S. S. Mirajkar

Shantaram Savlaram Mirajkar (8 February 1899 – 15 February 1980) was an Indian communist politician and trade unionist. He was part of the old guard of the Communist Party of India, led the All India Trade Union Congress as its president for many years and served as mayor of Bombay.

S. S. Mirajkar
S. S. Mirajkar at a 1958 rally of the Samyukta Maharashtra Samiti
Mayor of Bombay
In office 1958–1959
Preceded by	M. V. Donde
Succeeded by	P. T. Borale
President of the All India Trade Union Congress
In office 1957–1973
Preceded by	V. Chakkarai Chettiyar
Succeeded by	Ranen Sen
Personal details
Born	(1899-02-08)8 February 1899[1] Karavali College, Mangaon Taluk, Raigarh District, Bombay Presidency, British India
Died	15 February 1980(1980-02-15) (aged 81)
Nationality	Indian
Political party	Communist Party of India Communist Party of India (Marxist) (1964-1970)
Occupation	Trade unionist

Early communist movement in India

In the early 1920s, Mirajkar, S. A. Dange, and S. V. Ghate constituted the early communist leadership that emerged within India, and who resented the role played the emigre leadership who formed the Communist Party of India in Tashkent in 1920.^[2] He began organizing trade unions of textile workers in Bombay.^[3] When the Workers and Peasants Party was founded in Bombay in January 1927, Mirajkar became its general secretary.^[4] Mirajkar was tried and convicted in the Meerut Conspiracy Case.^[5][6]

Portrait of 25 of the Meerut prisoners taken outside the jail. Back row (left to right): K. N. Sehgal, S. S. Josh, H. L. Hutchinson, Shaukat Usmani, B. F. Bradley, A. Prasad, P. Spratt, G. Adhikari. Middle row: R. R. Mitra, Gopen Chakravarti, Kishori Lal Ghosh, L. R. Kadam, D. R. Thengdi, Goura Shanker, S. Bannerjee, K. N. Joglekar, P. C. Joshi, Muzaffar Ahmad. Front row: M. G. Desai, D. Goswami, R. S. Nimbkar, S. S. Mirajkar, S. A. Dange, S. V. Ghate, Gopal Basak.

In 1940–1941, Mirajkar was detained at Deoli Detention Camp in Ajmer-Merwara.^[5] He was arrested again in August 1949, along with many other communist trade unionists.^[7]

AITUC president and mayor

Mirajkar served as President of the All India Trade Union Congress between 1957 and 1973.^[6][8] Mirajkar was elected mayor of Bombay in 1958.^[9]

CPI split and later years

When the so-called "Dange Letters" surfaced in 1964, Mirajkar affirmed that they were authentic.^[10] Mirajkar would side with the Communist Party of India (Marxist) in the 1964 CPI split.^[11][12] However, Mirajkar's decision to side with the left in the CPI split was not an issue of ideology, but of personal conflict with S. A. Dange.^[13] Prior to the split Mirajkar had belonged to the Dange-led right-wing faction in the party.^[14] When the CPI(M) Politburo called for a boycott of the January 1970 AITUC session in Guntur, Mirajkar refused to comply with the party directive and participated anyway.^[12] Mirajkar was subsequently expelled from CPI(M).^[15]

He rejoined the CPI in 1973, persuaded by C. Rajeswara Rao.^[1] He retired as AITUC President in 1973, and was succeeded by Dr. Ranen Sen.^[8] Mirajkar died in a Bombay nursing home on 15 February 1980, at the age of 79.^[16]

References

1. SS Mirajkar: Builder of TU, Communist movement, in New Age Weekly. No. 38, 2020. pp. 11-12
2. Samaren Roy (1997). M.N. Roy: A Political Biography. Orient Blackswan. p. 61. ISBN 978-81-250-0299-4.
3. The Illustrated Weekly of India. Published for the proprietors, Bennett, Coleman & Company, Limited, at the Times of India Press. April 1970. p. 10.
4. M.V.S. Koteswara Rao. Communist Parties and United Front - Experience in Kerala and West Bengal. Hyderabad: Prajasakti Book House, 2003. p. 93
5. FRONTLINE. MAKING OF A THESIS
6. Trade Union Record. All-India Trade Union Congress. 1980. p. 11.
7. G. K. Busch (1980). Political Currents in the International Trade Union Movement: The Third world : Africa, Asia and Latin America. Economist Intelligence Unit. p. 58.
8. World Trade Union Movement. World Federation of Trade Unions. 1973. p. 15.
9. TIME. INDIA: Volunteering into the Vacuum
10. Jyoti Basu (1998). Documents of the Communist Movement in India: 1970. National Book Agency. p. 128. ISBN 978-81-7626-018-3.
11. In-sŏp Sin (1970). Area Handbook for India. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 589.
12. Link. United India Periodicals. 1970. p. 11.
13. Crouch, Harold (1966). "AITUC and the Split in the Communist Party". Economic and Political Weekly. 1 (5): 199–202. ISSN 0012-9976. JSTOR 4356954 – via JSTOR.
14. Sharma, T.R. (1978). "The Indian Communist Party Split of 1964: The Role of Factionalism and Leadership Rivalry☆". Studies in Comparative Communism. 11 (4, Winter 1978): 388–409. doi:10.1016/0039-3592(78)90003-0. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
15. Jyoti Basu (1998). Documents of the Communist Movement in India: 1970. National Book Agency. pp. 128, 130. ISBN 978-81-7626-018-3.
16. Flashes from the Trade Unions. World Federation of Trade Unions. 1980. p. 16.