COMRADE Sukhdeo ji passed away on 9 January at Ranchi. He had been admitted with kidney and other ailments to RIMS Ranchi 4 days ago. He was currently Jharkhand state Standing committee member. Earlier he was a member of the central control commission of CPIML. He had also worked in Bihar for a long time and was Patna town secretary during late 70s and early 80s. He also contributed greatly in building party among railway workers.
The news of Comrade Sukhdeo’s passing brings great grief and a sense of irreparable loss to all of us. In 1970 he was a Supervisor in the JK Nagar Aluminium Factory in Asansol. His original name was Rathindra Nath Chakravarty and he hailed from Murshidabad. He joined CPIML in those tumultuous years and started the organization building among workers and youth in 1971-72 in the Raniganj-Asansol region.
Comrade Sukhdeo left Asansol region, also his job, at the Party’s instructions to work among the peasants in Begusarai and Munger Districts in Bihar at the beginning of 1973. From then on Comrade Rathin changed his name to Sukhdev and this became his real name. The Party was not developed much in that area in those days. The condition of the landless peasants was so bad that there was very little to eat for about 2 or 3 months in a year. Naturally, party organizers who lived in their Tolas also had to share these dire conditions. Facing all such difficult circumstances, Comrade Sukhdev made a place for himself among dalit landless peasants and worked to build the Party. During that period which was also marked with ideological differences and divides in face of heavy state repression, comrade Sukhdeo stood firm with the Party and the revolutionary line of Comrade Charu Mazumdar.
He came to Patna in 1976 where he worked as party secretary till 1986. He undertook and discharged various other responsibilities and never retreated in the face of difficulties. He worked among railways workers particularly in Dhanbad and Danapur Divisions of EC Railway. He was also closely associated with workers’ unions in SE Railways. He was the Chief Patron of Railway contract workers’ union, South Eastern Railway Thika Shramik Union & S.E. Railway Mazdoor Union.
Paying homage to Comrade Sukhdeo Prasad on behalf of the Central Committee, PB member Swadesh Bhattacharya said that he was the epitome of an ideal Communist and will always remain a source of inspiration for us. He had played an important role in building the CPIML in Jharkhand as well as Bihar. His body was kept in Party office in Ranchi till 10 Jan. where party cadres and supported paid him tributes.
Comrade Sukhdeo’s life was marked with courage, simplicity and self-sacrifice in face of all diffuculties, will always be an inspiration for us. We will always remember his contribution and will forever feel his loss. Adieu, comrade Sukhdeo!
