Achhar Singh Chhina

Comrade Achhar Singh Chhina (2 October 1899 — 11 March 1981) was an Indian communist politician and independence activist. He served as a MLA in the Punjab Legislative Assembly for two terms. In 1962, he contested the Member of Parliament (MP) election from Tarn Taran and was defeated by 1990 votes.

Early life

He was born in the village Harsha Chhina, Tehsil Ajnala, Amritsar, Punjab. Achhar Singh Chhina did his basic studies at Khalsa College, where he played a pivotal role along with Pratap Singh Kairon, former Chief Minister of Punjab. The students and teachers of the college registered their protest against British rule by boycotting the visit of the Prince of Wales to the college.

In 1921, Comrade Chhina and Pratap Singh Kairon went to the United States for further studies. Both went to the University of California, Berkeley, to do Masters in Economics. The same year, he joined the Gadar Party in San Francisco and got his first lesson in national politics.

Political career

In 1932, he left the United States and went to the Soviet Union for further studies on socialism. He returned to India in 1936 and was arrested in Lahore in the same year, and was detained in Lahore Fort for two months.

Fatehwal murder case 1938–39

In 1937, the British Government ordered Comrade Achhar Singh Chhina to live in his own village (detained) for the whole year. In March 1938, on completion of his curfew period, the Communist Party of India (CPI) organised a conference on 13 March at Fatehwal village, Amritsar, to be headed by Comrade Achhar Singh Chhina and Mohan Singh Batth "and addressed by Gopi Chand Bhargava, Sohan Singh Josh and Begum Fatima. The goondas of Mir Maqbool, the local landlord and parliamentary secretary of the Unionist ministry, disrupted the conference and destroyed the stage. Achhar Singh Chhina and his associates arrived on the scene and held the proposed meeting, despite the impending threat. After Chhina left for Amritsar, Goondas attacked the people who were dispersing. When people retaliated, two attackers were killed after being pushed down from a roof".Naina Singh Dhoot, The Political Memoirs of an Indian Revolutionary, Manohar Publication 2005 Page 185 Police registered a criminal Case against Comrade Achhar Singh Chhina and Joginder Singh Chhina along with other 47 persons under section 302 IPC. This case was highlighted throughout country and defence appointed a committee to fight a case. The committee was headed by Jawaharlal Nehru and Dr Saifuddin Kitchlew, the Congress leader, and Karam Singh Mann, both lawyers, were actively involved in the defence. Police forced Mr. Ram Lal, a police constable, to give a false statement in court that at the time of the murder, Mr. Chhina was the main person who attacked the victim; however, he refused to give this statement in court.

Being involved in the Fathehwall Murder Case, he had to go underground to escape the clutches of the police and he escaped to Russia to help Bose.

The case was defended by Advocate Saifuddin Kitchlew along with Advocate Mann, where the judiciary found Comrade Achhar Singh Chhina not guilty on all counts and sentenced Joginder Singh Chhina for 20 years against this Case. "The Defence Committee fought the case till the High Court and Succeeded in getting everyone released in 1941".

Netaji and Comrade Achhar Singh Chhina (Larkin)

Subash Chandra Bose, aka Netaji, had first met Comrade Achhar Singh Chhina in April 1939, when he was visiting the Gaya district. At that time, Chhina was hiding himself from the police as a result of the Fathewall Murder Case. Chhina sought Bose's help and Bose advised him not to give himself up to the Police.

In early June 1940, Subhas Chandra Bose surveyed the World War situation and came to the conclusion that Indian freedom fighters should have first-hand knowledge as to what was happening abroad and should join the fight against the British. After considering the various means with the comrades of various organisations and parties, he found no other alternative but to travel abroad. The initial detailed plan of escape was primarily consulted and discussed with Niranjan Singh Talib, editor "Desh Darpan". Sardar Baldev Singh and the former defence minister, the Government of India. Talib introduced Achhar Singh Chhina's name to execute the plan. The executive committee of the Communist Party of Lahore decided that Achhar Singh Chhina, whose Soviet name was Larkin, one of the organisers of Kirti in North West Frontier Province, should meet Subhas Chandra Bose to chalk out the detailed escape plan. Achhar Singh Chhina visited Calcutta and met Bose. Bose further explained to Achhar Singh Chhina to approach Comrade Joseph Stalin for seeking armed help for India's struggle for independence, To vouch for his intentions to seek Soviet support for India's freedom movement, his speeches should be studied and not the changes in his political principles. For this purpose Achhar Singh Chhina visited the Frontier Province to make arrangements for his escape to Russia.

In June 1940, Comrade Achhar Singh Chhina and Comrade Ram Kishan came to meet Bhagat Ram Talwar in his village on the North West Frontier. Bhagat Ram Talwar was a member of the Forward Bloc and was engaged in secret activities of the Kirti Party. They requested he help Subhas Chandra reach the border of the Soviet Union, crossing through the tribal belt of Afghanistan. Bhagat Ram Talwar agreed to make arrangements for the stay of Netaji in Peshawar and from there for his escape to Kabul. After making necessary arrangements he returned to Calcutta to bring Netaji to Peshawar, but Bose was arrested for taking part in Black Hole of Calcutta Movement in 1940 and consequently could not avail himself of the opportunity.

But Achhar Singh Chhina himself used the opportunity and went to the Soviet Union in 1940 by crossing the Hindukush Mountains on foot through Kabul and discussed the possibility of Independence with top Soviet Leaders. In December 1940, Comrade Achhar Singh Chhina (Larkin) submitted the thesis "The National Front in India" to Comrade Stalin.

Bhagat Ram Talwar accompanied Subhas Chandra Bose to Kabul and started establishing contact with the Soviet and German embassies in Kabul. Subhas Bose lived incognito and was busy drawing the detailed plan of work. In Kabul, his Russian contact did not work out well. Bhagat Ram introduced himself to the German diplomats as Rahamat Khan and also met Alberto Quaroni, the Italian representative in Kabul. Bose tried to enter the Soviet Union twice, but couldn't succeed. After a six-week stay, Subhas Bose left Kabul with an Italian passport in the name of Orlando Mazzato with a Soviet transit visa.

Achhar Singh Chhina and international politics

In 1942, the CPI was officially against the Quit India movement. When Hitler attacked his erstwhile ally, the Soviet Union, in 1941, the fight against Nazism overnight became a People's War for all communists. Achhar Singh Chhina (known as 'Larkin' in the Soviet Union) was actively involved in international politics. He worked closely with CPI to develop a directive for CPI, and carried that directive from the Soviet Union to India with the full knowledge of the British authorities. In India, it meant communists had to isolate themselves from the mainstream of national life and politics and see British rule as a friendly force, since the communists' "fatherland", Soviet Russia, was an ally of Britain. A critical decision affecting the strategic and the tactical line of the party was thus taken, defying national interests at the behest of a foreign power, whose orders determined the positions and actions of the CPI.

While crossing the Hindukush he was arrested by the British government at Gilgit and was brought back to Lahore where he was locked up in Lahore Fort Cell. After staying for four months in Lahore Fort, he was transferred to the Campbell pore Jail, from where he was released on 1 May 1942.

President of the Punjab Kisan Sabha

In 1942, he was elected as President of the All India Kisan Sabha – Punjab and held this position for seven years. It was in that capacity that he organised the Harsha Chhina Moga Morcha in 1946, as a result of which he was detained in Lahore jail for three months. He also held a post of Secretary of the Punjab Communist Party.

Harsha Chhina Mogha Morcha 1946–47

Harse Chhina Mogha Morcha was an agrarian revolt in Punjab that took place in 1946–1947. The campaign was launched in June 1946 by remodelling the moghas (canal outlets) under the leadership of the Communist Party, which was later joined by all major political parties of the time, to stand against the decision of the British Government to decrease the supply of irrigation water to farmers. The campaign was headed by Comrade Achhar Singh Chhina, Sohan Singh Josh, Mohan Singh Batth, Baba Karam Singh Cheema, Jagbir Singh Chhina, and Gurdial Singh Dhillon. On the afternoon of 16 July 1946, Achhar Singh Chhina led a Jatha of 15 members from Harcha Chhina Village. On his shoulders he carried an iron Kahi (An agricultural tool/equipment). The declared aim was to remove one of the existing outlets located by the canal department and substitute it with the bigger outlet carried by the Jatha. The Jatha, whose members carried their respective party flags, proceeded toward the Canal distributary, followed by the big crowd. Before they could reach the canal, the police stepped in, arrested them and whisked them away to Amritsar. The pattern was repeated on subsequent days as well. During the campaign all prominent leaders along with 950 protesting peasants were arrested by the police and detained in Lahore jail for three months. As a result of this movement, the British government agreed to provide more farming water to agriculturists as per the previous agreed terms. The participants of the Harsha Chhina Mogha Morcha were later recognised by the Indian government as freedom fighters, and were made entitled to freedom fighter pensions.

After independence

In 1948, after Indian independence he went underground but was arrested in 1950 and detained in Ambala jail. While he was in jail, he was elected from Ajnala as a member of the Punjab Legislative Assembly (MLA) in 1952. In 1957 he was again elected from Ajnala as a member of the Punjab Legislative Assembly (MLA) and remained its member till 1962.Hari Singh "Agrarian Scene in British Punjab" (Punjab, India) 1984 p332 He was a founder of 'Naveen Janta Public school' which was taken over by the Punjab Government later and the name of the school was changed to "Comrade Achhar Singh Chhina Senior Secondary School".

Positions held

* President of the Kisan Sabha Punjab
* Secretary of the Punjab Communist Party
* Member Punjab Legislative Assembly – Ajnala (1952–1957)
* Member of the Legislative assembly – Ajnala (1957–1962)
* Member of the Ghadar Party Martyrs Memorial (Desh Bhagat Yaadgar), Punjab
* Member Gadhar Party San Francisco (1922)
* Founder of Naveen Vidhya Mandir, School

See also

* Punjab's political families

References

Notes

* Ali Raza ''Revolutionary Pasts: Communist Internationalism in Colonial India'' Published by University of Cambridge 2020 p 78, 89, 209-240
* Mridula ''Peasants in India's Non-Violent Revolution: Practice and Theory'' (India) 2004 p 227
* Bipan Chandra ''The Indian Left: Critical Appraisals'' (India) 1983 p447
* Sohan Singh Josh ''My Tryst with Secularism: An Autobiography'' (India) 1991 p294
* Bhagwan Josh ''Communist Movement in Punjab, 1926–47'' (India) 1979 p221
* Gurbachan Singh Mangat ''The Tiger Strikes: An Unwritten Chapter of Netaji's Life History'' (India) 1986 p13
* Ralhan, O. P ''Encyclopaedia of Political Parties'' (India) 1997
* Dept. of Political Science, Guru Nanak Dev University ''Punjab Journal of Politics'' (India) 16 March 2007 p73
* All India Reporter–1940 p218
* Dept. of Political Science, Guru Nanak Dev University ''Punjab Journal of Politics'' (India) 16 March 2007 p95
* Verinder Grover ''Political System in India'' (India) 1989 p624
* Sisir Kumar ''Netaji and India's Freedom: Proceedings of the International Netaji Seminar ...'' (India) 1975 p153
* Subodh Chandra Sen Gupta ''India Wrests Freedom'' (India) 1982 p256
* Mihir Bose ''The Lost Hero: A Biography of Subhas Bose'' (India) 1982 p142
* Subodh Markandeya ''Subhas Chandra Bose: Netaji's Passage to Immortality'' 1990 p 141
* Sohan Singh Josh ''Hindustan Gadar Party: A Short History'' (India) 1978 p199
* Jan Kuhlmann ''Subhas Chandra Bose und die Indienpolitik der Achsenmächte'' 2003 Page 120
* Bhattacharya "The Colonial State and the Communist Party of India, 1942–45: a Reappraisal" South Asia Research.1995; 15: 48–77
* "Subhas Chandra Bose: conspiracy to join the Axis Powers" statements by Achhar Singh Chhina, Harmindar Singh Sodhi and Bhagat Ram, (India) Jul 1937 – Nov 1943 p113
* Punjab State Election Result http://www.eci.gov.in/SR_KeyHighLights/SE_1957/StatRep_Punjab_1957.pdf

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chhina, Comrade Achhar Singh
Indian independence activists from Punjab (British India)
History of Punjab
Indian Sikhs
People from Amritsar district
Revolutionary movement for Indian independence
1899 births
1981 deaths
Indian revolutionaries
UC Berkeley College of Letters and Science alumni
Punjab, India MLAs 1952–1957
Punjab, India MLAs 1957–1962
Communist Party of India politicians from Punjab, India
Prisoners and detainees of British India