Subbiah, Trade Unionism and Anti-Colonial Struggle in French India

Abstract

The anti-colonial movement in French India has invoked much less scholarly interest than that of British India. In French India, anti-colonial resistance came out through the trade union movement of handloom and textile workers under the leadership of V. Subbiah. Later, the trade union movement coalesced with students, women and peasants’ movements to form a political party which contested in the municipal elections with specific political demands. The focus of this paper is to bring out how trade unionism under V. Subbiah generated workers’ movement and led to political resistance in French India between 1928 and 1946. The primary source of reference is the memoir of Subbiah, media reportage and colonial laws and documents in French India.