Meerut Trial

Meerut Trial 

a trial of 32 leaders of the workers’ movement in Meerut, India, lasting from 1929 to 1932. The court delivered its verdict on Jan. 10, 1933. The trial involved prominent Communists, including S. A. Dange, Muzaffar Ahmad, and P. C. Joshi, and a number of other leftwing leaders of the labor movement. Those arrested were charged with conspiring to overthrow royal power in British India. The court sentenced them to prison terms ranging from three to 12 years, but the terms were reduced under pressure of a protest movement that arose in India and abroad.

The Meerut trial represented an attempt by the colonial authorities to strike a blow at the labor movement in India. Arrests in connection with the trial did not halt the growth of the workers’ movement, although they temporarily weakened it. The courageous conduct of the prisoners during the trial and their bold speeches helped expose the policies of British imperialism in India and clarify the political views of the Communists.