Red Salute to Comrade Bhaiyalal Besra

Veteran CPIML leader from Jharkhand’s Hazaribagh Comrade Bhaiyalal Besra passed away on January 2, 2023 at the age of 75 after battling illness. Comrade Bhaiyalal was born in Bundu village in remote jungle tribal area of Hazaribagh district. He studied up to 7th class in Bundu itself and later due to poverty, he had to quit his studies and started working as a porter and later as a driver. He came in contact with the party in late 1960s and later became a full time activist. In 1975 he joined the CCL Religara and continued working for the party with his quarters becoming one of the centres during the underground period.

Along with Comrades Jayant Ganguly, and others, he played a vital role in building the party in the Hazaribagh-Ramgarh area and worked among the Dalits-tribals and organised the workers in the collieries. He was also one of the founders of Coal Mines Workers Union (CMWU) in 1978-79, which united the mine workers in the area against the rampant exploitation. He retired from service in 2015 and despite his ailing health tirelessly worked for the party till his last days.

Thousands of locals and party workers joined the funeral procession of Comrade Bhaiyalal that was held at his ancestral home in Bundu village.

Comrade Bhaiyalal Besra’s demise is a great loss to the party. His revolutionary legacy, that spans more than five decades, continues to inspire the ranks and files of the party and the generations to come.