The French India Students Congress was a student movement in

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 ...

, 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 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 ...

. The French India Student Congress was affiliated with the

All India Student Congress All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All ...

. The founding of the French India Students Congress came after the disbanding of the Saraswathi Sangam. The organization was formed at the Ansari Café, in

Pondicherry Pondicherry (), now known as Puducherry ( French: Pondichéry ʊdʊˈtʃɛɹi(listen), on-dicherry, is the capital and the most populous city of the Union Territory of Puducherry in India. The city is in the Puducherry district on the sout ...

, on 17 August 1946, with the purpose of mobilizing the youth of the colony for independence. Its founders included Antoine Vallabh Mariadassou, Sebastien, Dorai Mounissamy, Arumugam, J. Savarinathan, T.N. Sethuraman ( Thirumudi.N.Sethuraman) and Ambadi Narayan (from Mahé). Antoine Vallabh Mariadassou was the founding president of the organization, serving 1946–1947. Paul Radjanedassou served as president 1947–1948 and Shatrugh Paramel 1948–1949. Dorai Mounissamy was the founding general secretary of the organization.Mariadassou, Antoine Vallabh.
Histoire du combat pour la liberté du Students Congress de l'Inde française
'' The organization used slogans such as ''Down with French colonialism!'', ''Inquilab Zindabad!'', ''Jai Hind!'' and ''French, Quit India!''. 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 French India Students Congress called for a protest on 9 August 1947 to call on France to quit India. French authorities issues a ban against the manifestation. The ban provoked spontaneous protests from the French India Students Congress, the French India National Congress, the

Communist Party of French India The Communist Party of French India (french: Parti communiste de l'Inde française) was a political party in French India. V. Subbiah was the secretary of the party. History World War II and the National Democratic Front The Communist Party ...

and

trade unions A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and Employee ben ...

. The protests forced the French authorities to withdraw the ban. The mass rally of the French India National Congress and French India Students Congress was held on 10 August 1947 a meeting was held at Nehru Vanam. It was presided by Rajan Das from the Students Congress. The meeting called for immediate merger of French India with India.Madhava Menon, N. R., and D. Banerjea.
Criminal Justice India Series
'. Ahmedabad: Allied Publishers in collaboration with National University of Juridical Sciences, 2002. pp. 12–13 In November 1947 the French India Students Congress began publishing ''Jeunesse''. The editorial office was located on rue Candappa, at the residence of Paul Radjanedassou and Antoine Mariadassou. Ahead of the October 1948 municipal elections, the French authorities launched a crack-down on the French India Students Congress. S. Paramel and D. Mounissamy (editor of ''Jeunesse'') were arrested and jailed for shorter periods.Madhava Menon, N. R., and D. Banerjea.
Criminal Justice India Series
'. Ahmedabad: Allied Publishers in collaboration with National University of Juridical Sciences, 2002. p. 16 The French India Students Congress took part in the mass protests against French colonial rule in 1954. D. Mounissamy held a protest on 14 April 1954, which was attacked by police and goondas.Madhava Menon, N. R., and D. Banerjea.
Criminal Justice India Series
'. Ahmedabad: Allied Publishers in collaboration with National University of Juridical Sciences, 2002. p. 25

References

{{Reflist Student wings of political parties in French India Indian National Congress 1946 establishments in French India Political parties established in 1946