ErwinGholson17: slightly cleaned up references based on references and added references

2025-07-27T14:06:06Z

slightly cleaned up references based on references and added references

->Arjun Madathiparambil Muraleedharan at 06:57, 3 December 2021

2021-12-03T06:57:34Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:27, 3 December 2021
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	\|caption = Joshi in 1937		\|caption = Joshi in 1937
	\|birth_date = {{birth date\|df=yes\|1907\|4\|14}}		\|birth_date = {{birth date\|df=yes\|1907\|4\|14}}
	\|birth_place = [[Almora]], [[United Provinces of Agra and Oudh]], [[British India]]		\|birth_place = [[Almora]], [[United Provinces of Agra and Oudh\|United Provinces]], [[British India]]
	\|death_date = {{death date and age\|df=yes\|1980\|11\|9\|1907\|4\|14}}		\|death_date = {{death date and age\|df=yes\|1980\|11\|9\|1907\|4\|14}}
	\|death_place = [[Delhi, India]]		\|death_place = [[Delhi, India]]
	\|occupation = Freedom fighter, leader		\|occupation = Freedom fighter, leader
	\|title = General Secretary, [[Communist Party of India]]		\|title = General Secretary of the [[Communist Party of India]]
	\|term_start = 1935		\|term_start = 1935
	\|term_end = 1947		\|term_end = 1947
	\|predecessor = [[Gangadhar Adhikari]]		\|predecessor = [[Gangadhar Adhikari]]
	\|successor = [[B.T. Ranadive]]		\|successor = [[B. T. Ranadive]]
	\|party = [[Communist Party of India]]		\|party = [[Communist Party of India]]
	\|movement =		\|movement =

>Arjun Madathiparambil Muraleedharan at 14:36, 24 June 2021

2021-06-24T14:36:23Z

New page

{{Short description|Former General secretary of the Communist party of India}}
{{Use Indian English|date=December 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2015}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name = Puran Chand Joshi
|image = PC Joshi 1937.jpg
|caption = Joshi in 1937
|birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1907|4|14}}
|birth_place = [[Almora]], [[United Provinces of Agra and Oudh]], [[British India]]
|death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1980|11|9|1907|4|14}}
|death_place = [[Delhi, India]]
|occupation = Freedom fighter, leader
|title = General Secretary, [[Communist Party of India]]
|term_start = 1935
|term_end = 1947
|predecessor = [[Gangadhar Adhikari]]
|successor = [[B.T. Ranadive]]
|party = [[Communist Party of India]]
|movement =
|alma_mater = [[Allahabad University]]
|principal ideas =
|major works =
|influences =
|influenced =
}}

'''Puran Chand Joshi''' (14 April 1907 – 9 November 1980), one of the early leaders of the communist movement in India. He was the general secretary of the [[Communist Party of India]] from 1935 to 1947.

==Early years==
Joshi was born on 14 April 1907,<ref name="mainstream">{{cite news|url=http://www.mainstreamweekly.net/article503.html|title=P.C. Joshi : A Political Journey|last=Chandra|first=Bipan|date=22 December 2007|work=Mainstream weekly|access-date=18 October 2010}}</ref> in a [[Kumauni people|Kumaoni]] Hindu family of [[Almora]], in [[Uttarakhand]]. His father Harinandan Joshi was a teacher. In 1928, he passed his M.A. examination from the [[Allahabad University]]. Soon, he became the General secretary of the Workers and Peasants Party of Uttar Pradesh, formed at [[Meerut]] in October 1928.<ref name="mainstream"/> In 1929, at the age of 22, the British Government arrested him as one of the suspects of the [[Meerut Conspiracy Case]]. The other early communist leaders who were arrested along with him included [[Shaukat Usmani]], [[Muzaffar Ahmed (politician)|Muzaffar Ahmed]], [[S.A. Dange]] and [[S.V. Ghate]].
[[File:Muzaffar Ahmed, Bankim Mukherjee, PC Joshi, Somnath Lahiri1937.jpg|left|thumb|298x298px|(From left to right) [[Muzaffar Ahmed (politician)|Muzaffar Ahmed]], [[Bankim Mukherjee]], PC Joshi, [[Somnath Lahiri]] at Calcutta 1937]]
Joshi was given six years of transportation to the penal settlement of [[Andaman Islands]]. Considering his age, the punishment was later reduced to three. After his release in 1933, Joshi worked towards bringing a number of groups under the banner of the [[Communist Party of India]] (CPI). In 1934 the CPI was admitted to the [[Third International]] or [[Comintern]].

==As the General Secretary==
[[File:Meerut prisoners outside the jail.jpg|350px|thumb|'''Portrait of 25 of the [[Meerut]] Prisoners taken outside the jail'''. Back row (left to right): [[K. N. Sehgal]], [[Sohan Singh Josh|S. S. Josh]], [[Lester Hutchinson|H. L. Hutchinson]], [[Shaukat Usmani]], [[Benjamin Francis Bradley|B. F. Bradley]], [[A. Prasad]], [[Philip Spratt|P. Spratt]], [[G. Adhikari]]. Middle Row: [[Radharaman Mitra|R. R. Mitra]], [[Gopen Chakravarti]], [[Kishori Lal Ghosh]], [[L. R. Kadam]], [[D. R. Thengdi]], [[Goura Shanker]], [[Shibnath Bannerjee|S. Bannerjee]], [[K. N. Joglekar]], [[P. C. Joshi]], [[Muzaffar Ahmed (politician)|Muzaffar Ahmed]]. Front Row: [[M. G. Desai]], [[Dharani Goswami|D. Goswami]], [[R.S. Nimbkar]], [[S.S. Mirajkar]], [[S.A. Dange]], [[S. V. Ghate]], [[Gopal Basak]].]]

After the sudden arrest of Somnath Lahiri, then Secretary of CPI, during end-1935, Joshi became the new General Secretary. He thus became the first general secretary of Communist Party of India, for a period from 1935 to 1947. At that time the left movement was steadily growing and the British government banned communist activities from 1934 to 1938. In February 1938, when the Communist Party of India started in [[Bombay]] its first legal organ, the ''National Front'', Joshi became its editor.<ref name="mainstream"/> The Raj re-banned the CPI in 1939, for its initial anti-War stance. When, in 1941, [[Nazi Germany]] attacked the Soviet Union, the CPI proclaimed that the nature of the war has changed to a people's war against [[fascism]].

==Expulsion and rehabilitation==
In the post-[[Partition of India|freedom]] period, the [[Communist Party of India]], after the [[Second Party Congress of the Communist Party of India|second congress]] in [[Calcutta]] (new spelling: [[Kolkata]]) adopted a path of taking up arms. Joshi was advocating unity with [[Indian National Congress]] under the leadership of [[Jawaharlal Nehru]]. He was severely criticized in the Calcutta congress of the CPI in 1948 and was removed from the general secretaryship. Subsequently, he was suspended from the Party on 27 January 1949, expelled in December 1949 and readmitted to the Party on 1 June 1951. Gradually he was sidelined, though rehabilitated through making him the editor of the Party weekly, ''New Age''. After the Communist Party of India [[1964 split in the Communist Party of India|split]], he was with the CPI. Though he explained the policy of the CPI in the 7th congress in 1964, he was never brought in the leadership directly.

==Last days==
In his last days, he kept himself busy in research and publication works in [[Jawaharlal Nehru University]] to establish an archive on the Indian communist movement.

==Personal life==
In 1943, he married [[Kalpana Datta]] (1913–1995), a revolutionary, who participated in the [[Chittagong armoury raid]]. They had two sons, Chand and Suraj. Chand Joshi (1946-2000) was a noted journalist, who worked for the [[Hindustan Times]]. He was also known for his work, ''Bhindranwale: Myth and Reality'' (1985). Chand's second wife Manini (née Chatterjee, b 1961) is also a journalist, who works for [[The Telegraph (Kolkata)|The Telegraph]]. Manini Chatterjee penned a book on the Chittagong armoury raid, titled, ''Do and Die: The Chittagong Uprising 1930-34'' (1999).<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2000/20000205/windows/above.htm|title=This above All|date=5 February 2000|work=[[The Tribune (Chandigarh)|The Tribune]]|access-date=19 May 2010}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Kumaon division|Kumaon]]
*[[Kumauni People]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Chakravartty, Gargi (2007). ''P.C. Joshi: A Biography'', New Delhi: National Book Trust, {{ISBN|978-81-237-5052-1}}.

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070313021646/http://www.hindu.com/2006/05/06/stories/2006050602870901.htm The Hindu report on P.C. Joshi denying split in CPI]
* [http://pd.cpim.org/2007/0415/04152007_pc%20joshi.htm Biography of Puran Chand Joshi]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Joshi, Puran Chand}}
[[Category:1907 births]]
[[Category:Communist Party of India politicians from Uttarakhand]]
[[Category:People from Almora]]
[[Category:Indian independence activists from Uttarakhand]]
[[Category:1980 deaths]]
[[Category:Indian communists]]
[[Category:Indian independence activists]]
[[Category:Brahmin Indian independence activists]]

Puran Chand Joshi - Revision history

ErwinGholson17: slightly cleaned up references based on references and added references

->Arjun Madathiparambil Muraleedharan at 06:57, 3 December 2021

>Arjun Madathiparambil Muraleedharan at 14:36, 24 June 2021