Centre of Indian Communists
Template:Short description Template:Use Indian English Template:Use dmy dates Centre of Indian Communists (CIC) was a minor Maoist group in the Indian state of Kerala 1974–1978. CIC was a continuation of the Communist Unity Centre, formed in 1972 and was later supplanted by the Communist Bolshevik Party. CIC was formed by sectors that had broken away from the Communist Party of India (Marxist). CIC represented a moderate trend in the Indian Maoist movement. The organization was banned during the Emergency.
History
Communist Unity Centre 1972-1974
The Communist Unity Centre, the forerunner of CIC, was formed in April 1972 through the merger of the groups of A. V. Aryan, K. P. R. Gopalan and Arayakandi Achuthan.<ref>New Democracy. Committee of Communist Revolutionaries, 1974. p. 8</ref> A.V. Aryan's group was a significant split from the Communist Party of India (Marxist) in Thrissur.<ref name="link1973" /> A.V. Aryan had been expelled from CPI(M) due to differences with E.M.S. Namboodiripad.<ref name="m1" /> There was significant tensions and conflict between the CUC in Thrissur and the CPI(M) led by Azhikodan Raghavan.<ref name="r1" /><ref name="f1">The Fourth. അഴീക്കോടൻ രക്തസാക്ഷിത്വത്തിന് അൻപതാണ്ട്; ആ കത്ത് എവിടെയായിരിക്കും?</ref> Primarily CUC challenged CPI(M) for control over the trade union movement in the area.<ref name="m1">Manorama. അഴീക്കോടനെ കൊന്നതാര്? ഒരു സഖാവിന്റെ സംശയങ്ങൾ Template:Webarchive</ref><ref name="r1">Reporter TV. ആ കത്തെവിടെപ്പോയി, ഇന്നും ബാക്കിയാകുന്ന ദുരൂഹതയില് അഴീക്കോടന്റെ ഓര്മ Template:Webarchive</ref> CUC was denounced as a 'Naxalite' group by CPI(M), and Azhikodan Raghavan had been tasked by E.M.S. Namboodiripad to break the influence of CUC in the area.<ref name="f1" /> To a certain extent the CPI(M) was able to curtail the influence of CUC in Thrissur.<ref name="f1" /> Azhikodan Raghavan was murdered on September 23, 1972, and police immediately suspected the CUC.<ref name="r1" /> David, a porter and CUC member, was killed by CPI(M) members.<ref name="m1" /> A.V. Aryan, who was one of the CUC secretaries, and seven other CUC members were arrested and put on trial for the assassination.<ref name="m1" /><ref name="link1973">After Fratricide, in [Link, Vol. 15, Part 4]. United India Periodicals, 1973. p. 11</ref> A.V. Aryan was released, whilst one of his co-defendants was sentenced to life imprisonment and the six others to one year and a half in prison.<ref name="m1" /> After the murder of Azhikodan Raghavan the influence of CUC declined.<ref name="r1" />
Founding of CIC and the efforts for unity of Maoist organizations
The Centre of Indian Communists was founded at a convention in Cochin in 14–15 December 1974.<ref name=ird>Indian Recorder and Digest, Vol. 21. 1975. p. 11</ref><ref name=dis>Guy Arnold. Revolutionary and Dissident Movements: An International Guide. Longman, 1991. p. 135</ref> The convention was attended by 500 delegates, including some prominent former CPI(M) members.<ref name=ird/> Attendees included K.P.R. Gopalan, Template:Ill, J. Abraham and M.T. Thomas.<ref name=jpd1/> The founding convention elected a 19-member committee with A.V. Aryan as its chairman.<ref name=ird/><ref name=jpd1>東南アジア要覧. 内閣官房内閣調查室, 1975. p. 37</ref> Arayakandi Achuthan was one of the committee members.<ref name=jpd1/>
The CIC convention pledged to adhere to the ideology of the Chinese Communist Party, but adapted to local conditions.<ref name=dis/> The convention called for the establishment of a 'people's government' through revolutionary armed struggle of workers and peasants.<ref name=ird/> The document adopted by the founding convention identified Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) (CPI(ML)) as 'Indian Narodniks'.<ref name=mmrv>Manoranjan Mohanty. Revolutionary Violence: A Study of the Maoist Movement in India. Sterling Publishers, 1977. pp. xxi, 166</ref> CIC denounced the Communist Party of India for 'right-wing opportunism', the CPI(M) for 'left-wing opportunism' and CPI(ML) for 'adventurism'.<ref name=dis/> Far Eastern Economic Review described the CIC as, compared to other splinter groups of CPI(M), as 'mellow'.<ref>Far Eastern Economic Review. 1975. p. 25</ref>
At the time of its foundation CIC claimed to be in contact with groups outside Kerala, such as the Lenin Banner group in West Bengal, the T. Nagi Reddy group in Andhra Pradesh and the A.K. Roy group in Bihar.<ref name=jpd1/> However Manoranjan Mohanty noted that later CIC stayed away from participating in the efforts to unify different Maoist groups in India during the latter half of the 1970s.<ref name=mmrv/>
1975 ban and foundation of the Communist Bolshevik Party
CIC was one of ten Maoist groups that were banned by the Central government on 3 July 1975.<ref name="mmrv" /><ref>The Naxalites Through the Eyes of the Police: Select Notifications from the Calcutta Police Gazette, 1967-1975. Dey's Publishing, 2007. p. 21</ref> After the end of the Emergency the Shah Commission noted that one member of the banned CIC was detained.<ref>India. Shah Commission. Interim Report, Vol. 3. Controller of Publications, 1978. p. 79</ref> The ban was lifted in March 1977.<ref> Subhash C. Kashyap. Reforming the Constitution. UBS Publishers Distributors, 1992. p. 102</ref> In May 1978 The Hindu reported that members of CIC had participated in the founding of the a new party, Communist (Bolshevik) Party, in at a conference in Cochin, together with former members of CPI, CPI(M), the Communist Unity Centre and the People's Democratic Front.<ref>New Communist Party formed, in Data India. Press Institute of India, 1978. p. 328</ref> The main leaders of the Communist Bolshevik Party were K.P.R. Gopalan and A.V. Aryan.<ref>Link: Indian Newsmagazine, Vol. 23. 1981. p. 17</ref> In 1979 the publication Bolshevik began to be issued from Thrissur, edited by A.V. Aryan.<ref>Press in India: Annual Report of the Registrar of Newspapers for India, Part 2 Template:Webarchive. Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India, 1985. p. 327</ref>