Obituary

We mourn the sudden demise of Comrade Vinod Lahiri, 56, who passed away on the night of 2 February 2025 at a RIMS hospital in Ranchi. From Jamshedpur to Ranchi, he discharged many responsibilities in the party including the party state office secretary at the state office at different times. A long-standing activist of CPIML since his student days in Jamshedpur in the early 1980s, he died of dyselectrolytemia. He was also suffering from ailments of kidney, diabetes and hypertension.

Zakia Jafri, a survivor of the 2002 Gujarat riots, during which her husband was killed in the Gulbarg Society massacre, passed away in Ahmedabad at the age of 86. She has left behind an enduring legacy of determination for justice even in the darkest of times. Her twenty three year long fight for justice will be carried forward towards an India free from the politics of hate and division.

Rest In Power!

Comrade Satyaprakash Tripathi, a senior member of the CPI(ML) and an advocate at the Patna High Court, passed away on the night of January 14, 2025, at the age of 74. He had been unwell for a long time. Comrade Satyaprakash had represented our party in the Justice Amir Das Commission, which was set up to investigate the political connections of the Ranveer Sena.

Comrade Ranbir Singh, a trade union leader and former CPIML candidate for the Sahibganj Assembly Seat (Bihar) in 1996, passed away at the age of 89 on December 16, 2024. Born and educated in Bihar, where he completed his graduation, Comrade Ranbir Singh dedicated most of his life to working in the tribal-dominated regions of present-day Jharkhand. His journey began as a leader of non-gazetted employees’ union. After retiring from government service in 1994, he dedicated fulltime for the party work and spearheaded numerous struggles for justice and rights.

On December 23, 2024, Indian cinema has lost one of its most transformative figures. Shyam Benegal, a doyen of India's parallel cinema movement and a great champion of diversity and democracy in India's cultural world passed away at the age of 90 in in Mumbai. Born on December 14, 1934, in Hyderabad, Benegal's illustrious career spanned several decades, during which he crafted films that delved into the intricacies of Indian society.

Veteran CPIML leader Comrade Jagdev Mahato, at the age of 80, on the morning of December 10, 2024, at PMCH in Patna. Comrade Mahato had been battling the severe respiratory illness, COPD, for a long period. He was a former General Secretary of the Patna Mahanagar Workers' Union and Sudha Dairy Drivers' Union.

The veteran member of CPIML Comrade Atri Kumar Rishi, a committed activist and writer, passed away on 30 November at his home in Bareilly. He was 86. Comrade Atri had dedicated his life to the communist movement. He was a member of CPI, then of CPI(M) and in 2002 he joined the CPI(ML). A committed communist, he participated in numerous people’s struggles in his life span. He was at the forefront in a recent struggle of farmers' struggle for proper compensation against their acquisitioned lands for the Bareilly bypass road despite his old age. 

Amiya Kumar Bagchi, the esteemed Marxist economist and educator, passed away on November 28, 2024, at the age of 88. Born in 1936, Bagchi’s early academic journey began at Presidency College, Kolkata, where he cultivated his profound interest in economics. His scholarly pursuits took him to the University of Cambridge. Bagchi was the director of the Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta (CSSSC). Later he established and led the Institute of Development Studies, Kolkata as its director.

With profound grief, we announce the untimely passing of Comrade Manoj Lekthe (Alon), President of the RYA Bokajan District Committee, Assam and a dedicated member of the Hills Committee. Comrade Alon breathed his last on November 17, 2024, at 4:30 PM at Faith Hospital, Dimapur, succumbing to a severe head injury sustained in an accident.