M Basavapunnaiah: Ideological Warrior of the CPI(M)

Prakash Karat (CPIM General Secretary)

WE are observing the birth centenary year of Comrade M Basavapunnaiah which began on December 14, 2013. M Basavapunnaiah was one of the key leaders of the Communist Party. Like many leaders of his generation, MB made an all-sided contribution to the development of the Communist movement in the country. From being a student activist he directly joined the Communist Party in 1934 unlike many of his contemporaries who came to the Communist Party after being in the Congress and the Congress Socialist Party.

MB played an important role in the development of the Communist movement in Andhra Pradesh and was part of the leadership of the Telangana peasants’ armed struggle. Subsequently, he made a major contribution in the inner party struggle which led to the foundation of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). He had a unique role in shaping the ideological viewpoint of the CPI(M). This is the aspect which will be focused in this article.

The Indian Communist movement which had its beginnings in the 1920s worked within the framework of the guidance provided by the Comintern and later the CPSU. Thus it heavily relied on the Soviet Marxist apparatus for its ideological sustenance. While this was natural in the earlier period of the party, it also became the main source for a mechanical application of Marxist understanding to Indian conditions at times and later provided sustenance for the revisionist theory and practice which crept into the Communist Party.

INNER-PARTY

STRUGGLE

A struggle developed within the Communist Party in the post-independence era on the question of the path of the Indian revolution and the strategy and tactics to be adopted. This struggle and praxis helped the “Left” communists to come out of the sterile framework which existed.

The CPI(M) was a product of this inner-party struggle. MB was part of the leading core which conducted this struggle. All the inner-party documents leading up to the split in the Party saw MB as a co-author along with leaders like P Sundarayya, Harkishan Singh Surjeet, B T Ranadive, P Ramamurthy and others. They set out the positions which constituted a rejection of the class collaborationist line advocated by a section of the leadership and which was supported by the CPSU.

In the early 1960s, differences between the CPSU and the CPC became sharp and bitter. The polemics between the two major parties stimulated the ideological debate in India too. It became intertwined with the struggle within the CPI about the programme and the strategy to be followed.

In the ideological battle to appraise Marxism-Leninism through the eyes of the Indian Communists engaged in building the communist party and to apply Marxist theory to the concrete conditions in India – this was a process, protracted and often torturous that the CPI(M) went through.

M Basavapunnaiah made a distinctive contribution to these inner-party debates and subsequently in the shaping of the ideological world view of the CPI(M).

PARTY

PROGRAMME

The decade long inner-party struggle on the question of strategy culminated in the adoption of two programmes by the CPI(M) and the CPI in 1964 at their respective Congresses. The 7th Congress of the CPI(M) was held in Kolkata between October 31 to November 7, 1964. The draft Party Programme was introduced by MB. He explained that the essence of the Party Programme consisted of the analysis of the classes in Indian society, the stage of the revolution, the characterisation of the Indian State and the class alliance to be forged under the leadership of the working class for the people’s democratic revolution. In doing so, MB clarified the stand on the various issues which differed from that of the CPI. The Indian State is an instrument of the bourgeois-landlord alliance led by the big bourgeoisie; the leadership of the  people’s democratic front had to be with the working class and could not be the joint leadership with the national bourgeoisie; the bourgeois-landlord State was increasingly collaborating with foreign finance capital and so on.

FIGHT AGAINST

LEFT SECTARIANISM

Within three years of the formation of the CPI(M), the Party had to confront the challenge of the Left sectarian trend in the form of Naxalism. The main battlefield was Andhra Pradesh where a large number of leaders and cadres of the Party were influenced by the CPCs call for armed struggle during the Cultural Revolution. MB had to be in the thick of the struggle against this ultra-Left deviation. The Andhra Pradesh state plenum held before the Burdwan Plenum on Ideological issues in 1968 saw MB along with P Sundarayya taking up the fight in right earnest. MB intervened during the discussions in the Burdwan Plenum to counter the Left sectarian positions presented by a section of the Andhra leaders. The Resolution on Ideological Issues adopted in the Burdwan Plenum provided the bedrock for the Party’s ideological struggle against both right revisionism and left sectarianism.

MB increasingly took on the responsibility of conducting the struggle against the revisionist line of the CPSU and the Left sectarian positions of the CPC. MB would use his pen as a scalpel to cut through the revisionist theories of the CPSU – on the wrong understanding of social contradictions and the illusion spread by the concept of a peaceful competition between capitalism and socialism and the peaceful transition to socialism.

MB had strongly opposed many of the Left sectarian positions adopted by the CPC during the period of the Cultural Revolution. These included the “three worlds’ theory”, the characterisation of the Soviet Union as “social imperialist” and the Left adventurist call for armed struggle around the world irrespective of the conditions existing in different countries.

While taking on the wrong policies of CPSU and the CPC, MB was categorical about not taking anti-Soviet or anti-China positions. He maintained that both were socialist countries, though they suffer from deviations from Marxist-Leninist positions and the scientific approach to building socialism.

MB poured scorn on the concept of the non-capitalist path of development advocated by the CPSU for the newly independent countries like India which was adopted by the CPI too. At the same time he trenchantly exposed the sectarian and dogmatic understanding of the Naxalites about the nature of capitalist development in India. In the “Letter to the Andhra Comrades” which was adopted by the Polit Bureau after the Burdwan Plenum, MB said:

“The fundamental critique of the capitalist path from the Marxist-Leninist angle is being erroneously understood and interpreted as though no industrial development of any significance is possible or has taken place, that the development of capitalism and capitalist relations in any degree under the capitalist path is only the increasing dominance of foreign monopoly capital and the strengthening and further consolidation of feudal and semi-feudal land relations. Thus the strategical despising of the capitalist path is being mechanically and dogmatically projected into its tactics evaluation, refusing to take into account the development of capitalism and capitalist relations under the bourgeois-landlord government.”

He also effectively debunked the Naxalite characterisation of the bourgeoisie in India as a comprador one. He defended united front tactics with other democratic parties. He also condemned the Left sectarian stand of opposition to participation in parliament and the coalition governments which were formed in Kerala and West Bengal in 1967.

After taking over as Editor of People’s Democracy in 1978 MB regularly wrote on ideological questions in its columns.

AGAINST CULT

OF PERSONALITY

After the CPC made a critical evaluation of the Left sectarian deviation that occurred during the Cultural Revolution period and the promotion of the cult of personality around Mao Zedong, MB wrote an important article on the “Struggle against the Cult of Personality”. He set out the Marxist position on the cult of the personality and how such a distortion had developed in the case of Stalin in Soviet Union and Mao Zedong in China. An important point made by him was regarding how the cult of personality damages inner-Party democracy and collective functioning. He stated that:

“It should never be forgotten that the struggle against the cult of personality is very closely linked with the struggle to safeguard inner Party democracy, to ensure collective leadership and practice criticism and self-criticism. Good resolutions by themselves are not enough, they should be implemented properly without allowing any dichotomy to develop between words and deeds. The idea that no leader is a “demigod” and an “infallible Marxist-Leninist” should be propagated constantly among the Party ranks and the people at large. And no Communist Party should ever resort to punitive measures to punish differences and dissent.”

ON THE NATIONAL

QUESTION

During the discussion and formulation of the Party programme, it was decided that the issue of the national question in India would be reserved for a later discussion. In a multinational country like India, what is the role of the various linguistic nationalities? Will the right of nations to self-determination apply in India? The discussion and adoption of the Party’s stand on the national question took place in the 9th Congress of the Party held in Madurai in 1972. The “Note on the National Question” was discussed and adopted in the Congress. MB introduced the document in the Congress. It bore the stamp of his deep understanding of the Leninist stand on nationalities and the national question and how the conditions in pre-revolutionary Russia differed from India. While Tsarist Russia was a prison house of nationalities and subject to oppression by the Great White Russian nationality, India was a multinational country where there is no oppression by one or a group of nationalities over the others. Secondly, the ruling class in India, the bourgeois-landlord class, is a composite one drawn from various linguistic nationalities. It is these ruling classes which were exploiting the working classes of all the linguistic nationalities and subjecting them to a common class oppression. Therefore the call for separation or secession would weaken the fight against the Indian State and the class exploitation faced by the working people all over the country. The task of the working class party was to build the unity of the working class and peasantry of all the nationalities to fight the common class exploitation by the bourgeois-landlord classes.

MB also pointed out that during the anti-imperialist struggle, the calls for self-determination by any of the nationalities against British rule was valid. But with independence that stage of the general struggle against imperialism was over. The right of self-determination should not apply any more as in the pre-independence era.

RICH

LEGACY

MB had a polemical style which gave no quarter to opponents of Marxism or those who deviated from it. At the same time, MB was also aware that he and his colleagues could make mistakes while expounding on ideological issues. As he would say in his inimitable style: “These mistakes are made by us, not mistakes made at someone else’s bidding”. He meant thereby that one could learn from the mistakes one commits and rectify them. Unlike those who make mistakes under somebody’s influence.

The CPI(M) emerged from a protracted inner-Party struggle on ideological and programmatic issues. Later it had to stand its own ground against the wrong ideological positions adopted by the CPC and the CPSU. For this it had to rely on applying its own understanding of Marxism-Leninism to the Indian conditions. In this process, MB was the ideological warrior of the Party. He left his stamp on the ideological struggle with his deep knowledge of Marxism, his commitment to Marxism-Leninism and his relentless quest to apply Marxism-Leninism to fashion out the correct approach for the Indian revolution.

We must learn to build on this rich legacy left by him.

Capt Lakshmi Sahgal - Condolence Resolution

The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) expresses its profound grief at the passing away of Capt Lakshmi Sahgal, inspiring and courageous freedom fighter, dedicated and compassionate doctor in the service of the poor, fighter for women’s rights and a senior and greatly respected member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). She passed away at the age of 98 in Kanpur. At the time of her death she was a patron of the All India Democratic Women’s Association which she had helped to found.

Capt Lakshmi who was born into an illustrious family from Kerala. was brought up in Madras where she excelled in her studies as a brilliant student. Her parents were freedom fighters dedicated to the nation, her father a brilliant lawyer and her mother a social worker and campaigner for women’s rights. From her childhood, Capt Lakshmi was brought up with values which cherished India’s freedom. This dedication remained with her through her life. Her parents marriage was inter caste one and Lakshmi as a young student fought against caste prejudice often clashing with the ideas held by her contemporaries in school and college. She completed her MBBS degree in 1938 and then in 1940 decided to travel to Singapore. It was while she was working there as a doctor that she became actively involved in the work of the India Independence League which contributed greatly to India’s freedom struggle. She was introduced to Subhash Chandra Bose in 1943 and was invited by him to set up the Rani of Jhansi women’s brigade under his overall command. She became the leader of this legendary brigade and was inducted by him into the provisional cabinet of Azad Hind as the only woman member. She played a heroic role and saved many lives by her courage as leader of the INA. She was captured by the British and brought to India in 1946 where he was given a heroine’s welcome.

She married Prem Sehgal who was also a leader of the INA working with Subhash Chandra Bose.

After independence, Capt Lakshmi set up her practice in Kanpur. She became the beloved health saviour of lakhs of poor women of Kanpur whom she would provide medical services without any charge. She was devoted to her patients and there was hardly a day when she did not work in her modest clinic. Even on the day before her heart attack, regardless of her frail health she was at the clinic meeting patients, such was her dedication.

In 1971 when huge numbers of refugees came from what was then East Pakistan, the Peoples relief Committee in West Bengal gave a call for doctors to help. Com. Jyoti Basu also issued a call. Capt Lakshmi answered his appeal and spent several months working with the refugees providing them medical relief.

It was after this experience that Capt Lakshmi decided to join the CPI(M). She became a member of the Kanpur and later the UP State Committee of the Party. She was a champion for women’s rights and shouldered the responsibility along with other great communist women leaders of mobilizing women for their rights. She was a founder member of the All India Democratic Women’s Association, travelling the length and breadth of the country as the organisation’s Vice-President.

She believed strongly in the need for a Socialist revolution and she lived her ideals. She was extremely modest about her many achievements, always encouraging young people into leadership roles. She was the beloved role model of young people throughout country.

The CPI(M) pays its deep homage and dips the red flag in honour of Capt Lakshmi Sehgal, courageous and dedicated communist leader and freedom fighter. Her life and work will continue to inspire generations of young people.

The Party extends its condolences to her daughters Subhashini Ali and Anisa Puri, and her grandchildren and other family members.

Long Live Capt. Lakshmi Sehgal.

Last Journey of Com. Dipankar Mukherjee

Today at 4 PM Com Dipankar Mukherjee's mortal remains were consigned to flames at Lodhi Road electric crematorium. Beside CPI (M) polit bureau members Sitaram Yechury, Brinda Karat and A K Padmnabhan and CPI leaders Atul Kumar Anjan and Amarjeet Kaur large number of other leaders of left parties and CITU and other trade unions and democratic mass organisations were present there to pay their last respect to their respected colleague, friend and leader. Ravishankar Prasad, chief spokesman of BJP and member Rajya Sabha was also present on this occasion.

Before that last journey began from CITU head-quarters, BTR Bhavan. Com Dipankar's body was brought here and kept in state, before last journey. Here also large number of trade union and left political leaders and workers gathered to pay their last respect to departed leader. On behalf of CPI(M) beside party and TU leaders from various states, PBMs Sitaram Yechury, Brinda Karat and K Vardrajan laid wreath while on behalf of CPI A B Bardhan and D Raja paid floral tributes.

All India Secretary of CITU and former member of Rajya Sabha, com Deepankar Mukharjee passed away last morning at a Delhi hospital.

COMRADE DIPANKAR MUKHERJEE AMAR RAHE

Com Dipankar Mukherjee, National Secretary CITU, expired on 18th June 2012 at Gangaram Hospital, New Delhi at the age of 70 years, after about a fortnight’s confinement there. On 30th May 2012, he was admitted to Hospital with serious illness, on 1st June he had to undergo a major 9-hour-long surgery in pancreatic zone for removal of a lump which lasted for about nine hours. After surgery, he was slowly recovering at the initial phase, but from 14th June onward, the situation took a complicated turn and he finally breathed his last on 18th   June morning.

Dipankar Mukherjee was born in June 1943 in Calcutta. His father was a railway worker. He had a brilliant educational career throughout his student life. He graduated in electrical engineering from Banaras Hindu University and started his working life in BHEL in Bhopal. He also worked in high position in Hindustan Fertiliser Corporation, Ramagundam Plant in Andhra Pradesh. He was closely associated with Peoples’ Science movement.  He left the coveted job of Additional Chief Engineer of Haldia Fertilisers and joined as a whole timer of CITU in 1991 and took active part in trade union movement since then. Having deep knowledge of industrial engineering and industrial economics across the industries, particularly in power, fertilisers, petroleum he made useful contributions in the struggle for revival of sick industries and sick-PSUs in particular and also against the anti-PSU policies of the successive governments. As a trade union leader, he was acclaimed for his deep knowledge and his consistent class outlook. He was elected National Secretary of CITU in 2003 and represented CITU in various forums. He was CITU representative in Central Board of Trustees of Employees Provident Fund Organisation till his demise.

Com Dipankar was a brilliant parliamentarian with versatile capabilities. He was elected to the Rajya Sabha in April 1994 from West Bengal as a CPI(M) member and played important role in intervening effectively on all crucial economic and industrial policy related issues during his 12 year-long parliamentary stint till 2006. He made notable contribution in developing an alternative workable vision on pricing of petroleum products in the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Petroleum & Natural Gas during his tenure in that committee—totally opposite to the present policy of deregulation. His interventions in parliamentary debates in exposing the faulty and anti-people policy of the successive govts on fertilizer, power, petroleum, etc, his brilliant speeches in exposing the privatization of blue chip PSUs like Balco, IPCL etc., the shady deal of sale-out of Centaur Hotel,   the conspiracy behind dubious game-plan of disinvestment of the shares of PSUs  to set in the process of “creeping privatization”, the shady deals to hand over the control and business of Delhi and Mumbai Airports to private players are some of the instances which will be remembered for ever. He had been also very vociferous in raising the issues on rights and livelihood of working class and peasantry on the floor of Parliament in a regular manner.  He also his mark as Chairman of Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport & Tourism, Chairman, Committee of Petitions and Chairman, Committee on Subordinate Legislations at different spell of his Parliamentary tenure.

He was a prolific writer on trade union, economic and political issues and used to contribute regularly in the trade union and political journals. He wrote many pamphlets which were published by CITU. Notables were his pamphlet exposing the “Indo-US Nuclear Deal” and booklet on “Employees Pension Scheme”.  He discharged the responsibility as Working Editor of “The Working Class” and “CITU Mazdoor”, the monthly journals of CITU in English and Hindi till the last day of his life.

In Dipankar Mukherjee’s death, CITU has lost one of its frontline leaders, the trade union movement has lost a leading figure working for unity of the working class in the frontline of struggle, the country has lost a committed soldier for the cause of the working people. While expressing grief for the departed comrade, CITU conveys condolence to his colleagues, friends and family members and dips its flag in respect to his memory.

CPI(M) leader Com. D Mani passes away

Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader, freedom fighter and former MLA in Tamil Nadu Assembly Comrade D Mani passed away on Tuesday, May 1st. The 88 year-old four-time former legislator had not been keeping well for some time, CPI(M) state secretary G Ramakrishnan said. Party flags would fly half-mast in CPI(M) offices across the state for three days starting Wednesday, he said in a statement.

Having joined the Communist movement in 1944, Mr Mani was instrumental in forming trade unions for rubber and cashew workers in Kanyakumari district and had served prison terms, besides going underground for nearly six years, he said.Com Mani represented Vilavankode constituency four times in the Tamil Nadu Assembly. In 1948, when the communist party was legally banned, he along with his brother went underground and paid special attention in forming party units in the southern portion of the then Travancore state. in 1948 october 2 both of them where captured and send to jail.

His body was taken from hospital to the CPIM district committee office at Thiruvananthapuram where CPI (M) leaders including Opposition Minister of Kerala Assembly V.S.Achuthananthan, PB Members Comrade Pinarayi Vijayan and Kodyeri Balakrishnan paid tributes to the great leader. Later the body was brought to his house at Marthandam and a large number of people paid tribute to him.

CPIM Tamil Nadu State Secretary Com G Ramakrishnan, State secretariate member Com Noor Mohammed paid tributes to the leader. His body was laid to rest near his brother's memorial, G. S. Mani at Vettunthi near Marthandam.

All the May Day functions organised by the CPI(M) were cancelled due to the death of D. Mani. In the meantime a peace procession was organised in Nagercoil

MARCH 19 - EMS MEMORIAL DAY

(1904-1998)

Comrade E.M.S. Namboodiripad was one of the foremost leaders of the Communist movement in India and one of the founding leaders of the Communist Party of India (Marxist).

In his nearly seven decades of public life and revolutionary activities, E.M.S. Namboodiripad left an indelible imprint on the progressive and working class movement of the country. As a young man, he became active in the social reform movement against caste. He left college in 1931 to join the freedom struggle and was jailed in the satyagraha movement. From then onwards, he played an important role in the Congress movement and was one of the founders of the Congress Socialist Party in Kerala. In 1934 he became the all India joint secretary of the Congress Socialist Party. It is in this period that E.M.S. while leading the Congress Party as General Secretary of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Party became acquainted with Marxism. He was one of the five members who formed the founding group of the Communist Party in Kerala in 1936. E.M.S. Namboodiripad represented the coming together of the two streams, the anti-imperialist and the anti-feudal struggles, which laid the foundations for the development of a powerful communist movement in Kerala. He was one of the key proponents of Aikya Kerala which led to the formation of Kerala as a unified linguistic state.

E.M.S. Namboodiripad was first elected to the Madras Provincial Legislative Assembly in 1939. As an important leader of the fledgling Communist Party he donated the proceeds of his landed property to the Party. He went underground building the Party in crucial periods between 1939-42 and 1948-50. He was elected to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of India in 1941. He became a member of the Polit Bureau of the CPI in December 1950 and later its Secretariat. He became General Secretary of the united CPI in 1962.

In 1957, after the state of Kerala was formed in the first elections in 1957, the Communist Party won a majority and E.M.S. Namboodiripad became Chief Minister of the first elected Communist ministry in India. It was the EMS ministry which initiated the path breaking land reform legislation and other democratic measures, till the ministry was dismissed undemocratically in 1959. E.M.S. Namboodiripad became Chief Minister of Kerala again in 1967 heading a United Front ministry till 1969.

E.M.S. joined the leading group from the united Party who formed the CPI(M) and was elected to the Central Committee and the Polit Bureau of the Party at the Seventh Congress of the Party in 1964 and he continued to serve in these positions till his death.

E.M.S. Namboodiripad was elected the General Secretary of Central Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) in 1977 and he led the Party in this capacity till the 14^th Congress in 1992 when he stepped down due to ill-health. His leadership in rallying all the Left, democratic and secular forces was invaluable.

E.M.S. was a brilliant Marxist theoretician. He made outstanding contributions to the application of Marxism-Leninism to Indian society and in working out the strategy and tactics of the Indian revolution. His vast body of writings bear the mark of an original and creative mind which mastered the dialectics of Marxist theory. His writings on land relations, Kerala, society and politics and his writings on Marxist philosophy, literature and history -- mark him out to be one of the most influential communist thinkers of the country and the world.

E.M.S. Namboodiripad was a rare example of a Communist leader who hailing from a traditional landlord family graduated to become the foremost leader of the proletarian revolutionary movement. He spent three years in jail and six years underground. His was a life of sacrifice and simplicity. He set an example which has inspired tens of thousands of communists all over the country. In Kerala he was a legend in his lifetime who was adored and respected by all sections of the people. Till the last day of his life, despite failing health, E.M.S kept to his daily routine of writing articles and providing guidance to the Party.

He died on March 19, 1998 at the age of 89

February 19 : Chittabrata Majumdar Memorial Day

  

(1935-2007)

Born on August 14, 1935 in the district of Dacca in erstwhile undivided Bengal, of Swarnalata and Khshitishchandra, Comrade Chittabrata Majumdar was a science graduate from the Calcutta University and he later read textile technology at the Bengal Textile Institute at Serampore in Hooghly. Renouncing offers of a professional job of a textile technologist, Comrade Chittabrata Majumdar preferred what was a low-paying teacher’s job at the Salkia Vidyapith.

TU ORGANISER

A part of the rousing tide of mass struggles of the 1950s, Comrade Majumdar was involved first with the students’ movement, and later with the TU movement, being received into the then undivided CPI in 1956. He worked as one of the main Party organiser of the Howrah district and spent a large slice of his daily life organising workers. Concentrating on developing the TU movement in the engineering industry in particular, Comrade Majumdar became the secretary of the metal workers’ union in Howrah. He had intimate contact with the TU units of Bridge and Roof, Reyroll Burn, Hooghly Dock and Engineers, Bicko Lawry and other outfits. 

Taking a leadership role in Howrah in the battle against revisionism of the 1960s, Comrade Majumdar put to good use his deep insight into the ideology of Marxism-Leninism. On the CPI being split in 1964, Comrade Chittabrata Majumdar played a significant role in building up the Howrah unit of the CPI(M). He worked at the district Party centre along with Communist stalwarts like Comrades Naresh Dasgupta, Joykesh Mukherjee, and Harisadhan Mitra. Incarcerated for a year and four months under the Defence of India Act by the then Congress government, Comrade Majumdar, on coming out of the jail, became a Party wholetimer.

In 1968, he became a member of the district secretariat of the Howrah unit of the CPI(M). Winning by a massive margin from the Howrah (north) Assembly constituency in 1977, Comrade Chittabrata Majumdar became the minister for cottage and small-scale industries in the first Left Front government, and played a crucial role in the expansion of these sectors of industries across the state. 

Comrade Majumdar also looked after the building up of such state-run institutions catering small-scale goods as the Tantuja, the Tantusree, and the Manjusha. Interested in scientific and technological developments, Comrade Majumdar gave an organisational form to the people’s science movement in Bengal, being one of the chief architects of the Paschimbanga Vigyan Manch. Later as a member of the Rajya Sabha, Comrade Majumdar played a significant role in opposing the industrial, labour, and financial policies of the union government.

PARTY ORGANISER

Comrade Chittabrata Majumdar had a significant role to play in the organisation of the Salkia Plenum in 1978. He was elected as a member of the state committee of the CPI(M) in 1982, inducted into the state secretariat in 1985. A specialist in producing the Party Education series booklets and pamphlets, Comrade Chittabrata Majumdar combined his deep knowledge of Marxism-Leninism with a subtle yet simple style of writing. A member of the central committee of the CPI(M) in 1995 at the Chandigarh Party Congress, Comrade Majumdar was made a member of the Polit Bureau in 2004 at the Delhi Party Congress.

A TU organiser of the highest calibre, Comrade Chittabrata Majumdar was a member of the general council of CITU when it was formed in 1970. He was elected the general secretary of the Bengal unit of the CITU in 1990 as a leading TU organiser. He was made one of the secretaries of the CITU at the national level in 1991. Comrade Chittabrata Majumdar was elected to the post of the all-India general secretary of the CITU at the 12th all-India conference of the CITU held in Chennai, re-elected to the post from the Bangalore conference in 2007.

Dedicated to the task of a united workers’ struggle against the sweep of liberalisation and globalisation, Comrade Majumdar was of the firm opinion that the struggle was for changing the policy, which would lead to a change in the government at the centre. He always spoke of the importance of taking the workers’ struggle out of the circle of economic demands into the wider realm of political struggles and movements. He also played an important role in setting up an international solidarity of workers against the dictates of imperialist globalisation.

Comrade Majumdar wrote innumerable essays and articles on such subjects as Marxism-Leninism, political economy, ideology of the Communist Party, and Party and TU organisation. Some of his writings were brought together and published in a small anthology called Ek, dui, teen (in Bengali). Comrade Majumdar represented the CITU in International TU conferences and in the ILO. He remained the editor-in-chief of the internet edition of the Ganashakti. 

Comrade Chittabrata Majumdar’s humble lifestyle, his depth of knowledge, his role as a dedicated Communist, and his achievements as a TU organiser who led from the front shall remain as icons of inspiration that he leaves behind for the present and the future generations of Communists, TU organisers, and workers.

Com Leelavathi : Valiant Fighter of Toiling Mass

YOU MAY BE ABLE TO KILL US, BUT CANT KILL OUR IDEAS AND DREAMS

Comrade K Leelavathi, the fighter who laid down her life for the cause of the people. April 23 is her Martyrdom Day. People of Madurai still holds her near to their heart. This time around her martyrdom day coincided with the election campaign in Tamil Nadu. This time Madurai is going to see a straight fight between the Culprits of Leelavathi's murder DMK and the Party for which she laid down her life CPIM.

Com Leelavathi was a political activist, fighter for social causes and an active participant in the women's movement, She was an active worker of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and was the member of its Maduri District Committe. She was elected to the Madurai Corporation Council from Ward 59 (Villapuram) in September 1996 in the first ever elections held with one-third of the seats reserved for women. She was One of her election promises was to supply piped water to the people of her ward, most residents of which are economically backward people. For long, they had been buying water supplied by water tankers actually supplied by the coporation but was hijacked by a mafia and was supplied at abnormal prices and had been literally at the mercy of the lorry operators for their daily requirements of water. During times of acute scarcity, they found it difficult to get even a potful of water.

Leelavathi intervened on behalf of these people. She tried to regulate the supply in a fair manner and fought against the fleecing of the poor by the tanker mafia. When she was named a candidate of the CPI(M) for the corporation election, she promised the people that she would put an end to this unfair system. From the moment she assumed charge as councillor, her one-point mission was to bring tap water to her ward. She had to pursue her efforts both inside and outside the Council. She insisted that water supply be given priority over other development works and, in six months' time, triumphed in her mission. The entire city saw her as a crusader.

The pipeline was laid and even a trial supply of water was also undertaken. But a day or two before the supply was to have been formally inaugurated, Leelavathi was done to death by a group of six persons while she was returning from a shop. The wrath of the water tanker mafia as well as political rivalry was seen as the reason for the crime. The city of Madurai plunged into grief. Protest rallies were held in several parts of Tamil Nadu.

Even after her election to the Corporation Council at the age of 40, Leelavathi, a weaver by profession, and her husband Kuppusamy, a vendor of stainless steel utensils, continued to live in a single-room house, along with their three grown-up daughters. Her loom occupied most of the space in the house. A table fan and a black-and-white television set were the only other valuables in the house. Simple and unassuming, Leelavathi endeared herself to almost all sections of the people in her ward. She attended to their complaints with utmost sincerity. In the process, she had to confront several anti-social elements in the area. When the CPI(M) launched a demonstration against these elements, she was in the forefront. She gave her whole time to public service and party work. She became an enemy of these anti socials who actually had the supporting of DMK and its top leaders.

On 23 April 1998 while Com Leelavathi was going to shop to buy household things she was attacked brutally killed by a group led by DMK Ward secretary.

At the time of her death, one of the State vice-presidents of the Handloom Workers Union and a State committee member of the All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA).

You have shown us our way forward and you have been leading us as torchbearer in our journey forward. We remember You Comrade. We dip our Red Flag in our great memory. Lalsalam Com. Leelavathi.. Long Live Your memories..