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Paying Homage to
Comrade V. Subbaiah By S. Sudhakar Reddy
8 மணி நேரம் வேலை
உரிமைபெற்ற போராட்டம்
தலைமை தோழர்-
வ.சுப்பையா
In the beginning, Com Subbaiah was influenced
by Mahatma Gandhi and had joined nationalist movement. He attended the
Congress meeting held at Chennai in 1927-28 and formed Harijan Sevak Sangh in
1933. Subbaiah started a magazine called "Sutantiram" (Independence).
It was in this period that he came in touch with Ameer Hyder Khan and S.V.
Ghate and soon joined the Communist movement. He went round Tamilnadu to build
the Party and to expand it. In 1935, he organized the 15000 textile workers in
Puducherry, slogging like slaves for more than 12 hours a day without any trade
union rights and proper wages.
On July 30, 1936, in a bid to crush the agitation
launched by the textile workers, French Police and army fired on them
indiscriminately killing 12 workers on the spot. The injustice and ruthless
suppression infuriated people. Workers too became restive. Pandit Jawaharlal
Nehru advised Subbaiah, to proceed for Paris for discussions with
French Government directly. Com Subbaiah went to Paris, argued with authorities
and the French government brought a law for 8-hour working day. It brought not
only a victory to trade union movement but also inspired confidence among
workers and people.
He
was arrested and jailed both in British India and French Puducherry. He was in
the august company of great patriots like Pariyar E.V. Ramaswamy Naikar,
Annadurai, Kamaraj A.K. Gopalan, Pattabhi Seetharamaiah, Neelam Sanjeeva
Reddy and many others. He had to spend long years in jail and while not in
jail, he had to be underground. The suffering enhanced his capacity to endure
and kept alive his fighting spirit. He had tremendous will power to sustain the
struggle against colonialism and imperialism despite heavy odds.
In
1946 he was elected as member of representative council of Puducherry on behalf
of the National Democratic front. In 1947, he was elected to the upper house of
French Parliament on behalf of Puducherry. He was continuously and effectively
fighting in the French Parliament for the independence of Puducherry from
French colonialists.
Even
outside the Parliament, he continued the struggle for independence of
Puducherry. He soon became the beloved leader of the local people with his dedication,
sacrifice and simple life. He organized the Communist Party, trade union and
mass organizations. Pududherry gained independence in 1954. In 1954 he led the
people's front and its candidates got elected in many constituencies though
could not form the government. He was the leader of opposition in 1954 and
again in 1963. He was MLA during 1964-69. He become a minister of Agriculture,
Co-operatives and health in 1969-73 in a coalition government and was
responsible for resolving issues involved. It was to his credit that several
welfare measures were taken in his tenure. His wife Com Saraswathi Subbaiah was
also MLA and leader of the NFIW.
