Communist Party of French India
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Communist Party of French India
Parti Communiste de l'Inde Française |
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|---|---|
| Secretary-General | V. Subbiah |
| Student wing | Students' Federation |
| Youth wing | Youth League |
| Ideology | Communism |
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.
The Communist Party of French India rose in prominence during the Second World War. 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 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.
Around August 1947, as independence of British India drew nearer, the Communist Party of French India changed its policy regarding independence and began advocating immediate merger with the Indian Union. Until this point the party had advocated union with France in the short term, and integration with India in the long term. 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, and the French India Students Congress 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 on 15 August 1947 and hoist the Flag of India.
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. 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.
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