Obituary

Comrade Ramkhelavan Saroj, populalry kown as Suraj, senior member of CPI (ML) Pratapgarh district in UP, passed away at his home on 9 September 2023. He was 80 years old. Born in a landless Dalit family of Bhairavpur village of Pratapgarh district, Com. Suraj in his early days joined the struggle for respect, land and wages as part of Arjak Sangh in UP. Later he came in contact with CPI (ML) and became a full-time worker of the party.

Achyut Yagnik, socialist scholar, activist and anti-communal campaigner passed away following a cardiac arrest at his residence in Ahmedabad on August 4. He will always be remembered for his bold and courageous role in building people’s solidarity amid the divisive politics that marred the state post 2002 Gujarat genocide.

Comrade Rajendra Prajapati passed away on 21 August in a hospital in Siwan. He was a Block committee member in Mairwan and had also served a term as elected Mukhiya of his panchayat. He had been a vanguard in many struggles against feudal-criminal forces in his district and only for this reason spent many years of his life inside jails. He was organising rural workers at the block level. Just recently he shared his plans for strengthening the movement for MGNREGA workers in his district.

Comrade Nasarullah Ansari breathed his last at Gorakhpur medical college on 24 July after a prolonged illness. A practising lawyer in Padrauna district court in UP, he was unwell for a few years when he met with a road accident. During last days he was on dialysis but couldn't be saved.

Comrade Sugundan, at the age of 75, passed away on 6th July 2023 at Vellore Government Hospital when he was under treatment for cardiac attack. Comrade Sugundan has been a whole time activist of the party for the last 40 years, the state Vice President of AICCTU and also a former state secretary for a brief period in 90s. He was also a delegate to the 11th party Congress at Patna in February and participated in the deliberations enthusiastically.

Dr. Samar Bagchi, a science educator, environmentalist and people's rights activist passed away on July 20, 2023. Born in Bihar, Dr. Bagchi's illustrious career began at the Birla Industrial & Technological Museum in Kolkata, where he served as the esteemed director until 1990. During his tenure, inspired by Tagaore, Marx and Gandhi he spearheaded a transformation in experimental science education in India, revolutionizing the way students perceived and engaged with the subject.

Comrade Dayanand Prasad, Jehanabad District Committee Member of CPIML and former Sarpanch, passed away on June 23, at the age of fifty years. He hailed from Sumera village, Makhdumpur block of Jehanabad. Com Dayanand was suffering from heart disease for a long time. After paying tribute and honouring him with the party flag, his last journey was taken out, in which party leaders, besides many men and women of the village participated.

Com. Sanat Roy Chowdhury, fondly known as Sanat Da, a lifelong communist who carried his valuable experience of the communist movement in East Pakistan to the ML movement in West Bengal died at the age of 84 years on July 1, 2023. He was suffering from Liver malignancy. In 1982, when IPF was born, Sanat da became the WB State President. He was very much involved in the Civil Liberties Movement. As per his wish, his body was donated to Kalyani hospital. He was full of life and optimism and remained an ardent well-wisher of the Party.

Com. Bani Bhattacharya breathed her last at her home in Subhasgram, Kolkata on 5 June 2023 at 91. She stayed safe and kept well through the successive waves of the Covid19 pandemic, but lately old age had started catching up. She was the mother of comrade Dipankar Bhattacharya.

Comrade Rohit Bisht who was a member of the party and also associated with AISA and AICCTU passed away in Bengaluru on May 20, 2023. As part of AICCTU, He was working amongst migrant workers in Bengaluru, and was instrumental in organising the struggle of Yazaki workers who were retrenched. He was also a convening body member of AISA Bengaluru and played a leading role in bringing out Spark, the monthly magazine of AISA Bengaluru.