V. Subbiah

In 1947 a man from a small French colony in India won a seat in the French Senate. A year later France issued a warrant for his arrest.

His name was V. Subbiah. He spent his life fighting for Pondicherry to join India.

1Who was V. Subbiah?

Varadarajulu Kailasa Subbiah was born on 7 February 1911 in Pondicherry. At that time the town was part of French India. He grew up under French rule, not British rule.

He studied at Calve College High School. He was expelled after he organised a student agitation. Students and parents protested, and the school took the order back.

Gandhi’s ideas drew him first. He joined the Indian National Congress. In 1933 he founded the Harijan Sevak Sangh in Pondicherry to work against untouchability.

Then he met two communist organisers, Amir Hyder Khan and S. V. Ghate. They drew him into the communist movement. He also started a paper called Sutantiram, which means Independence. He was jailed by both French and British authorities.

• Born: 7 February 1911, Pondicherry.
• School: Calve College High School.
• First politics: the Congress; founded Harijan Sevak Sangh, 1933.
• Turned to the communist movement through Amir Hyder Khan and S. V. Ghate.
• Paper: Sutantiram, “Independence”.

2What happened in the 1936 mill strike?

Pondicherry had big textile mills. Workers put in long hours for low pay. In 1935 Subbiah organised a union of thousands of mill workers.

In June 1936 a stay-in strike began at three mills. The workers wanted an eight-hour day, better wages and union rights.

In July French police opened fire on the workers. Twelve were killed. The killings caused an uproar in the colony.

Jawaharlal Nehru asked Subbiah to go to Paris. He was to speak directly to the French government. Subbiah went. He secured an agreement for an eight-hour working day in French India.

This is why he is seen as the founder of the trade union movement in Puducherry. It is also why his case is unusual. Few freedom fighters bargained with a colonial power in its own capital.

• Union formed in 1935; strike began June 1936.
• Demand: an eight-hour day.
• Twelve workers killed by French police in July 1936.
• Nehru sent him to Paris.
• Result: an agreement on the eight-hour day.

3How did he become a French Senator?

French India sent its own members to French bodies. In 1946 Subbiah was elected to the Representative Assembly of French India. He stood for the National Democratic Front.

On 26 January 1947 he was elected to the Council of the Republic. This was the upper house of the French Fourth Republic, much like a Senate. Maurice Paquirissamypoullé was also elected for French India.

In Paris he sat with a group linked to the French Communist Party. He did not seek re-election in December 1948.

At home he had a fierce rival, Edouard Goubert, the leading pro-France politician. Goubert’s supporters attacked communist workers. In 1948 the French authorities issued a warrant for Subbiah’s arrest.

So he lived in disguise in Pondicherry. A fellow fighter named Thiruvengadam helped him. In January 1950 the party office at his home was burnt down. The police chief stood by and did not stop it.

• Elected on 26 January 1947 to the Council of the Republic.
• Rival: Edouard Goubert, pro-France.
• Warrant issued in 1948; he hid in disguise.
• Helper: Thiruvengadam.
• Party office burnt: January 1950.

4How did French India join India?

In mid-1951 the warrant against Subbiah was withdrawn. He came out into the open. He called for a united front of the communists and other pro-independence groups.

On 13 August 1954 he met Nehru. They discussed how to end French rule. On 1 November 1954 France left French India. Subbiah returned to a hero’s welcome.

The handover was peaceful. It followed talks with France. Full legal merger came later, in 1963.

Compare this with Goa. The Portuguese there refused to talk. India used military action in 1961. A similar local struggle freed Dadra and Nagar Haveli in 1954.

• Warrant withdrawn: mid-1951.
• Met Nehru: 13 August 1954.
• France left: 1 November 1954.
• Full legal merger: 1963.
• Goa in 1961 was military; Pondicherry was negotiated.
• Read about Puducherry.

5What did he do after 1954?

After the merger Subbiah turned to elected politics. He was Leader of the Opposition in 1954 and again in 1963. He sat in the Puducherry Legislative Assembly from 1964 to 1969 for the Communist Party of India.

From 1969 to 1973 he was Minister of Agriculture in a coalition cabinet. His wife, Saraswathi Subbiah, was also a legislator of the party in the 1960s.

He died on 12 October 1993. The Puducherry government put up a bronze statue at Nellithope. A government high school carries his name.

He gave his house to the people in his will. The government later set aside money to rebuild it for social science research. On 7 February 2011 India Post issued a stamp for his hundredth birthday.

• Leader of the Opposition: 1954 and 1963.
• Minister of Agriculture: 1969-73.
• Died: 12 October 1993.
• Statue at Nellithope.
• Stamp: 7 February 2011.

6What are the exam traps?

Keep the French and Portuguese stories apart.

• Subbiah fought French rule. T. B. Cunha fought Portuguese rule in Goa.
• France left on 1 November 1954. Full merger was in 1963.
• Pondicherry was negotiated. Goa was military, in 1961.
• The strike was in 1936. The Senate seat was in 1947.
• Nehru asked him to go to Paris.
• His body was the Council of the Republic, not the Assembly in Paris.
• Read about Dadra and Nagar Haveli, 1954.
• Read about Goa’s road to statehood.