The daily worker., 1930-03-28
By 0. W. KUUSINEN.

THE great revolutionary upsurge in India IS
progressing at a tempestuous pace. And in
this situation Ghand comes forward in order,
in the name Of the slavish principle of mon
violence" to summons the people to boycott
the salt monopoly of the rtish-Indan govern
ment. 1t is not difficult to see the meaning
of this maneucer.
Ghand does not put the question of a vic
tory in the fight against the British yoke. He
puts the question otherwise Violence or non
violence to British imperialism. He breaches
absolute "non-violence" He describes all In
dian revolutionary organizations as parties of
violence" and openly writes in his newspaper
that he fears these more than the English
Fiveroy! What is the meaning of that?
Hundreds of millions of Indians are still
groaning under the terrible yoke of the real
party of violence, of British imperialism, but
Ghandi does not fear these predatory, bestial
suppressors of India as much as he fears the
Indian revolutionaries. What does he there
fore do? He undertakes national reformst
maneuver. He submits an ultmatum to the
Viceroy He organizes an anti-imperialist sharn
fight, Involving mad risk" as he himself
declaims. For what purpose? In order not
to lose all influence over the great national
mass movement; in order to secure hegemony
in this movement for the bourgeoisie With
out an anti-imperialist sham fight it is impos-
sible at present for anybody in India to ap-
proach the broad masses of the people if he
wants to obtain hearing. Hence Glandi's
flag of passive resistance. But even this pas
sive (at any price "non-vioent') resistance
he wishes to limit in a double manner: l. To
limit it territorially in order that the move
ment shall not be able to spread and g To
limit the boycott to the salt monopoly of the
government in order to exclude the risk of the
boycott extending to all taxes to the ground
rent payable by the peasants, etc, and grow
ing into revolutionary fighting demands
The ''insane risk" consists in Ghandi's play
ing with the driving forces of the revolution.
He wishes to do everything possible to avoid
the risk of revolution. The revolutionary mass
of the workers and peasants of
India is to be split and scattered both territor-
tally and in regard to its slogans 1t is to be
diverted into suitable side-channels, and in
any case held up halfway Instead of rally
ing and organizing the many millions of toll
ers, who are in ferment, in a firm revolu-
honary front, and instead of taking up the
real fight with these huge masses against i'm
perlallst violence, the development of the revo-
utIonary mass struggles is to be actually stifled
and quenched in an impotent cry of pain of
the million masses
That is the objective meaning of the boycott
introduced by Ghandi against the
salt monopoly. The Ghandiist boycott is, at
'ottom, boycott of the Indian revolution, and
is thereby calculated to help the triumph of
The British colonial power in India.
Against this Ghandiist line of the Indian
oourgeolsie the young Communist Party of
india lays down its own line. For the CP.
IL INDIA the deciding question in the anti-m-
)erlallst fight is Victory or defeat? 1t is as
clear as daylight that in the event of a col
ision between imperialist violence and colonial
'non-violence' the latter can have no hone Of
'lctory India can emancipate itself only by
evolution. Therefore, the fundamental slo-
ran OF the Communist Party of India for
Which 1t is conducting agitation among the
masses, is: Drive out the British imperialists
~ the democratic revolution of the working
lass and peasantry of India!
What is now the immediate, urgent and un-
1ostponeable main task of the revolutionary
workers and peasants movement of India?
In the fight against the British colonial re-
'lme the victorious strength of the Indian
evolutionary movement can lie only in its
Enormously great masses 1t can achieve vic
ory by the overwhelming mass power, not by
'oycott, not by passive resistance, nor bv
hlpIy HolSe' Inc enormous mass power of the
indian workers and peasants is at present |
cry little organized. Therein lies its greatest !
nd most dangerous weakness Hence the i'm
Mediate practical task is to organize the mass
orces of the workers and peasants of India
or the approaching gigantic revolutionary
lights.
1hls is not by any means a task of mere
rganlzatlonal petty work. This is now an ex-
femely important political task in India. All
nass actions, all great collisions which are |
aklng place there at present, must be made
Sc OF IN order with the greatest energy to
xtend and strengthen the revolutionary mass
rganlzations in town and country before all
ne class trade unions and the organizations of
ne revolutionary youth, at the same time in
reaslng the recruitment of active workers for
ne communist Party. Just as the Bombay
eXtlle workers, during their strike. accom-
hshed wonders in the way of organizing the
lasses by building up the "Grni Hangar"
mon, SO 1t is necessary to perform similar
nd even greater things in other places and
other spheres 1t is necessary to organize
evolutionary workers demonstrations with in
ependent class slogans. Workers must be sent
ito the villages in order to help the peasant
lasses to take up the refusal to nav taxes
nd ground rent, everywhere to form peasant
'mmittees and to develop mass education for
rlWng out the landowners and government