From Marxism to Democratic Socialism: Deeper Roots of Affinity
Synopsis
This book concentrates on the problems of combining socialism with nationalist revolution in India. Emergence of the Congress Socialist Party in 1934 within the Congress for institutionalizing socialism problems. The parallel running streams of socialism and nationalism, full of insinuations for each other uptill now, were sought to be combined by an effort to replace the traditional and slow pace Gandhian strategy by the Marxian technique; thus seeking the desired rejuvenation of the national movement. The recurring failures of the Gandhian movements had rendered this blend of nationalism and socialism an unavoidable change on the twin planes of immediate anti-imperialist strategy and ultimate objective of establishing a socialistic state through the Indian national movement. The role of becoming the link between the socialist and the nationalist revolutions rendered the Congress Socialism not only unique but different from the Communists and the M.N. Roy group on the one hand and from Nehru and Subhash on the other. This pattern of prolonged experience of fourteen years of origin and growth of the party led this organization through various pros and cons on organizational and ideological levels which are worth noting. The Indian National Congress too could not overlook or remain untouched, despite all stubborn resistances from the constant organization and ideological thrust. This experiment forced on it, both as leader of the Congress Socialist Party, as an organization, were wrought with hurricanes of inconsistencies of implementation of such incongruous an experiment. The greatest of it was the overlooking of the deeper affinities that the Socialists had felt with Gandhi and which strangely and through an inner automation soon brought them back to him. The complete exercise, however, with all its inconsistencies and incongrousness, showed far reaching results in the unique form and Indian blend of socialism finally acquired. The inconsistencies, numerous as they are, do not at all overshadow the fact that the golden shine amidst the clouds of bondage brighten up much more when an analysis of the Indian national movement, led by the Indian National Congress and Gandhi, is made in alignment with processes of evolution of the Congress Socialist Party. The present work gives a touch of it.
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It is a book which was written somewhere arround the period of emergent subaltern stream of Indian history but despite giving a realistic picture of how the subaltern classes of peasants and the workers were sought to align with the Indian Nationalist movement identifying their demands with the natinalist one it presents a different treatment.It points towards a blend of nationalism and socialism and how the social basis of the Indian National Congress was tended to be broadened for the oncoming show of strenth in the 1942 Ouit India Movement the leadership of which was more or less in the hands of the Congress Socialists i.e. how the Indian socialists were known by virtue of the wing they formed within the Congress. The book also gives the directions in which the particular colour socialism could acquire in India when it points towards how staunch Marxists amongst the Socialists became aware of the fallacies of their Marxist assumptions on the one hand and on the other,their initial ignorance towards Gandhian stress on 'Indian conditions' in applying any methodology in India became minimal with closer interactions with Gandhi. It is surprising to find that Gandhi too modified some of his strong approaches, or rather his manifest abhorance, towards socialist postulates.It is an excellent piece of research.
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