Harkishan Singh Surjeet

Harkishan Singh Surjeet (born 23 March 1916) is a communist politician from Punjab, India। He was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) from 1992 to 2005 and was a member of the party's Polit Bureau from 1964 to 2008
Born to a Bassi Jat family in Badala, Jullundhur district, Surjeet started his political career in the national liberation movement in his early teens, as a follower of Bhagat Singh. In 1930 he joined the movement of Bhagat Singh, Naujawan Bharat Sabha. On the anniversary of the martyrdom of Bhagat Singh, Surjeet hoisted the Indian tricolour at the court in Hoshiarpur, an action during which he was shot two times. Later he was punished by the colonial regime. In court he stated his name as London Tod Singh (one who breaks London). In 1936, Surjeet joined the Communist Party of India. He was a co-founder of the Kisan Sabha (Peasants Union) in Punjab. In the pre-war years he started publishing Dukhi Duniya and Chingari. During the war, Surjeet was imprisoned by the colonial authorities. When India became independent and partitioned in 1947, Surjeet was the Secretary of CPI in Punjab.
Just after independence, Surjeet was forced to go underground for four years. Several other communist leaders like A K Gopalan were arrested under the preventive detention laws. In the 1950s he led the historic anti-betterment levy movement in Punjab in 1959. His work with farmers led to his election as General Secretary and then President of the All India Kisan Sabha. He also worked in the Agricultural Workers Union. When the CPI split in 1964, Surjeet sided with the Communist Party of India (Marxist). Surjeet was one of the nine members of the original CPI(M) Polit Bureau
He continued to rise within the party until he was elected General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPI(M) in 1992, a post he held till 2005, retiring at the age of 89. Surjeet is known for his steadfast opposition to the BJP and communalism. He was instrumental in forming a number of anti-BJP coalitions in the 1990s and for ensuring left support the present UPA government. After retiring from his post as General Secretary, Surjeet continued to play an active role in Indian national politics. Many times, including after the 2004 Lok Sabha election and during the 1996-1998 United Front government, his role has been that of a cunning king-maker in parliamentary politics, mending and assembling broad coalitions. With his health declining, Surjeet was, for the first time, not included in the CPI(M) Polit Bureau at the party's 19th congress in early April 2008. He was instead designated as Special Invitee to the Central Committee.
Now a days he is in Coma at the age of 92. He was admitted on a hospital in NOIDA on May 6TH'2008
He is the man often called the uncrowned prime minister of India; the quiet, modest man who, more than anyone else, has kept the 13-party Front united.
It is easy to overlook Harkishen Singh Surjeet. Stepping into the shoes of the legendary E M S Namboodiripad as general secretary of the Communist Party of India-Marxist, he has made the diehard leftists more pliable to the changing times and the needs of parliamentary democracy.
In a recent interview, West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu said that by refusing to head the 13-party coalition, the CPI-M had committed a historic blunder. He also admitted that while Surjeet and he were keen to be part of the government, a majority of the CPI-M executive was not, and hence Basu missed the chance to become India's, and perhaps the world's, first elected Communist prime minister.
Despite not being part of the government, his voice is heard more closely than anyone else today. Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda is known to lean heavily on him, and consult him before taking major decisions. Surjeet was primarily responsible for ensuring that the Bahujan Samaj Party could not blackmail the United Front when he called its bluff to secure BJP backing and form a government in Uttar Pradesh. His forceful position and straightforwardness have earned him admirers from across the political spectrum, and respect even from his opponents.
But the CPI-M continues to be seen as a party against reforms, an idea which has caught the middle class's imagination today. The CPI-M's constant reminders to Finance Minister P Chidambaram not to go beyond the common minimum programme, much of which was drafted by Surjeet, has irked many. Moreover, with the collapse of the Soviet Union and with the world embracing market economy, the very raison d'etre of the CPI-M is under question.
Recently, Surjeet warned his cadres to prepare for elections sometime in 1997. As the architect of the anti-BJP front, his warning sent off alarm bells all over the country. Is the end of the United Front near? Is it worth keeping this anti-BJP front in existence, given its limitations? How moral is it to take Congress support, despite having opposed it tooth and nail at the hustings?

`Continuation of a political legacy'
Interview with Harkishan Singh Surjeet
Harkishan Singh Surjeet stepped down from the post of general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) after an uninterrupted 13-year-long stint, at the 18th congress of the party. Surjeet's tenure, in his own words, marked one of the most trying periods for the CPI(M) after its formation in 1964. The forces of communalism, he points out, were on the ascendant through most of his 13 years at the party's helm, but the party can draw satisfaction from the way these forces were eventually thwarted in the last general elections. Surjeet himself refuses to take any credit for turning around the country's contemporary history, but delegates at the congress acknowledged the 89-year-old leader's political career spanning seven decades by hailing him as a "living legend". Venkitesh Ramakrishnan met him for an interview after the party congress was over. Excerpts:

What would you say were the high points of your tenure at the helm of the CPI(M)? And how would you assess the 18th party congress?
We communists are not used to describing political careers in terms of individual contribution. Though I was general secretary of the party, the leadership was given collectively. I too played my part in that collective leadership. Historically, the period after 1992 [the year Surjeet became general secretary] marked one of the most trying times for the nation. It was also one of the most trying times for the party after its formation in 1964. The forces of communalism were on the ascendant through most of this period, employing not only aggressive communal politics but also clever stratagems and subterfuges. All this had to be countered. The party can take satisfaction that, at the end of it all, these forces have been rebuffed. That's why, when we gathered for the 18th congress, there was a sense of contentment that we have carried out one part of our historic role. But the job is far from done. The concerns of the toiling masses of the country need to be addressed comprehensively. The congress has evolved plans to carry out the tasks of the future.
A large number of political observers believe that you were instrumental in forging the unity of secular forces to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance. Could you explain how you went about organising forces as disparate as the Congress party and the Dravida Munnetra Kazagham?
As I told you earlier, communists undertake political activity not to prove personal superiority but as part of a historical task. Bringing together secular forces was the need of the hour and the party was fully immersed in it. As general secretary, I had to partake in the negotiations and was successful in highlighting the party's understanding of the political situation before other parties.
Analysts talk about the personal acceptance you have among the leaders of other parties, such as Sonia Gandhi, Mulayam Singh Yadav and Lalu Prasad. There is also an opinion that the party may find it difficult to retain the kind of acceptance you had, now that you have stepped down...
There is no doubt that all the leaders you mentioned respect me. But I am senior in age to all of them. I have been a political activist for seven decades; have fought in the freedom struggle, and all these factors must have contributed to their appreciation. But what these leaders ultimately accepted was the party's political line at a particular time. So, to say that the CPI(M) will not get acceptance just because I have stepped down as general secretary is completely wrong. I would say that comments like this are made by those who have no understanding about the functioning of the Communist Party.
There is also talk about a generational change in the CPI(M)'s leadership, that the first generation communists of the country, with their rich experience of the freedom movement, are slowly fading away...
One cannot hope to have first generation leaders at the helm of the party for all times to come. That would require some biological miracle. But, let me assure [you] that the younger leaders in the CPI(M), including the new general secretary Prakash Karat and Sitaram Yechury, have all imbibed the right lessons from the first generation leaders. They have worked closely with me and other leaders like P. Sundarayya, A.K. Gopalan, Jyoti Basu and E.M.S. Namboodiripad, for periods ranging from 20 to 35 years. You must also remember that Jyoti Basu and I are continuing in the Polit Bureau despite our health condition. So, what you are seeing in the CPI(M) is not generational change, but continuation of a political legacy.
The CPI(M) had given a call for enlarging the party's base in northern India in 1992, when you became general secretary. A similar call has come from the present congress too. As is evident, the CPI(M) could not make much progress in northern India in the last 13 years. Do you think the experience will be any different now?
See, the objective political conditions in the country after 1992 were marked by ascendant communalism and casteism. The party's primary task was to combat these forces and defeat them. We have made some gains in this fight and large segments of the population are getting disillusioned with communal, divisive politics. The 18th congress has analysed this situation concretely and has devised new plans to broadbase the party in the Hindi heartland. That is why the call has been renewed with greater emphasis.

Surjeet admits to raising Sikh homeland issue
NEW DELHI : The CPM general Secretary, Mr Harkishen Singh Surjeet, has admitted he raised the concept of a separate Sikh homeland in the 1940s, but said he did so to counter the two-nation theory accepted by the then Communist Party of India.
Replying to a controversy raised by a biographical book on him, Siyasat Da Rustum-e-Hind, written by TV journalist Shameel, at the Share-e-Aam programme on Tara Punjabi TV few years ago, Mr Surjeet said he had drafted the "Sikh Homeland" document to blunt the arguments of his party’s another leader Sajjad Zaheer in favour of Pakistan.
Mr Surjeet recalled that Zaheer had sent him a 34-page concept paper while he was in a Gujarat jail in the early 1940s. The paper contained strong arguments in favour of the two-nation theory, which too was the accepted party line and later became the basis of Partition. Irked with the party stand, Mr Surjeet said, he wrote back to the party that "if Hindus and Muslims are two separate nations, then so are Sikhs." But, Mr Surjeet said, later both he and his party rejected the division of the country on communal lines.
He, however, confessed that the division of the country had hit the Communists harder than any other political party. In the two-part programme, to be telecast on Tuesday and Wednesday night, Mr Surjeet also criticised the Congress governments for Operation Bluestar, sending of the armed forces into the Golden Temple complex in June, 1984, and the anti-Sikh riots in November, 1984, in Delhi and other parts of the country.