resumed byJosh i and by t h e t rade union l eaders under Dange, who chal-l enged Rajeswar Rao's c o n t e n ti o n t h a t a r e v o l ut i o n a ry s i t u a -t i o n now e x i s t e d i n Ind ia . Another cen te r of open oppos i -t i o n came i n t o b e i n g when d i s s i d e n t p a r t y l eaders working i nt h e c e n t r a l a p p a r a tu s banded t o g e t h e r t o f o r m t h e so-called"Par ty Headquar t e rs Uni t ; " these r ebe l s even went So far ast o found a j o u r n a l fo r the: p u b l i c a t i o n of material oppos ingt h e l i n e of t h e p a r t y l e ade r sh i p .

Toward t h e close of 1950, t h e CPI received a series ofguidance mater ia ls from t h e B r i t i s h Communist p a r t y sup po rt -i ng t he v i ew s of t h e p a r t y o p p o s i ti o n , a c c us i ng t h e Rao lead-e r s h i p of having misunders tood t h e Janua ry 1950 Cominformj o u r n a l e d i t o r i a l , denying t h a t a r e v o l u t i o n a r y s i t u a t i o ns u i t a b l e f o r armed s t r u g g l e h09 ex i s t ed i n I n d i a , a nd ur g i n gc o n c e n t r a t i o n on t h e b u i l d in g of a b ro ad u n i t e d f r o n t and t h ea p p l i c a t i o n o f a l l l e ga l t a c t i c s , i n cl u di n g p a r t i c i p a t i o n i ne l e c t i o n s . E a r l y i n 1951, s i m i l a r i n s t r u c t i o n s were r epo r t -e d l y g i ven t o t h e C P I d i r e c t l y by t h e CPSU when a d e l e g a t i o n. of C P I l eader s o f a l l f a c t i o n s is s a i d t o h a v e v i s i t e d Moscow.A docum en t en t i t l ed t h e " T a c t i c a l L i n e " s a i d t o be based upont h i s Sov i e t gu i dance was c i r cu l a t ed s e c r e t l y w i t h in t h e p a r t ya t t h i s t i m e , and s u b s eq u e nt l y p u bl is h ed i n s l i g h t l y s a n i t i z e dform as a pa r t y d r a f t Po l i c y S t a t emen t i n May 1951. The"T ac t i ca l L i ne" s t a t e d , and t h e Po l i cy S t a tem en t i m p l i ed ,t h a t t h e f i n a l o b j e c t iv e of t h e C P I was s t i l l an armed r e v o l u t i o n

. .

*Afterwards t h e C P I P o l i t b u r o t e s t i f i e d t h a t i n t h e cou r seof t h i s j o i n t "i n n er - P a rt y s t r u g g l e " and b a t t l e a g a i n s t t h egovernment t h e f u n c t i o n i n g of e v e r y p a r t y u n i t had r e c e i v e d" t h e r u d e s t shock; '" t h a t a t t h e end of t h e s t r u g g l e in 1951the re was "very l i t t l e of P a r t y or g a ni z a ti o n; " t h a t l o c a l ,d i s t r i c t , a n d p r o v i n c i a l committees had t o be s e t up a l l o v e raga i n ; and t h a t t h e p a r t y ' s f r o n t s had become "v i r tua l lynon-Zunctioning.? '

,

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. .' . , :'

i

t o overth row t h e Nehru government ; bu t bo th documents deni edt h a t t h i s w a s now f e a s i b l e . These documents condemned bo thRanadive ' s i n s i s t e n c e on s e e k i n g r e v o l u t i o n p r i m a r i l y t h r o ug hg e ne r al s t r i k e s o f i n d u s t r i a l wo rk er s, on t h e S o vi et p a t t e r n ,and Rajeswar Rao's p r e o c c u p a t i o n w i t h p a r t i s a n w a r f a r e amongt h e p e a s a n t r y, on t h e C h i n e s e p a t t e r n . I t was po i n t ed ou tt h a t t h e l a t t e r p o l i c y had b ee n u ns u c c es s f u l p a r t l y be ca u set h e I n d i a n p a r t y , u n l i k e t h e CCP, d i d n o t e n j o y t h e a d v an t ag eof a f i r m a nd c o n t i g u o u s b a s e across t h e b o rd e r -- i n t h e C hi-n e s e case, t h e So vie t Union . (Thi s po in t became impo r tan te i g h t y e ar s l a t e r , when t h e PLA appea red on t he Ind i an -T i be t anb o r d e r i n force d u r i n g t h e s u p p r es s i on of t h e T i b e ta n r e v o l t ,and CPI l e f t i s t s t hen began t o a r g u e t h a t t h e p a r t y now hadi'ts con t i guous base and c o ul d r e v i v e i n s u r r e c t i o n a r y t a c t i c s . )T he "T ac t i ca l L i ne" ca l l ed o n t h e CPI t o l e a r n f rom b ot h t h eCPSU and t h e CCP and t o p r e p a r e f o r t h e t i m e when both methodsc o u l d b e u s ed i n c o n j u n c t i o n ; i n t h e m ea ntim e, t h e p a r t y w a st o c o nt e nt i t s e l f w i t h b u i l d i n g t h e " r e v o l u t i o n a r y u n i t y " of" a l l d i s c o n t e n t e d s e c t i o n s a n d classes* ' .

I n r e a l i t y , t h e s u b s e q u e n t h i s t o r y of t h e In dia n Communistp a r t y h a s be en wh ol ly oc cu p ie d w i t h t h e p a r t y ' s e f f o r t s t ob u i l d t h i s " r e v ol u t i o n a ry u n i t y , and t h e r ev o l u t i o n i t s e l fhas become an in c r e a s i n g l y remote (and more complex) goal ast h e p o l i c i e s of t h e CPI and t h e CPSU have evolved. As AjoyGhosh replaced R a j e s w a r Rao as t h e CPI leader to a p p l y t h enew l i n e i n A p r i l 1 9 51 , t h e I n d i an p a r t y h ad come almost f u l lc i r c l e s i nc e 1947 ; bu t t h e p a r t y had now changed cons i d e rab l y .While i t w a s now a c ce p te d t h a t t h e s imp le "Chinese pa th " w a sn o t i mm e di at el y s u i t a b l e t o I n d i a , it w a s a l so dr iv en home i nt h e m inds o f a l l t h a t t h e Chinese Communist p a r t y and Mao werem ent o rs whose v iew s shou l d be r e sp ec t f u l l y s t ud i e d a f t e r t h o s eof t h e CPSU. The r i g i d , a r b i t r a r y B ol sh ev ik d i s c i p l i n e whichRanadive had at te mpt ed t o w i e l d w i t hi n t h e p a r t y w a s now gonefo reve r ; m oreove r , as t h e secre t o r g a n i z a t io n a l r e p o r t d e l i v e r -ed t o t h e Si x t h CPI C ongres s i n 1961 no t ed , e l em en t a ry Com-m u ni s t d i s c i p l i n e was i t s e l f p e rm a ne n tl y d i s c r e d i t e d by t hemisuse Ranadive had made o f i t , and t h e e x t r a o r d i n a r y p u b l i cf a c t i o n a l d e f i a n c e of c e n t r a l a u t h o r i t y which had o r i g i n a l l yb een j u s t i f i e d as t he on l y m eans t o d e th r on e f i r s t R an ad iv eand th en Rao w a s from now on implanted as a regular f e a t u r eof p a r t y l i f e . The new CPI gen er a l se c re t a r y , Ajoy Ghosh,w a s caught up immedia tely i n s u c h c o n t e n t i o n o f o p p os i ng f a c -t i o n s , oQer t h e l i n e t h e pa r t y shou l d adopt t oward t h e Nehrugovernment.

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11. THE C P I AND THE CHANGING SOVIET LINETOWARD N E m U (1951-1955)The m o s t i m p o r t a n t f e a t u r e of t h e n e x t f ew y e a r s f o r t h eCPI w a s t h e g r a d u a l l y s o f t e n i n g S ov ie t a t t i t u d e toward Nehru.By degrees t h e I n di a n p a r t y w a s forced t o follow t h e e v o l u t i o no f S o v i e t p o l i c y i n agreeing f i r s t t h a t t h e r e were some posi-

t i v e a s pe c ts t o N e hr u 's g e n e r a l l y b l a c k foreign p o l i c y , t h e nt h a t Ne hr u's f o r e i g n p o l i c y was g e n e r a l l y good bu t t h i t h i sd o m e s t i c p o l i c y w a s bad, and f i n a l l y t h a t t h e r e were f a v o r a b l ef e a t u r e s o f h i s d o m e s t i c p o l i c y as w e l l , The CPI had t o bebludgeoned by Moscow and i t s a ge nt s i n ' t h e c e n t r a l CPI leader-s h i p i n t o t a k i n g e ac h p a i n f u l s t e p a l on g t h i s p a t h , u s u a l l yw i t h a c o n s i d e r a b l e t i m e l a g behind t h e deve lopment of S o v i e tp o l i c y ; e a c h s u c h g r a d u a l m o d i f i ca t i o n of l i n e toward Nehruwas accom pli shed o n l y ove r t h e s t r e n u o u s o b j e c t i o n s of a l a r g es e c t i o n o f t h e I n d ia n p a r t y w hich d i d not wi sh what it regard-ed as o p p o r t u n i t i e s - - t o a dv an ce t h e c a u s e of Communism i nIn di a by opposing Nehru-- to be s a c r i f i c e d f o r t h e s ak e o f So-v i e t f o r ei g n p o l i c y i n t e r e s t s . Such CPI r e c a l c i t r a n c e wasr e f l e c t e d i n t h e pa r t y p rog ram adopt ed i n 1951, and t hen w a ss t r o n g l y f e l t a t t h e T h i r d C P I Congress a t Madurai i n D e c e m b e r1953. However, t h e S o v i e t movement away f r o m h o s t i l i t y t oN ehru , begun ca u t i o us l y t h r ee yea r s before S t a l i n ' s d e a t h , ac-c e l e r a t e d g r e a t l y t h e r e a f t e r i n t h e Bandung p e r i o d o f 1 95 4and 1955 , when Nehru exchanged v i s i t

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