വഞ്ചന / 1942 English
20b

Home Department note on the Communist reports, with Tottenham's minutes of 24 March 1943

Government

Scan of document 20b: Home Department note on the Communist reports, with Tottenham's minutes of 24 March 1943, 1943-03-24 (minutes); the typed note undated
Browned paper, punch and insect damage down the right edge. Typescript clear; the manuscript minutes filling the lower half are a rapid cursive hand, only partly legible.

Contrast-enhanced derivative. The scan shown by default is the unmodified original, so any reading can be checked honestly.

Date
1943-03-24 (minutes); the typed note undated
From
[Home Department — the typed note is unsigned; the minutes are Tottenham's]
To
[circulated within the Home Department, and to be shown to "Dr. B."]
Classification
[not shown on this page]
File reference
A red office stamp at the foot right reads 8105 / 26.3.43
Page
p. 2
Document type
Internal departmental note with manuscript minutes (Home Department)

Signatories

  • Sir Richard TottenhamAdditional Secretary, Home DepartmentTwo autograph manuscript minutes signed "R Tottenham", dated 24..3.43 and 24/3
  • [name not given]—Autograph initials and a manuscript direction dated 25/3, illegible

Marginalia & annotations

Extensive. Manuscript corrections inserted into the typescript ("hate", "however", "proclaiming"). Paragraph 4 is written entirely by hand. Two further manuscript minutes below, with initials and dates 24/3 and 25/3. Marginal notes in the right margin, and a red date stamp. Red archival "20b".

Transcript verbatim

                                - 2 -

no reason whatever to believe that any Government went
out of its way to leave these people alone.

        3)      On the other hand, it may be true that a
certain number of genuine communists have been unneces-
sarily, or even maliciously, arrested by the Police and
it would do no harm to send the reports round to the
Provinces, if only because of the repeated assurances
they contain of the Party's desire to counter sabotage.
These assurances do, to some extent, commit the Party to
cooperation with Government, however much they may {ms. insertion: hate}
the sound of those words. The fact, [struck: I think] {ms. insertion: however}, is that
the communists are the sort of people who must always
be "anti" something rather than "pro" anything (except,
perhaps, themselves and a shadowy entity called "the
people"). It would be something gained if we could at
least drive them into the position of [struck: inclining] {ms. insertion: proclaiming} them-
selves openly as anti-C.S.P. and Forward Bloc — or, in
other words, anti-"left wing" Congress.

        4) [entirely in manuscript:] It is interesting to note that the CPI have established
        personal contacts with Chief Secretaries &
        Advisers in most Provinces.

                                [signed] R Tottenham
                                24.. 3. 43.

        [manuscript minute:] H.M. will not be able to deal with this
        until after the Session. Meanwhile [he]
        might look through the pp and add any
        comments he may have to make. He
        might also show to Dr. B.

                                [signed] R Tottenham
                                24/3.

        [further manuscript initials and direction, largely illegible:]
        With [initials] please see and return with
        his comments.  [initialled] 25/3