Young men and women played a glorious part in the mass movements for independence in various parts of the country, though there never was an all India youth organisation in the regular sense, except some India-level conferences, several provincial and state level organizations etc. Some of these organisations were powerful and very effective. Naujawan Sabha, established in the Punjab in the 1920’s is well known. At one time Bhagat Singh and his associates, and the Communist Youth were active in building this organisation and mass youth movement. Naujawan Sabha has left in indelible mark on the political history of Punjab and India. It became a model for youth organization in many parts of the country. Youth in general, and the politically conscious in particular, played an important part in the mass independence movements all over the country. They were important segments in the anti-partition movement in Bengal in 1905-07, in the non-cooperation movement of 1920-22 initiated by Gandhiji, the civil disobedience movement led by the Congress in the early 1930’s and several others. The youth played an active part in the anti-Jallianwala Bagh Massacre movement, the movement for the boycott of the Simon Commission in 1928, the great 1942 movement, in the post-Second World War upsurge, and so on. They were important components of the Socialist, Communist and Congress – led anti-imperialist revolts. At the same time, they were in the forefront of the various class struggles of the workers, peasants and other toiling masses. Youth were a great source of the national leaderships of the various parties like the Congress, the CPI, the CSP and several others during the British days. The political leadership in this country in the decades of the 1930 and 40s was generally young and therefore very receptive and active. The October revolution in Russia in 1917 made a deep and radical impact on the national movement in India. Youth were greatly attracted to the ideas of Russian revolution. Under its influence they began concrete and scientific study of the problems of exploitation, unemployment, capitalist and colonial domination, of working class and people’s movement, of class concepts and class struggles, and innumerable other ideas. The youth wanted to fight capitalism and imperialism and to build a new society free from exploitation. Russian revolution and Russian society provided a source and model of the future socialist society.
