Thread by @dhavalkulkarni

The #RSS & Left inhabit two different ideological spheres. But Gopal Mukund (Balaji) Huddar, the 1st general secretary of the #RSS made a transformation to being a Marxist. He fought the Spanish civil war & joined the #CPI
#Maharashtra #history #Nagpur #Spain #SpanishCivilWar

#BalajiHuddar was born on 17 June 1902 at Mandla (Madhya Pradesh). The family's original surname was Rauldev. They were known as 'Huddar' as they were Huddedars or noblemen of the Gond kings in Vidarbha.

Since the age of 4, he was brought up by Umabai, a rich widow from the Udhoji family, who had saved him while he was drowning. Though this was done with the consent of his birth parents, his formal adoption had not been done. This took place when he was 40! #BalajiHuddar

Gopal (Balaji) then became Gangadhar Balwant Udhoji and inherited the property of his foster mother.

Huddar was said to have had links with the revolutionaries from the 'Jugantar' group in Bengal.

He was among those present when the RSS was established in 1925 at #Nagpur by Babarao Savarkar, Dr B.S. Moonje, Dr K.B. Hedgewar, Dr B.B. Tholkar and Dr L.V. Paranjape.

During the 1927 communal riots in #Nagpur, Huddar helped "organise the Hindus" under the leadership of Dr Hedgewar. In 1929, he was made the sarkaryavaha or general secretary of the RSS. That year, he also launched a periodical called 'Vageeshwari'.

Two years later, he was arrested for being part of an armed political dacoity at Balaghat in #MadhyaPradesh & sentenced to 4 years in jail. The idea of this dacoity was to get arms and money.

After his release in 1935, Huddar's peers & friends from the Hindu right-wing contributed to send him to Britain for learning journalism. It was here that he would have his moment of epiphany.

The British intelligence service MI5 tracked Huddar. A letter intercepted by MI5 said Huddar enclosed “a very inspiring message in Marathi” for RSS members, mentioning “Maratta History and urging every one of them to spread R.S.S.S. movement throughout Asia”

An intelligence report on the activities of Indian students in London says Huddar may have supported a plan to gain the trust of soldiers in the British Indian army and launch attacks on cantonments all over India on a certain date, besides killing British individuals.

In Britain, Huddar had gradually became a #Communist. A member of the #RSS core group had now taken a leftward turn. Huddar had gradually begun drifting from the RSS.

He felt that the #RSS had no relationship with the freedom movement and said the Sangh did not know the difference between renaissance and revivalism.

In 1936, the civil war broke out in Spain between the Republicans and the Nationalists-military junta led by General Francisco Franco. Huddar came to #Spain with some British volunteers in October 1937 and was assigned to the Saklatvala Battalion of the International Brigades

This was a British Battalion named after the late Shapurji Saklatvala, an Indian Communist in England. To support the Spanish Republic, his 18-year-old daughter Sehri Saklatvala had arranged an event in March 1937. #IndiraNehru, daughter of #JawaharlalNehru, was a speaker

#Nehru, who was worried about the Fascist menace in Spain, too supported the Spanish democrats.

Huddar fought as part of the International Brigades while claiming to be 'John Smith Irakian.' This was meant to conceal his real identity.

Some other Indian volunteers in the Brigades included the writer Mulk Raj Anand, Indian doctors Menhanlal Atal, Ayub Ahmed Khan and Manuel Rocha Pinto, and an Indian student Ramasamy Veerapan.

Huddar was arrested as prisoner of war--the only Indian PoW in Franco's jail. Huddar's co-inmates later recalled how he would give lectures on “the struggle for independence from Britain of the people of India under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru.”

He could also read palms accurately.

When he was released in 1938, Huddar had become a committed Communist. On his return to London, he was publicly felicitated at a meeting presided over by the Communist theoretician Rajni Palme Dutt.

Huddar returned to India in December 1938 and was felicitated by the Communists at the Kamgar Maidan in Mumbai in a function organised by S.A Dange.

Huddar worked for the #CPI between 1938 and 1952, but gradually distanced himself due to differences and ill-health. He passed away at Nagpur on 3 September 1981.

Sources:
Yugapravartak Dr Hedgewar
P.B Bhave, Pratham Purushi Ekavachani
GPD, The Missed Centenary of Balaji Huddar, EPW
Prasun Sonwalkar, From saffron to red: MI5 closely tracked Nagpur journalist studying in London, Hindustan Times
hindustantimes.com/world-news/fro…

Nancy Tsou and Len Tsou, Gopal Mukund Huddar: An Indian Volunteer in the IBs
albavolunteer.org/2016/08/gopal-…

Vidyadhar Date, The Deep Roots of RSS's Anti-Intellectualism and its Disregard for Dissent
thewire.in/history/rss-di…