The Communist Party of French India (french: Parti communiste de l'Inde française) was a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

French India French India, formally the ( en, French Settlements in India), was a French colony comprising five geographically separated enclaves on the Indian Subcontinent that had initially been factories of the French East India Company. They were ''de ...

. V. Subbiah was the secretary of the party.

History

World War II and the National Democratic Front

The Communist Party of French India rose in prominence during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. At the time of the outbreak of the war the party was banned and its assets seized. However, the ban was lifted in September 1940 as the

French Communist Party The French Communist Party (french: Parti communiste français, ''PCF'' ; ) is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its MEPs sit in the European Unit ...

had called for support to the Allied war effort. The communists came to dominate the National Democratic Front. On 6 March 1947 the Communist Party launched a students' wing, the Students' Federation.

Struggle for independence

Around August 1947, as independence of

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

drew nearer, the Communist Party of French India changed its policy regarding independence and began advocating immediate merger with the rest of India. Until this point the party had advocated union with France in the short term, and integration with India in the long term.Madhava Menon, N. R., and D. Banerjea.
Criminal Justice India Series
'. Ahmedabad: Allied Publishers in collaboration with National University of Juridical Sciences, 2002. pp. 13-14 French authorities issued a ban on pro-independence rallies in French India. The Communist Party of French India joined trade unions, the

French India National Congress French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

, and the

French India Students Congress The French India Students Congress was a student movement in French India, which fought for independence of the colony from French rule. The foundation of the French India Students Congress was preceded by the formation of the French India Nati ...

in protesting against the ban. The Communist Party of French India issued a call to all municipal authorities to haul down the

Flag of France The national flag of France (french: link=no, drapeau français) is a tricolour featuring three vertical bands coloured blue ( hoist side), white, and red. It is known to English speakers as the ''Tricolour'' (), although the flag of Irelan ...

on 15 August 1947 and hoist the

Flag of India The national flag of India, Colloquialism, colloquially called the tricolour, is a horizontal rectangular tricolour flag of Saffron (color)#India saffron, India saffron, white and Variations of green#India green, India green; with the ', a 24 ...

Persecution of Communists

Communists were persecuted in French India, partly due to the rivalry between Edouard Goubert (the leading pro-French politician in the colony) and V. Subbiah. Goubert's henchmen conducted lynchings of communist activists. In 1948 the French authorities served an arrest warrant against V. Subbiah.Madhava Menon, N. R., and D. Banerjea.
Criminal Justice India Series
'. Ahmedabad: Allied Publishers in collaboration with National University of Juridical Sciences, 2002. p. 21 In January 1950 the office of the Communist Party, located in the private residence of V. Subbiah, was burnt down. The police chief was present at the scene, but police did not intervene. The houses of Communist Party of French India leaders Clemenceau and Annousamy were also torched by goondas.Neogy, Ajit K.
Decolonization of French India: Liberation Movement and Indo-French Relations, 1947-1954
'. Pondichéry: Institut français de Pondichéry, 1997. p. 168 The Communist Party contested the October 1948 municipal polls as part of the Progressive Democratic Party (a coalition between the communists and the

Dravidar Kazhagam Dravidar Kazhagam is a social movement founded by Periyar E. V. Ramasamy, also called Thanthai Periyar. Its original goals were to eradicate the ills of the existing caste system including untouchability and on a grander scale to obtain a " ...

). In mid-1951 the arrest warrant against V. Subbiah was withdrawn. V. Subbiah emerged as a major leader of the independence movement. In a public statement he called for the formation of a

united front A united front is an alliance of groups against their common enemies, figuratively evoking unification of previously separate geographic fronts and/or unification of previously separate armies into a front. The name often refers to a political ...

compromising the Communist Party and other pro-independence groups. The

Tamil language Tamil (; ' , ) is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. Tamil is an official language of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, the sovereign nations of Sri Lanka and Singapore, and the Indian territory of Pudu ...

weekly newspaper ''Sutantiram'', published in India, became an important organ of the movement led by V. Subbiah.

1954: Final phase of independence struggle

In early 1954 V. Subbiah addressed a mass meeting in the peripheries of Pondicherry, appealing on the population of the colony to leave past differences behind and unite in the struggle for independence. As tension in French India rose in March 1954, the Communist Party began to prepare a campaign of popular

direct action Direct action originated as a political activist term for economic and political acts in which the actors use their power (e.g. economic or physical) to directly reach certain goals of interest, in contrast to those actions that appeal to oth ...

demanding immediate merger with India. On 7 April 1954 the Communist Party mobilized protests, as the colonial government called out military forces on the streets of Pondicherry. V. Subbiah called upon the thousands of the refugees that had crossed into India to return to take part in the freedom struggle. Tirubhuvanai was liberated by the communists on 6 April 1954, marking the climax of the freedom movement.Madhava Menon, N. R., and D. Banerjea.
Criminal Justice India Series
'. Ahmedabad: Allied Publishers in collaboration with National University of Juridical Sciences, 2002. p. 27 Together with the

French India Socialist Party The French India Socialist Party (french: Parti socialiste de l'Inde française) was a political party in French India. The party was led by Édouard Goubert, Minister for General Administration for French India.Mukherjee, Amiya Ranjan. Current ...

and the Merger Congress a temporary united government for the area was set up by the Communist Party in Tirubhuvanai. The strength of the communists in the struggle caught the attention of the international press, for example ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' warned of the possibility of a communist take-over in Pondicherry.Madhava Menon, N. R., and D. Banerjea.
Criminal Justice India Series
'. Ahmedabad: Allied Publishers in collaboration with National University of Juridical Sciences, 2002. pp. 24-25 The French communist newspaper ''

l'Humanité ''L'Humanité'' (; ), is a French daily newspaper. It was previously an organ of the French Communist Party, and maintains links to the party. Its slogan is "In an ideal world, ''L'Humanité'' would not exist." History and profile Pre-World Wa ...

'' on the other hand praised the people of French India for their courage in the struggle against colonial domination. In the midst of the struggle, a proposal that the colony be converted into a French-Indian condominium was floated from French quarters. The Communist Party immediately rejected the proposal. On 26 April 1954 the Communist Party took part in an All Party Conference. The conference condemned the violent repression against protestors in French India. On 29 April 1954 the Communist Party, Central Merger Congress and other leftist groups launched a joint front to coordinate struggles. At the meeting a decision was adopted that the struggles would be conducted along the lines of

Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

an non-violence. On 9 August 1954 Pondicherry observed a ''

hartal Hartal () is a term in many Indian languages for a strike action that was first used during the Indian independence movement (also known as the nationalist movement) of the early 20th century. A hartal is a mass protest, often involving a total s ...

'' after a call from the Communist Party and the Youth Congress. V. Subbiah met with

Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...

on 13 August 1954 to discuss the prospects of the resistance struggle. On 1 November 1954 France left French India. V. Subbiah returned from exile, meeting a hero's welcome from jubilant masses.Madhava Menon, N. R., and D. Banerjea.
Criminal Justice India Series
'. Ahmedabad: Allied Publishers in collaboration with National University of Juridical Sciences, 2002. p. 31

References