People's Democracy

Village Bandala Remembers Comrade Surjeet

Asha Nand

A WELL-KNOWN leader of the international communist movement, freedom fighter and former general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), late Comrade Harkishan Singh Surjeet was paid heartiest tributes by the people at a huge public meeting on his first death anniversary in his native village Bandala in Punjab. These people had come from all over the state to attend the meeting function.

Many national and state level leaders of different political parties addressed this public meeting. The main speaker at the meeting was the CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat. CPI(M) Central Secretariat member Nilotpal Basu, Charan Singh Virdi (acting state secretary of the party�s Punjab state committee), Lehmber Singh Tagger and Vijay Mishra (its state secretariat members), its state committee member Gurchetan Gogi, Lok Bhalai Party president S Balwant Singh Ramuwalia, Shiromani Akali Dal leader S Paramjit Singh, among others, also spoke.

Addressing the meeting, Prakash Karat said we need to learn from Comrade Surjeet�s life which was wholly devoted for a betterment of the lives of the working people. He said that while remembering Comrade Surjeet, we must keep in mind the contribution he made in the freedom movement of our country and in building the communist movement in India. He regretted that Comrade Surjeet is not among us at a time when the working class of the world is facing many serious attacks from the imperialist powers with their policies of liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation. Karat said that our country�s sovereignty and our independent foreign policy are also facing serious threats from US imperialism. He said the former NDA government and the UPA government both are responsible for the consequences that are flowing from these pro-imperialist policies which are dangerous to our country and to the interests of our working people. We need to pledge ourselves to fighting the challenge of such policies and to building strong class and mass movement in India. It will be the true homage to Comrade Surjeet, the speaker concluded. (INN)