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Communist Consolidation (1935 – 1938) was a radical communist organization, founded by the prisoners of the Cellular Jail who got influenced by the philosophy of Marxism. In the mid-1930s, it became the largest resistance group against British rule in the jail; this organization also led the historical 36-day hunger strike in 1937, where the British government had to bow before the demands of the political prisoners and shift them to the mainland.[1]
| Communist Consolidation | |
|---|---|
| कम्युनिस्ट समेकन | |
| Leader | |
| Foundation | 26 April 1935 at Cellular Jail, Port Blair, Andaman |
| Dissolved | 1938 |
| Country | British India |
| Motives | National liberation |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Far-left |
| Slogan | |
| Part of | |
| Opponents | British Empire |
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The history of Communist Consolidation starts before its official formation in 1935. On 12 May 1933, some of the prisoners of Cellular Jail gathered and started a hunger strike, causing the deaths of Mahavir Singh, Mohan Kishore Namadas, and Mohit Moitra. The British Raj acceded to the demands of the freedom fighters to stop the hunger strike, and finally, after 46 days, the hunger strike ended on 26 June 1933.[2]
In 1935, Communist Consolidation was founded by 39 inmates, but the main mastermind to form this group was Hare Krishna Konar. The majority of its members belong to the minority tendency of the Marxist and Communist or Jugantar part of Anushilan Samiti. Although this was a secret revolutionary group, the members of this organization swelled higher and higher.[3][4]
They started a study circle named "A Veritable University of Freedom Fighters" and this group also started to teach about the principles of Socialism, Marxism, and Communism, explaining how the October Revolution happened, who was Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, and finally, in 1936, the members of this organization claimed that they were fighting to uproot British Raj as well as to fight for the working class and backward class people; they understood that class struggle is equally important as freedom.[1]
They only used the class struggle and political slogans “Inquilab Zindabad” and “Duniya ke Mazdooron, ek ho!” because they claimed that at first they were nationalist prisoners, but after the formation of the Communist Consolidation and reading about the principals of Socialism, Marxism, and Communism, they started believing themselves as political prisoners.[3]
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The long hunger strike movement in the Andamans in July and August 1937, led by the Communists, marked an important phase in India's national struggle. As nine-tenths of the total convicts in Andaman were from Bengal, the hunger strike of Andaman prisoners caused widespread outrage in Bengal, where a strong movement for the release of political prisoners began.[2]
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