People's Democracy

THE 17th congress of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) pays homage to the memory of Comrade M Hanumantha Rao, one of the pioneers of the communist movement in Andhra Pradesh.

He was one among the 32 National Council members who left the CPI and who were instrumental in the formation of the CPI(M). He was elected to the Central Committee of the CPI(M) in 1964 and remained its member till his death. He became a member of the Polit Bureau at the 16th congress in 1998. He was a firm defender of Marxist-Leninist principles and played a key role in fighting Left adventurism.

Comrade Hanumantha Rao was imbued with communist values and his life exemplified sacrifice and simple living. He was respected by all sections of the people for his principled positions.

THE 17th congress of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) pays respectful homage to the memory of Comrade Sailen Dasgupta, member of the Polit Bureau of the CPI(M).

Sailen Dasgupta became a member of the state council of the united CPI in 1954 and continued in the state committee of the CPI(M) after the split. At the state centre of the CPI(M), Sailen Dasgupta discharged many important responsibilities for the party. In recognition of this, he became secretary of the West Bengal state committee of the CPI(M) and chairman of the Left Front Committee in 1990, duties that he carried out with distinction. He was elected to the Central Committee and the Polit Bureau the same year.

Sailen Dasgupta was a leader who cared deeply for the cadres and his affectionate behaviour endeared him to all. Sailen Dasgupta was exemplary in his unfailing devotion and meticulousness to work. He was modest in his behaviour and constantly strove to equip himself with Marxist ideology.

THE 17th congress of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) dips its red banner in salute to Benoy Krishna Chaudhury, a veteran party leader and an outstanding revolutionary.

He began his revolutionary career during the freedom struggle and was one of the main organisers of the party in Bardhaman district. It was under his stewardship that the implementation of land reforms in West Bengal was supervised and completed. The famous "Operation Barga" was pioneered by him. One of the most efficient of panchayat raj institutions in India and the devolution of power to the grassroots was also undertaken under his able leadership.

He was elected to the Central Committee of the CPI(M) at the 10th congress at Jullunder and elected to the Polit Bureau in May 1990 in which post he continued till the 16th congress.

THE 17th congress of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) pays respectful homage to the memory of Comrade Vimal Ranadive, member of the Central Committee and veteran leader of the party and the trade union movement.

Vimal Ranadive was one of the foremost woman communist leaders of the country. She was elected to the Central Committee of the party at the 13th congress in 1988. She was secretary of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions and general secretary of the All India Plantation Workers Federation. Her simple life and preparedness to sacrifice everything for the movement endeared her to all the party and trade union activists.

THE 17th congress of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) pays respectful homage to the memory of Niren Ghosh, member of the Central Committee and veteran leader of the working class movement and the party.

For the past six decades, Niren Ghosh worked devotedly in the working class movement in West Bengal and the country. He was a prominent leader of the AITUC and one of founding leaders of the CITU. He was president of the West Bengal state committee of the CITU till his death. A leader reared in the finest communist tradition, Niren Ghosh was one of the stalwarts of the Left movement in West Bengal. His was a determined voice in defence of the working class and for the rights of the states in a federal system.

THE 17th congress of the CPI(M) pays respectful homage to the memory of Comrade Suseela Gopalan, member of the Central Committee. She was a leader with close ties with the people and had a warm and friendly personality, was an ardent advocate of women's rights and a devoted Marxist-Leninist.

She was elected to the Central Committee of the party at the 10th congress in 1978 and remained its member till the end. She led many struggles of the coir workers and other struggles of the working class. She served as the Kerala state and all-India vice-president of the CITU. She was one of the founders of the All India Democratic Women's Association and became its first general secretary in 1980. She was elected to the Kerala state legislative assembly in 1965 while in jail. She was the minister for industries in the LDF government in Kerala between 1996 and 2001.

THE 17th congress of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) pays respectful homage to the memory of Comrade P R Parameshwaran, a prominent leader of the party in Tamilnadu.

He was a member of the Central Committee of the party from 1984 to 1998. He performed a significant role in the building of the party in Tamilnadu. An accomplished organiser, he was one of the important comrades who built up the party and trade union movement in Madras City. He effectively helped the development of very many organisations of the middle class employees also. His contribution to the ideological training of thousands of party comrades in Tamilnadu will always be remembered.

THE 17th congress of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) salutes the memory of Comrade N Prasada Rao, one of the stalwarts of the party and a former member of the Central Committee.

Comrade Prasada Rao played an important role in the development of the communist movement in Andhra Pradesh. In the struggle against revisionism, Prasada Rao played a leading role. He was one among the 32 National Council members who left the CPI and were instrumental in the formation of the CPI(M). He was elected to the Central Committee of the CPI(M) in 1964 and remained its member till the 16th congress in 1998, when he stepped down due to old age. His life exemplified communist values and was marked by simple living and sacrifice.

THE 17th congress of the CPI(M) pays homage to the memory of Dasaratha Deb, one of the founders of the Gana Mukti Parishad and the Communist Party in Tripura and former chief minister of the state. Dasaratha Deb became a member of the Central Committee of the CPI(M) at its 7th congress and remained a member till the 16th congress.

Dasaratha Deb was an able administrator and played a major role in the setting up of the Tribal Autonomous District Council in Tripura. He made a big contribution to the development of the democratic movement in Tripura, comprising both tribal and non-tribal people.

THE 17th congress of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) mourns the death of Comrade Shailendra Shaily, member of the Central Committee and secretary of the Madhya Pradesh state committee of the party.

He made his mark in the student movement and became secretary of the Madhya Pradesh unit of the Students Federation of India. He also served as a joint secretary of the SFI at the all-India level. He soon became a key organiser of the party in Madhya Pradesh and was elected secretary of the state committee of the CPI(M) in 1991 and to the Central Committee at the 15th congress of the party in 1995. Shaily was a powerful orator and writer in Hindi and had established himself as an effective propagator of Marxism.

THE 17th congress of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) pays tribute to the Comrade Naren Sen, Comrade Naresh Dasgupta, Comrade Gopal Basu, Comrade Lakshmi Sen, Comrade Joykesh Mukherjee, Comrade Hemanta Ghosal, Comrade Israel, Comrade Radhika Ranjan Banerjee, Comrade Manick Jha, Comrade Ayodhya Singh (members of the West Bengal state committee); Comrade Hari Bhatt, Comrade R Kasturi and Comrade Shelmastu (members of the Tamilnadu state committee); Comrade Harsahay Singh and Comrade Ravi Sinha (members of the Uttar Pradesh state committee); Comrade Ramachandra Ghangare and Comrade Narendra Malusare (members of the Maharashtra state committee); Comrade Dhaniram Khosla (member of the Assam state committee); Comrade Bhanu Ghosh, Comrade Samar Choudhury and Comrade Ranjan Roy (members of the Tripura state committee); Comrade A P Varkey (member of the Kerala state committee); Comrade Trilok Singh (member of the Rajasthan state committee); Comrade C R Bhatt and Comrade N L Upadhaya (member of the Karnataka state committee); and Comrade Inder Pal (member of the Delhi state committee).

The 17th congress pays homage to the memory of Comrade Saroj Chaudhury, leader of the insurance employees’ movement, and P S Sengupta, former manager of the party press.

The 17th congress of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) pays homage to Comrade Gus Hall, honorary chairman of the Communist Party of USA.

The 17th congress of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) pays homage to Comrade Manmohan Adhikari, chairman of the Communist Party of Nepal (UML).

The 17th congress of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) pays homage to Comrade Abu Ali Mustafa, secretary general of the People's Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), who was assassinated by the Israeli security forces in a missile attack.

The 17th congress of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) pays respectful homage to Comrade Indrajit Gupta, veteran communist leader and former general secretary of the Communist Party of India.

The 17th congress of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) pays homage to the memory of Comrade Geeta Mukherjee, veteran leader of the CPI and the women's movement.