THE NATIONAL MOVEMENT AND TtiE COMMUNIST t»AfeTY IN KEfeALA 61 most.9 For rati3nalists like E. Madhavan it was the great victory of anti-religious movement.10 Yet to some it signalled the dawn of the epoch of Sudras.11 And so on. However, the knowledge of Marxism was very rudimentary and based on secondary sources. Attempts to apply Marxism to the Indian situation was even more conspicuous by its absence. Most notable event in this respect was the publication of extracts from the statement of the accused in the Meerut Conspiracy case by the 'Communist League' group from Trivandrum in 1931. This pioneering group of communists in Kerala had no organisational contact with communists outside and their direct contribution as a group is largely confined to the above publication. The industrial backwardness of Kerala and the consequent weakness of the working class was an important reason for the retarded development of the communist organisation in the region. But for a few manufactories in coir, handloom, textiles, tiles, etc. the industrial structure was dominated by small-scale establishments deeply enmeshed within the fabric of rural economy. The industrial workers, drawn from the poorer strata of the peasantry and agricultural labourers, had deep rural roots and were weighed down by the pre-capitalist structures. The few trade unions that had come into existence like Travancore Labour Association weie mere philanthropic organisations more concerned with the general aspects of social upliftment rather than workers economic or social interests as a class.12 The subdued nature of the class struggle in the industrial sector gave no inkling of the potential of the new class whose ideology Marxism represented. The general weakness of the national movement in Kerala during the first three decades of the century is also an important factor that has to be considered in this context. It must be remembered that it was amongst the ranks of the fighters for national freedom that the message of October Revolution struck a sympathetic chord and drew them into the various pioneer communist groups that were formed in India and abroad. However, in Kerala the political life remained in deep slumber after the anti-British feudal revolts of the first half of the l9th century upto the Home Rule Movement in the post First World War period. Even this was destined to be a brief interlude. The Non-Cooperation and Khilaphat movements in Malabar drew large sections of peasantry especially the Mappila tenants into the path of agitation. The failure of the leadership, which consisted of superior tenantry with a strong presence of liberal landlords,13 to resolutely channelise the militancy of the peasantry into anti-imperialist and anti-feudal tracks resulted in its degeneration into a communal flare up and enabled the British to repress it most viciously. The sullen Muslim community presented a fertile soil for seeds of future Muslim communalism. Only deep inter-caste tensions amongst the Hindus prevented a similar Hindu communal consolidation. Within the Congress the two communal 'factions crystallised around the two newspapers, Mathrubhumi and Al'ameen. The