[Letter from V S Srikumar]

Summary

A 26 April 1975 letter from V. S. Srikumar, Joint Secretary of the Swatantra Party’s National Headquarters at Madras, reporting to the party leadership on the 14 April meeting of the National Coordinating Committee for People’s Struggle held at New Delhi under Jayaprakash Narayan’s leadership. Srikumar attended as an observer on behalf of the Party’s President, M.-C. K. Sundaram. The core matter under discussion was a joint letter by George Fernandes and Surendra Mohan of the Socialist Party, a true copy of which is enclosed, urging the Coordinating Committee to launch a nationwide Civil Disobedience movement in support of the Charter of Demands presented to Parliament, to begin within about six weeks.

Srikumar records that many members felt the ground had not been prepared: without proper organisation across the states, a successful civil disobedience movement was unlikely, and only a few States were as yet ready. J. P. himself argued that enrolling a minimum of five lakh volunteers would make a big impression, but Srikumar notes that even that number would require four to six months, and only if all the parties supporting the People’s movement went in whole-heartedly. The letter therefore asks the Swatantra Party’s National Headquarters to communicate its considered opinion before 5 May, so that Srikumar can carry the Party’s view into the next Coordinating Committee meeting at New Delhi on 22 May.

The enclosed 7 April 1975 letter from George Fernandes and Surendra Mohan (Members of the NCC-PS), addressed to Shri Radhakrishna, Convener of the National Coordination Committee for People’s Struggle, supplies the argument Srikumar is asking his party to respond to. Fernandes and Mohan diagnose the state-level Jan Sangharsh Samasvaya Samitis as largely inactive — with UP the sole exception, where district committees are forming and a satyagraha programme has been finalised — and warn that the anti-emergency-day call for 6 April drew no response in Punjab and was drastically watered down in Delhi. They frame the country’s condition as “deteriorating fast”, accuse the ruling party and its ally the CPI of “the most deplorable means”, and point to the Government’s refusal to hold elections in Gujarat despite Morarji Desai’s fast as evidence of the trend. Their submission: issue an immediate call for a nationwide civil disobedience movement to begin within six weeks on the issues in the People’s Charter, with national leaders touring to prepare the people and initiating the struggle by offering arrests, before attention drifts to election preparations for polls that may never be free and fair.

Key points

• V. S. Srikumar attended the 14 April 1975 meeting of the National Coordinating Committee for People’s Struggle at New Delhi as observer for Swatantra Party President M.-C. K. Sundaram.
• The meeting considered a joint proposal by George Fernandes and Surendra Mohan (Socialist Party) for a nationwide Civil Disobedience movement in support of the Charter of Demands presented to Parliament, to launch in about six weeks.
• Many members judged that organisational preparation across the states was inadequate, and that only a few states were ready for civil disobedience.
• J. P. Narayan suggested that enrolling a minimum of five lakh volunteers would make a big impression; Srikumar notes even that would need four to six months of whole-hearted party effort.
• Srikumar asks Swatantra’s National Headquarters to send its considered opinion before 5 May so he can convey it to the next Coordinating Committee meeting on 22 May at New Delhi.
• The enclosed Fernandes-Mohan letter (7 April 1975) diagnoses state-level Jan Sangharsh Samitis as largely dormant, with UP the exception; notes the 6 April anti-emergency call collapsed in Delhi and drew no response in Punjab.
• Fernandes and Mohan cite the Government’s refusal to hold Gujarat elections despite Morarji Desai’s fast, and accuse the ruling party and its CPI ally of “deplorable means”.
• They urge that a nationwide civil disobedience call be issued now — with national leaders touring and courting arrest — before attention drifts to preparing for elections that may not be free and fair.