Roy, M N (March 21, 1887-January 25, 1954) Narendranath Bhattacharya, who later assumed the name Manabendra Nath

Roy, was an Indian Communist leader. He was politically a product of militant nationalism which had emerged and crystallised in the Indian National Congress towards the end of the nineteenth century. Leftism in India has been a combination of di erse strands of approaches, traditions and practices. M. N. Roy, a principal figure in re olutionary nationalism in his early years, e entually became the forerunner of Mar!ian politics in India. "he Lenin#Roy debate on the national and colonial $uestion continues to plague the communist mo ement to the present day. Roy directed from abroad the communist mo ement in India and sent programmes to the National Congress during its heyday of NC% and C% &Ci il %isobedience'. He added an operati e part to the national struggle by a scheme to turn the Congress into a constituent assembly and as a state within a state to capture power in the pattern of the (rench Re olution. He persistently tried to radicalise the Congress and raised the slogan of alternati e leadership. )rri ing in India in early *+,-s he led intensi e mo ements of wor.ers and peasants. Before long, a clea age de eloped between Roy/s adherents called the Roy group on the one hand, and the C01 and C1I on the other, on arious issues, ideological and organisational. 0hortly, the Left groups had to accept such courses of action for which they had castigated Roy earlier. 2n the outbrea. of the 3orld 3ar II, the Right and the Left were confused about the Congress policy, while Roy characterised the war anti#fascist and supported the allies, foreseeing that India would attain independence following the defeat of the )!is powers and ine itable wea.ening of the economic base of the British Imperialism. Roy was finally indicated. Roy had a leading role in re olutionary mo ements in India, Me!ico, the Middle 4ast, the 0o iet 5nion, Indonesia and China. Li.e Mar! he was both and acti ist and a philosopher6 in fact Lenin called him 7the 2riental Mar!.8 Roy tried to organi9e an armed insurrection in India in *+*:6 founded the Communist 1arty of Me!ico &*+*+' and the emigr; Communist 1arty of India in "ash.ent &*+<-'6 rose to occupy the highest offices of the Communist International and led the Comintern/s delegation to China &*+<='. )t the same time he authored such Mar!ist classics as India in Transition &*+<<', The Future of Indian Politics &*+<>' and Revolution and Counter-revolution in China &*+,-'6 and founded the organ of the emigr; Communist 1arty of India, The Vanguard &and later The Masses' and edited it for se en years &*+<<#<?'. Roy bro.e with the Communist International in *+<+ ha ing publicly opposed the e!treme left sectarian policy adopted at its 0i!th Congress. Returning to India he spent si! years in arious prisons during which he wrote a ,---#page draft manuscript pro isionally titled The Philosophical Consequence of Modern Science. 2n his release he campaigned against e ery ariety of authoritarianism, supported the anti#fascist war, drew up a %raft Constitution for free India and the outlines of a decentralist people/s plan for economic de elopment. %isillusioned with both bourgeois democracy and communism, he de oted the last years of his life to the formulation of an alternati e philosophy which he called Radical Humanism and of which he wrote a detailed e!position in Reason Romanticism and Revolution! He wrote a lot of pamphlets for beginners. He was an acti e Mar!ist for the most part of his life, but he abandoned Mar!ist philosophy and indulged in pleading meaningless fellow#feelings among different

religions of India and promoting pale humanistic thoughts. He traced morality to biological roots and suggested that human progress depended on progress towards liberty and truth. In *+@?, he launched the Radical Humanist Mo ement in India, which in *+:< Aoined with other humanist groups in 4urope and )merica to found the International Humanist and 4thical 5nion. Roy was one of the first Bice#presidents. "he humanist centre in Bombay is called the M N Roy Memorial Human %e elopment Campus. By Hasan6 most of the facts in this s.etch ha e been ta.en fromC "eftism in India# M! $! Ro% and Indian Politics &'()-&'*+, by 0. M. Danguly, 0outh )sia Boo.s, Bo! :-<, Mo. ><-:, 50).