Kerala CM Satheesan questions Communist role during WWII, Quit India movement

Thiruvananthapuram, Jun 4 (PTI) Kerala Chief Minister V D Satheesan on Thursday attacked the communists, accusing them of “acting against India's interests before and after independence.” The CM, while speaking in the Assembly in favour of the vote of thanks to the governor for his policy address, said that during the Second World War, communists in India acted in accordance with the stand taken by Joseph Stalin in the erstwhile Soviet Union.

Alleging that the communists decried the Indian independence movement, Satheesan claimed that they revealed the hideouts of Congress leaders during the Quit India Movement.

He said that Leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly, Pinarayi Vijayan, was wrong to say that the Soviet Union was non-aligned during the Second World War and that it joined the British after Germany attacked it.

Vijayan also contended that, recognising the danger posed by Nazi Germany, the communists backed the alliance led by the British during the Second World War.

Satheesan contended that there was a Hitler-Stalin Pact of 1939, and that it was only after Germany attacked the Soviet Union in 1941 that the communist nation joined the British.

He said that initially, the communists in India followed Stalin's path and made decisions in favour of Adolf Hitler.

“When Germany attacked the Soviet Union, Stalin changed his stance and sided with the British, and so did the communists in India. If it rained in Moscow, communists in India would hold up an umbrella. That was their stand back then,” the CM said, taking a dig at the communists.

Vijayan intervened to point out that the 1939 pact was entered into as the Soviet Union was newly formed and would not have been able to withstand an attack from Germany.

“The temporary agreement was used to strengthen the Soviet Union,” he contended.

Rejecting the contention, Satheesan said that the Soviet Union came into existence long before 1939 and was “well established”.

He alleged that both Hitler and Stalin were engaged in similar actions, “killing their adversaries and opposition” in their respective countries.

The CM further alleged that right after independence, as India struggled to feed its citizens, ensure their health, and provide education, the communists allegedly tried to destabilise the nation through the Calcutta Thesis—an open call for armed struggle against the Nehru administration.

“That is the communist heritage,” he contended.

Satheesan further contended that the Congress did not betray anyone and that it was the communists who revealed the locations of Congress leaders in hiding during the Quit India Movement.

“They took that stand as, at that time, Stalin was aligned with Hitler,” he claimed. PTI