The Communist who influenced India’s Constitution
Among the minds that influenced the Indian Constitution, one name stands out. He was not part of the Constituent Assembly. Who was he? Find out in our game-show styled episode of Samvidhaani Pitara!
Did you know that one of the preeminent thinkers behind the Constitution of India was, in fact, a Communist?
Manabendra Nath Roy (born Narendra Nath Bhattacharya) and better known to most of us as M N Roy, was in fact one of the first intellectuals to advocate that the independent nation of India envisioned by the freedom fighters should capture power by means of a Constituent Assembly. In 1934, Roy formally proposed that a Constitution for the new nation be drafted by a Constituent Assembly of Indians, by Indians, and for Indians. The Indian National Congress welcomed the idea and echoed the demand for a Constituent Assembly the following year. In 1938, Nehru declared that “the Constitution of free India must be framed, without outside interference, by a Constituent Assembly elected on the basis of adult franchise.”
Roy, whose colourful and eventful life involved several attempts to overthrow the British colonial administration through unsuccessful collusions with Chinese, Japanese, and German actors, was instrumental in establishing the Communist Party of Mexico, the first such political party outside Russia, in 1917. This impressed Vladimir Lenin, who invited him to Moscow. In 1920, with Lenin’s backing, Roy founded the Communist Party of India. However, he fell afoul of Joseph Stalin, who had assumed leadership of the Soviet Union after Lenin’s death in 1924, and set about imprisoning or eliminating his political rivals. Disillusioned and fleeing Stalinist Russia, he arrived in India in 1930.
The following year, the British colonial government threw him in jail, where his health deteriorated. Even while incarcerated, Roy continued to influence the freedom struggle by means of revolutionary letters and manuscripts smuggled out from prison. Although Roy didn’t agree with Mohandas Gandhi’s politics, he won the admiration of Jawaharlal Nehru, who said about him:
“Comrade M N Roy has just come to us after a long and most distressing period in prison, but though shaken up in body, he comes with a fresh mind and heart, eager to take part in that old struggle that knows no end till it ends in success.”
Roy, too, offered his support to Nehru, breaking ranks with the Comintern, the international organisation controlled by Moscow that aimed to propagate communism around the world. At this juncture, he urged Indian Communists to defy the Comintern and support the Congress party before later parting ways with it.
Roy’s contribution to the Constitution of India was primarily through his advocacy for secularism and his ideas on fundamental rights, which influenced the framers of the Indian Constitution, particularly regarding the inclusion of provisions for secularism and individual liberties. Though he wasn't directly involved in drafting the constitution, his philosophical and political ideas left a lasting impact on its principles.
As India’s destiny as a democracy is tested once again with the approaching general elections, we take a moment to remember the most vocal men and women who played a part in influencing the Constitution of India.
The third episode of Samvidhaani Pitara, our show themed on the Constitution of India, celebrates the minds that influenced the drafting of the Constitution. Presented as a game show by Vineet KKN Panchhi, Samvidhaan Ke Naam is now streaming on Radio Azim Premji University. Listen on your favourite podcast platforms.
Image credit: Wikimedia Commons