Obituary

Comrade Subhas Kakuste, veteran leader of Lal Nishan Party of Maharashtra and senior Vice President of All India Kisan Mahasabha passed away on November 10, 2024. Born in 1940, Comrade Subhas Kakuste became a prominent leader of Sugar factory workers in Maharashtra and a leader of the farmers. He was also a journalist. Comrade Kakuste’s life was marked by an indomitable spirit and dedication to the cause of social and economic justice.

We mourn the passing of Comrade Harishankar Prasad Singh, a dedicated member of the CPI(ML) Nawada Party Branch Committee, who passed away on November 1, 2024. He was 72 years old and had been battling cancer for a long time. Additionally, he underwent heart surgery a month ago. His health deteriorated suddenly leading to his admission to Ara Sadar Hospital, where he was receiving treatment before he succumbed to his illness.

Comrade Jagjit Singh Sohal, a veteran Naxalbari leader from Punjab, died in Patiala on 20 October 2024. He was 96. Comrade Sohal was a member of the first Central Committee of CPI(ML) and Punjab State Secretary. Later on he became the leader of COC CPIML during the seventies. A large number of leaders and activists from various organisations paid tributes and bid him farewell. Comrade Sukhdarshan Singh Natt from CPIML attended his funeral in Patiala on 21 October.

Red Salute Comrade Jagjit Singh Sohal!

Professor GN Saibaba is no more. Freed in March after ten years of unlawful incarceration and torture, he passed away on 12 October 2024 at Hyderabad's Nizam Institute of Medical Sciences. A victim of continuous state repression, he will be remembered as an indomitable champion in the battle for democracy, justice and liberty.

Professor GN Saibaba will continue to inspire generations of Indians to fight for justice and freedom. His death, like that of Father Stan Swamy, is nothing short of institutional murder.

Comrade Sarbjit Johal (62), longstanding activist of the London-based South Asia Solidarity Group and a great friend and well-wisher of CPI(ML) passed away in a London hospital on 9 October morning. She had been battling cancer for more than a decade.

Sculptor, painter, actor, writer, translator and a relentless crusader for people's culture, social justice and human rights, Comrade Gopal Naidu passed away following a massive cardiac attack in the early morning on 11 October. He was a versatile activist driven by an unstoppable urge for progressive change. A South Indian brought up in Nagpur, Comrade Gopal was an organic product of the revolutionary communist movement in Telangana, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh.

Comrade Parashuram Rai passed away due to a fatal brain haemorrhage in the wee hours of 21 September while sleeping in the district party office in Gaya. He was 58 and suffering from chronic asthma for the last couple of years. His sudden death is a big shock to all of us.

CPIML Arwal district committee member, 55, was murdered on 9 September 2024 when he was returning on his motorbike to his village in the evening. The killers ambushed and shot him at a rice mill near Imamganj Bazar. Condemning this heinous crime, CPIML Bihar state secretary Kunal said that criminals’ morale is high under the ruling BJP-JDU government. The claim of so-called good governance is exposed once again by this crime. The CPIML has called for statewide protests and Arwal Bandh on 11 September against this killing.

Comrade Sadik Bharti, aged 57, a dedicated member of the CPI(ML) and Assistant Town Secretary of the Dharbhanga district committee of the party, passed away on 13th July at Darbhanga Medical College and Hospital (DMCH). He had been battling cancer and kidney disease, having recently undergone prostate surgery in Patna and receiving treatment at a private hospital in Bombay for the past six months.

Comrade Mankumar Singha, a veteran leader of the Tripura unit of CPI(ML) and lifelong fighter for the rights of the poor and landless, passed away at the age of 74 years on July 10 at a hospital in Silchar in Assam. Born in August 1951 into a landless family plagued by poverty, he grew up amidst the harsh realities of deprivation. He was a resident of Village Nadiapur, Dharmanagar, North Tripura District.