The atmosphere at Nazrul Mancha was revolutionary! Young students in
thousands, belonging to SFI, AISF, AISB, PSU filled the air with the
promise of a new dawn, when exploitation shall be no more, no one in
position to snuff out young lives fighting for the democratic rights for
all. They reaffirmed their promise of ‘Freedom, Democracy, Socialism’.
The soft but grim voices of students reminded the world of the Marxist
promise of a better world, their Red Salutes, their slogans, an ode to
the immortality of Sudipta would ring in the ears of the thousands, for
years to come, assembled to pay homage to the martyrdom of young Sudipta
Gupta on the 2nd of April, by a brutal police of a fascist government.
History was invoked, Neruda, Spartacus, Ulysses, Comrade KV Sudesh, who
was butchered, cut into 21 pieces by the bourgeoisie government of
Kerala, Shakti Chattopadhyay, Sunil, et al, giving voice to man’s
eternal rebellion against injustice; a symphony of young, trembling
voices taking individual anger & rebellion to its crescendo,
’Revolution’. Auteurs Mrinal Sen & Tarun Mazumdar registered their
anger in their blunt expression of solidarity to their cause.
Speaker after speaker, from all the four left student organisations
railed against the insensitivity of the Mamata government, decried its
attempt at denying the students their political rights, enshrined in
India’s constitution. They took an oath of continuing the fight that
Sudipta gave his life for. Ritabrata, National Secretary, SFI was solemn
throughout his speech but comprehensively denounced the politics of the
campaign against politics. He reminded everybody that modern politics
has been born out of the modern desire of people to fight for their
rights. The royalty or feudal lords did not need ‘Politics’, it is the
exploited multitude who need to fight for their rights. The current
government’s action in stopping student union elections is a fundamental
step against democracy. When its spokesmen & patronised
intellectuals build a case against party politics, it is primarily
conspiring to weaken the people’s fight, as the target is always the
left. In the absence of the left, the default correlation of political
forces swings in favour of the ruling class & specifically,
‘Capital’.
Today’s memorial service will remain a milestone in the Bengal’s
people’s fight for democracy & justice. It will prove to be a
turning point in the imminent fight against the Mamata government which
is fast shedding its fig leaf of being democratic & exposing its
fascist underpinnings. This government, apart from encouraging the
lumpen in Bengali society has taken concrete steps to destroy the
democratic structures built over the last 34 yearsof left rule. College
& University management bodies, which were represented by all its
stakeholders, students, employees, professors, etc were replaced by
handpicked individuals. Elections to co-operative societies were
stopped. Associations of the policemen were banned only to be replaced
by her minions. Student union elections were stopped, using the incident
of a policeman’s death during a college election process, by her own
leaders. It was against this that the SFI staged a civil disobedience
movement & Sudipta was killed in police custody. This was when she
crossed the Rubicon of Fascism, with her police taking over the role
played so far by her ‘Brownshirts’. Undeterred, she has gone on to
inciting her partymen to destroy thousands of party offices of the left
& the murder of over 90 of left workers & leaders. Her
government has also actively derailed the 3-tier Panchayat elections
which have taken place like clock work since it was first instituted by
the first Left Front government in 1978. In a bid to reverse the gains
of the land distribution done by the left, it has led a hundred farmers
to their death.
The people of Bengal are rising in anger against this tyrannical
government. Comrade Sudipta Gupta’s death shall not go waste, as the
students resoundingly established today.
Long Live Comrade Sudipta! Long Live the Revolution!
