Question
Discuss the role of Labourers in the Quit India movement. Write about the Workers and Peasants Party.
Answer
The labourers played a significant role in the Quit India Movement of 1942 despite the Communist Party of India’s opposition to it. They actively participated in the movement and observed general shutdowns and strikes without any instructions. The workers of various industrial cities like Delhi, Kanpur, Lucknow, Bombay, Nagpur, Jamshedpur, Madras, Bangalore, and Ahmedabad actively participated in the movement. They refused to rejoin their duties until a national government was formed. The labourers of TISCO and garment factories of Ahmedabad continued their strikes for 13 days and 90 days respectively. However, in places where there was greater communist influence, the labourers avoided the movement or were scared of them.
Workers and Peasants Party :
Phases of Workers and Peasants Party are-
- In 1925, the ‘Labour Swaraj Party’ was formed under the leadership of Muzaffar Ahmed and Hemanta Kumar Sarkar in Kanpur. It was later renamed ‘The Peasants and Workers Party’ (1927).
- Dr Naresh Chandra Sengupta proposed first the foundation of ‘All Bengal Peasants and Workers Party’ (1926). In 1927 ‘The workers and Peasants Party’ was founded to spread communist activities in Bengal, Bombay, UP and Punjab.
- Muzaffar Ahmed was secretary of this party in Bengal, Mohan Singh Josh in Punjab, P. C. Joshi in UP and S. S. Mirajkar in Bombay.
- Members of ‘The workers and Peasants Party’ of Bengal were Hemanta Kumar Sarkar, Dharani Goswami, Gopen Chakraborty and poet Kazi Nazrul Islam
- In December 1928 ‘The all India Workers and Peasants Conference’ was held.
