Indian Communists and Trade Unionists on Trial: The Meerut Conspiracy, 1929-1933

The Meerut Conspiracy Case was a controversial legal saga that played out in British India between 1929 and early 1933. It began with the arrest and subsequent trial of twenty-nine trade unionists, including three Englishmen. It was alleged that they had attempted “to deprive the King Emperor of the sovereignty of British India”. They were charged under Section 121A of the Indian Penal Code.

The Meerut Conspiracy Case was symptomatic of the British government’s increasing fear of the spread of communist and socialist ideas. There was a widespread belief that Marxist ideology, propagated amongst workers by trade unionists and the Communist Party of India (CPI), would undermine British rule.

Ultimately, twenty-seven trade union leaders were convicted. Yet far from discouraging communist activism and ideas, the trial gifted the defendants with a public platform. The court case thus helped to consolidate the position of the CPI amongst India’s electorate.

The Communist Party has been a freely elected governing party in India more times than anywhere else in the world and it remains a mass party in India to this day. The Meerut Conspiracy Trial was an early turning point in its history.

Professor John Callaghan, University of Salford

Insights

The Meerut Conspiracy led to a four-year court case held at the Court of Meerut. The drawn-out nature of the proceedings provided those accused with a platform to promote their communist ideas and values . As such, a large number of the documents in this collection detail efforts on the part of the British Raj to counteract delays.

Benjamin Bradley worked as an engineer in India supervising a large workshop. Shocked by the working conditions and low wages, Bradley joined the Communist Party of Great Britain and became heavily involved in the Indian trade union movement. He was arrested for anti-government activities in 1929 and sentenced in 1932.

This collection contains an assortment of petitions and resolutions in direct support of the Meerut prisoners and of the Indian labour movement as a whole. The resolutions originate from a range of workers’ organisations across Britain, including trade unions based in Newcastle, Birmingham, Swansea, and multiple branches of the Women’s Cooperative Guild.

Lester Hutchinson was a journalist whose parents were active within the British left. Whilst visiting India he encountered Ben Bradley and other communist personalities, such as M. N. Roy. Hutchinson was arrested as part of the Meerut Conspiracy but released on bail alongside R. S. Nimbkar. In 1945 he became Labour MP for Manchester Rusholme.