Mandayam Parthasarathi Tirumal Acharya (15 April 1887 – 1954) was an Indian nationalist, communist and anarchist who was among the founding members of the Communist Party of India (Tashkent group). In a long political and activist life, Acharya was at various times associated with India House in London and the Hindu-German Conspiracy during World War I when, as a key functionary of the Berlin Committee, he along with Har Dayal sought to establish the Indian Volunteer Corps with Indian prisoners of war from the battlefields of Mesopotamia and Europe. Acharya subsequently moved in 1919 after the end of the war to the Soviet Union, where he was one of the founding members of the Communist Party of India at Tashkent. However, disappointed with the Communist International, Acharya returned to Europe in the 1920s where he was involved with the League against Imperialism and subsequently was involved with the international anarchist movement.
Early life
M.P.T. Acharya was born in 1887 in Madras to a family of Aiyangar brahmins. His father, M.P. Narasimha Aiyangar, was an employee in the Madras Public Works Department whose family had originally migrated from the state of Mysore. Young M.P.T. was exposed to nationalism from childhood, with his family playing a prominent role in the rise of Indian nationalism in South India. His close relatives included M.C. Alasinga Perumal, one of the co-founders of the Brahmavadin journal, as well as Prof. Rangachari of Madras Presidency College. Acharya himself was an admirer of Swami Vivekananda in his childhood.
By 1900, a young Acharya, along with Subramanya Bharathi, had begun publication of the weekly journal called India, and worked hard to popularise the publication within a short time. However, the journal's nationalist editorials and critical and satirical cartoons quickly drew the attention of The Raj, forcing the young editors to quietly shift to the French enclave of Pondicherry, following the trail of notable numbers who migrated to the enclave as refugees. The publication also acquired popularity in Pondicherry.
Work of the press continued unabated for M.P.T. Acharya, and was expanded to publications of revolutionary literature. The British government began to seek French assistance to ban the publications which were deemed "seditious literature". Under pressure from British colonial authorities, the French authorities in Pondicherry relented, allowing the Indian Imperial Police to establish surveillance centres to monitor the activities of the revolutionaries. Attempts were also made at this time to extradite the Indians to British custody. Subramania Bharaty, along with S.N.T. Acharya (owner of the India magazine) and the latter's cousin, were forced to flee to Europe.
Although some French officials did indeed harbour sympathies for the Indian revolutionaries, the latter also faced some resistance among the local Francophile and Europeanised Indians who saw the "new immigrants" somewhat contemptuously. The refugee cause was, however, taken up by a number of sympathetic French lawyers. Acharya found assistance from this group to help fight against his expulsion from Pondicherry.
England
Faced with the threat of persecution, M.P.T. Acharya made up his mind to leave India. He left for Britain. Acharya visited his ailing father at Shiyali and, although an orthodox Brahmin, shaved off his long hair (Juttoo). At this time, Acharya was still unable to decide whether he wished to move to somewhere in Asia or to Europe, finally deciding to head for Colombo, a city he had visited earlier. His savings was a sum of three hundred Rupees, which allowed him money for travel but not any luggage.
From Colombo, Acharya proceeded to Marseilles, for which he was able to acquire a third class ticket for eleven pounds, nearly half his savings. It is said that during the voyage to Marseilles, as an orthodox Brahmin he was unable to bring himself to eat non-Indian food – he was forbidden from taking even coffee or bread by his orthodox beliefs – and decided to observe a fast for the twenty-two days the voyage lasted.