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An interview with R Palme Dutt |
Published in Daily Worker, London, 24 January, 1938
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SUBHAS CHANDRA BOSE, one of the foremost leaders of India's 370 million people, president of the Indian National Congress, frequent victim of British imperialism's harsh repression, sends greetings to the Daily Worker and its readers.
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He has become president of the Congress at a time of extraordinary importance for India. The two years' presidency of his predecessor, Nehru, saw the turn of the Congress Party to the masses of the Indian people, the emphasis on national independence, the rise of the Socialist Left-wing, the great election victories.
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Now, with the formation of Congress ministries in a number of provinces, new issues arise affecting the whole future policy of the Congress Party and its relation to the people of India. These issues will be closely examined at the conference of the party in Haripura next month.
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It was with this background in mind that we talked together.
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I asked him a number of important questions. The questions and Bose's answers were carefully written down and scrutinised. They may be regarded, therefore, as an authentic outline of the views of the new President of the Indian National Congress on matters that are of extreme importance for India’s future.
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Dutt: National Government spokesmen here claim that the new Constitution in India is a great success, and that the acceptance of office by the Congress is proof of this. What is the opinion of the National Congress on this view?
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Bose: The acceptance of office is no proof that the Congress is going to work the Constitution for all time. The Congress Party has gone into office with considerable misgiving.
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Its object in doing so is two-fold: firstly, to-consolidate its own position; and secondly, to demonstrate that within the conditions of the present Constitution it is not possible to achieve anything really big or substantial. If contrary to its apprehension something substantial is achieved, then that will strengthen the political organisation of the people in their struggle for freedom.
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Dutt: Is there any likelihood of the Congress accepting the Federal part of the Constitution?
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Bose: There is no possibility of the Congress changing its mind and agreeing to work the Federal part of the Constitution, as it did in the case of the provinces. There is no analogy between the Provincial part and the Federal part of the Constitution.
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Dutt: What in your view is the next stage of the national struggle? Is it true that there is rapid development of peasant unrest and of the strike movement?
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Bose: The next stage of the national struggle will be a further growth of mass consciousness at an increasing tempo. The problem for the Congress will be to mobilise this strength and direct it along the right lines.
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In other words, the problem will be to build up the Party organisation on a broad anti-imperialist front. If we can do that, we shall be prepared to face with hope and courage any crisis that the future may have in store for us. Peasant unrest and labour strikes are an expression of the further growth of mass consciousness since the Congress Party took office.
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Dutt: Are you in favour of broadening further the mass basis of the National Congress as an all-inclusive national front by this collective affiliation of labour and peasant organisations?
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Bose: Yes, definitely.
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Dutt: What policy would you like to see the British Labour Party or a future Labour Government adopt in relation to India?
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Bose: We would like the British Labour Party to stand for the Congress objective in its entirety.
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Dutt: Many questions have been asked about the references to Fascism in the closing part of your book The Indian Struggle. Would you care to make any comment on your view of Fascism?
Many questions have also been asked about your criticisms of Communism in the same section. Would you care to make any comment on this?
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Bose: My political ideas have developed further since I wrote my book three years ago.
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What I really meant was that we in India wanted our national freedom, and having won it, we wanted to move in the direction of Socialism. This is what I meant when I referred to 'a synthesis between Communism and Fascism'. Perhaps the expression I used was not a happy one. But I should like to point out that when I was writing the book, Fascism had not started on its imperialist expedition, and it appeared to me merely an aggressive form of nationalism.
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I should point out also that Communism as it appeared to be demonstrated by many of those who were supposed to stand for it in India seemed to me anti-national, and this impression was further strengthened in view of the hostile attitude which several among them exhibited towards the Indian National Congress. It is clear, however, that the position today has fundamentally altered.
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I should add that I have always understood and am quite satisfied that Communism, as it has been expressed in the writings of Marx and Lenin and in the official statements of policy of the Communist International, gives full support to the struggle for national independence and recognises this as an integral part of its world outlook.
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My personal view today is that the Indian National Congress should be organised on the broadest anti-imperialist front, and should have the two-fold objective of winning political freedom and the establishment of a socialist regime.
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