NEW DELHI: Setting aside their reservations about his politics, present-day custodians of the various streams of communism on Saturday acknowledged former Communist Party of India (CPI) general secretary P.C. Joshi as one of the undisputed leaders of the Communist movement in the country.

Speaking at a public meeting here to mark Joshi's birth centenary, Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Prakash Karat said: "Regardless of which stream of the Communist movement we belong to, we look upon him as one of our leaders."

Describing Joshi as an "organiser par excellence," Mr. Karat said the foundations of the undivided CPI were laid during his tenure as general secretary.

CPI general secretary A.B. Bardhan said people might have differences with his politics, but there could be no denying his role in building the Communist movement.

He recalled that Joshi did not get disillusioned when he was forced to give up his post as general secretary. "For him it was not the end of the road."

Mr. Bardhan said it was Joshi who challenged the colonial view of the `revolt of 1857' and called it a national movement which had since been acknowledged by historians as the First War of Indian Independence.

The former Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, Narain Dutt Tiwari, said the centenary year should be used to revive the Himalayan Socialist Ashram set up by Joshi in Almora.

Veteran theatre personality Habib Tanveer urged the political class not to ignore the arts and culture.

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