Labour Kisan Party of Hindustan | |
|---|---|
| Leader | Singaravelar |
| Founded | 1 May 1923 |
| Dissolved | 26 December 1925 |
| Merged into | Communist Party of India |
| Headquarters | Chennai |
| Ideology | Socialism |
Labour Kisan Party of Hindustan was apolitical party in India. The party was founded bySingaravelu Chettiar on 1 May 1923 inMadras.[1] This was the firstMay Day celebration in India. This was also the first time thered flag was used in India.[2]
Singaravelar made arrangements to celebrate May Day in two places in 1923. One meeting was held at the beach opposite to theMadras High Court; the other meeting was held at theTriplicane beach.The Hindu newspaper reported,
The Labour Kisan Party has introduced May Day celebrations in Madras. Comrade Singaravelar presided over the meeting. A resolution was passed stating that the government should declare May Day as a holiday. The president of the party explained the non-violent principles of the party. There was a request for financial aid. It was emphasized that workers of the world must unite to achieve independence.[3]
Singaravellar announced that it would join theIndian National Congress and would strive to function as the labour and farmer wing of that party. In the manifesto of the party Singaravelar described Congress 'our chief political organ, appear to define "nation" by referring to propertied class'.[4] Singaravelu was critical that the Indian National Congress was dominated by landlord andcapitalist interests.[2]
Labour Kishan Party of Hindustan was a part of a larger, but not inter-connected, move by variousIndian communist groups to find a mass-based political platform.[5] The party was joined byS.A. Dange and the communist group inPunjab. Dange had initially expressed reservations on the LKPH and its programme drafted by Singaravelar, but once the party had been formed he joined it.[2]
In December 1923, Chettiar started a fortnightly journal calledThe Labour Kisan Gazette. Chettiar also started the Tamil WeeklyThozhilalar in which he wrote about the working class movements spreading in various parts of the world during the early part of the 1920s.
Singaravelu announced the dissolution of the party at the1925 Kanpur conference of theCommunist Party of India.[6]