Shantaram Savlaram Mirajkar (8 February, 1899– 15 February 1980) was an Indian

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

politician and

trade union 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 benefits ( ...

ist. He was part of the old guard of the

Communist Party of India Communist Party of India (CPI) is the oldest Marxist–Leninist communist party in India and one of the nine national parties in the country. The CPI was founded in modern-day Kanpur (formerly known as Cawnpore) on 26 December 1925. H ...

, led the

All India Trade Union Congress The All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) is the oldest trade union federation in India. It is associated with the Communist Party of India. According to provisional statistics from the Ministry of Labour, AITUC had a membership of 14.2 milli ...

as its president for many years and served as

mayor of Bombay The Mayor of Mumbai is the elected chief of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai. The mayor is the first citizen of the city. The role is largely ceremonial as the real powers are vested in the Municipal Commissioner. The Mayor plays a d ...

Early communist movement in India

In the early 1920s, Mirajkar,

S.A. Dange Shripad Amrut Dange (10 October 1899 – 22 May 1991) was an Indian Politician who was a founding member of the Communist Party of India (CPI) and a stalwart of Indian trade union movement. During the 20th century, Dange was arrested by the ...

and

S.V. Ghate Sachchidanand Vishnu Ghate (December 14, 1896 – November 28, 1970), also known as S.V. Ghate, was a freedom fighter and first General Secretary of the Communist Party of India.''SV Ghate: First General Secretary of CPI'', in ''New Age Weekly' ...

constituted the early communist leadership that emerged within India, and who resented the role played the emigre leadership who formed the

Tashkent Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of ...

in 1920. He began organizing trade unions of textile workers in Bombay. When the Workers and Peasants Party was founded in Bombay in January 1927, Mirajkar became its general secretary.M.V.S. Koteswara Rao. ''Communist Parties and United Front - Experience in Kerala and West Bengal''.

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

: Prajasakti Book House, 2003. p. 93 Mirajkar was tried and convicted in the

Meerut Conspiracy Case The Meerut Conspiracy Case was a controversial court case that was initiated in British Raj in March 1929 and decided in 1933. Several trade unionists, including three Englishmen, were arrested for organizing an Indian railway strike. The Bri ...

In 1940-1941 Mirajkar was detained at Deoli Detention Camp in

Ajmer-Merwara Ajmer-Merwara, also known as Ajmir Province and as Ajmer-Merwara-Kekri, was a former province of British India in the historical Ajmer region. The territory was ceded to the British by Daulat Rao Sindhia by a treaty on 25 June 1818. It was und ...

.''FRONTLINE''.
MAKING OF A THESIS
' He was arrested again in August 1949, along with many other communist trade unionists.

AITUC president and mayor

Mirajkar served as President of the

between 1957 and 1973. Mirajkar was elected

in 1958.

CPI split and later years

When the so-called 'Dange Letters' surfaced in 1964, Mirajkar affirmed that they were authentic. Mirajkar would side with the

Communist Party of India (Marxist) The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (abbreviated as CPI(M)/CPIM/CPM) is a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist communist List of political parties in India, political party in India. It is the largest communist party of India in term ...

in the 1964 split in CPI. However, Mirajkar's decision to side with the left in the CPI split was not an issue of ideology, but of personal conflict with

. Prior to the split Mirajkar had belonged to the Dange-led right-wing faction in the party. When the CPI(M) Politburo called for a boycott of the January 1970 AITUC session in

Guntur Guntur () is a city and the administrative headquarters of Guntur district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Guntur is spread across 168.49 km square and is the third-largest city in the state. It is situated to the west of the Ba ...

, Mirajkar refused to comply with the party directive and participated anyway. Mirajkar was subsequently expelled from CPI(M). He rejoined the CPI in 1973, persuaded by C. Rajeswara Rao. He retired as AITUC President in 1973, and was succeeded by Dr. Ranen Sen. Mirajkar died in a Bombay nursing home on 15 February 1980, at the age of 79.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mirajkar, SS 1980 deaths Indian trade union leaders Mayors of Mumbai Communist Party of India politicians from Maharashtra 1899 births Indian independence activists Prisoners and detainees of British India