People's Democracy

Comrade Subodh Roy

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) issued the following statement on August 27, 2006

THE Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) expresses its profound grief at the death of Comrade Subodh Roy, veteran communist revolutionary. He was 91 years old.

Subodh Roy got involved in the freedom struggle. At the age of 14, he participated in the legendary Chitagong armoury raid. He was sentenced to undergo imprisonment at the Cellular jail in the Andamans. He had to endure tremendous torture in the jail. It was here that he was attracted to the communist ideology. After his release in 1940, he joined the Communist Party. After independence, Comrade Subodh Roy shifted to Calcutta and joined as a wholetimer at the Provincial Centre of the Party. He joined the CPI(M) in 1964 and was a longstanding member of the West Bengal state committee of the Party.

Comrade Subodh Roy made a major scholarly contribution to the history of the communist movement. After painstaking research in the National Archives, he edited a book "Communism in India: Unpublished Documents".

He was jailed for a total of twelve years and spent three years underground.

Comrade Subodh Roy was an exceptional communist. Till his last illness and hospitalisation, he worked at the state Party center despite his advanced age. He led an austere life and was loved by all generations of communists.

In his death, the communist movement has lost a towering personality. The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) pays its respectful homage to his memory and conveys its heartfelt condolences to the West Bengal state committee of the Party and his family members. (INN)