Krishna Desai Explained

Krishna Desai
Honorific-Prefix:Comrade
Birth Place:Valsad, Gujarat
Nationality:Indian
Death Place:Lalbaug, Mumbai
Death Cause:Assassination (stab wound)
Office:Member of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly
Constituency:Parel
Term Start:1967 - 1970
Party:Communist Party of India

Krishna Desai (13 October 1877 - 5 June 1970) was a member of the Communist Party of India (CPI).

Life

He was a Member of Legislative Assembly of Maharashtra who represented the working-class Mumbai constituency of Parel, then a communist stronghold. Desai was murdered in 1970, and this was preceded by the burning of the office of the CPI-led Girni Kamgar Union. Hansen considers his murder to be the culmination of the Shiv Sena campaign against the communists. His murder was a sign of a Sena victory in its struggle for the domination of unions and politics in Mumbai's working class district.[1] [2]

Death

Desai was stabbed to death on 5 June 1970. He was a sitting MLA when he was murdered.[3] [4] Seven suspects were arrested on 8 June 1970. Nineteen young persons were charged and sixteen were convicted for the murder. The accused were defended by Ram Jethmalani. Balasaheb Thackeray's complicity in the murder was never proven. Prakash writes that those convicted were members of the Shiv Sena.[5] According to Dipankar Gupta, the Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray congratulated those who killed Desai, declaring, "we must not miss a single opportunity to massacre communists wherever we find them."[6] [7]

Aftermath

In the special by-election held in October 1970, his wife Sarojini Desai was nominated by the CPI, but she was defeated by the Shiv Sena candidate Wamanrao Mahadik by a narrow margin of 1679 votes (of the nearly 62000 votes cast).[8]

According to the communists, the then Indian National Congress government had an interest in weakening and driving out the communists, and so it "supported the incident".[9]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Book: Ravinder Kaur. Religion, violence, and political mobilisation in South Asia. 18 February 2012. 5 November 2005. SAGE. 978-0-7619-3431-8. 90–.
  2. Book: Thomas Blom Hansen. Violence in urban India: identity politics, 'Mumbai', and the postcolonial city. 18 February 2012. 2005. Permanent Black. 978-81-7824-120-3. 63–.
  3. Book: Vaibhav Purandare. The Sena story. 18 February 2012. 1999. Business Publications Inc. 978-81-7693-015-4.
  4. Book: Prakash, Gyan. Mumbai Fables. 2010-09-20. Princeton University Press. 978-1400835942. 204. en.
  5. Book: Prakash, Gyan. Mumbai Fables. 2010-09-20. Princeton University Press. 978-1400835942. 248. en.
  6. Book: Gupta, Dipankar . Nativism in a Metropolis: The Shiv Sena in Bombay . registration . Manohar . 1982 . 159.
  7. Book: Rohini Hensman. Workers, unions, and global capitalism: lessons from India. 18 February 2012. 14 November 2010. Columbia University Press. 978-0-231-14800-9. 135–.
  8. Book: Prakash, Gyan. Mumbai Fables. 2010-09-20. Princeton University Press. 978-1400835942. 249. en.
  9. Web site: Know your party: Shiv Sena. Ashraf. Syed Firdaus . 2004-04-23. rediff ELECTIONS. Rediff.com. 17 June 2012. Mumbai.