IMMORTAL GLORY TO PALIGANJ MARTYRS

Comrade Rajeshwar Mochi

Born in a family of agrarian labourers in Patna district, Rajeshwar Mochi studied upto his matriculation. He joined the Party in 1980, becoming a wholetimer in 1985, working on the Kisan front in the Maner Block, a site of fierce struggles, for years. He returned to Paliganj and, as an Area Committee member, led struggles against feudal oppression.

A State level leader of the Bihar Pradesh Khet Mazdoor Sabha since 2002, he became the first District President of the Khet Mazdoor Sabha. In 2000, he was elected to the Achhua panchayat samiti by a comfortable margin, and was subsequently elected to the post of Pramukh of the Dulhinbazar Block. As Block Pramukh, he championed the social and political assertion of dalits, and led a struggle against corruption, because of which he became the target of local landlords.

He represented the struggles for land, wages and social dignity in Patna District. He had been booked under false cases when he led the struggle for the distribution of land occupied by the Khapuri mutth. He was arrested along with three other people's representatives from the Party's District Office, and all of them were hung upside down and brutally beaten as well as subjected to humiliations like shaving off moustaches, by the police in the Danapur Thana.

On the day of his martyrdom, he was making plans to go to Patna for the State Executive Meeting of the All India Khet Mazdoor Sabha. He was 42. He is survived by his wife, a son and two daughters.

Comrade Jagdev Prasad

Jagdev Prasad, who was 36 when he was killed, was born in a family of middle peasants; his father was a retire chaprasi in a school. He studied upto his matriculation. He joined the Party in 1980, and worked for years on the peopel's resistance front of the Party. He was even the In-charge of this front in the Paliganj district, and was jailed for several years.

He became a member of the Paliganj-Dulhinbazar Area Committee in 1998, and played an important role in developing Party work in the South Eastern part of this district. He was the candidate for the post of mukhiya of the Patauna Panchayat in 2000, and he was defeated by a very negligible margin. He was 36.

Comrade Maandeep Goswami

Maandeep Goswami was the only child of a middle peasant family. Joining the Party in 1984, he was an activist on the people's resistance front, and became a member of the Paliganj-Dulhinbazar Area Committee in 1998. He won the post of mukhiya of Jarkha Panchayat in 2000, where he struggled to establish a new and corruption-free model of development.

His wife, too was killed by the PWG in the Bahadurganj massacre, and his cousin Birendra Goswami too was murdered by the PWG.

Comrade Shivdani Yadav

Aged 37 years, he was from a family of poor peasants. He was a graduate who had been a Principal of a private school for some time, before he joined the Party. He had been an Area Committee member, and the Office Secretary of the Party for long, and had also worked on the Kisan front for some time. He is survIved by his wife, a daughter and a son.

Comrade Baleshwar Manjhi

Born in the class of agarian labourers, Baleshwar Manjhi had been active on the armed front as well as the Kisan mass organisation. Since 1998, he had been a member of the Paliganj-Dulhinbazar Area Committee. He was a very popular leader in the area, known for his bold initiatives and close integration with the masses. He was also a member of the Patna District Committee of the Khet Mazdoor Sabha, and the Convenor of the Paliganj Block. He was 45, and is survived by his wife, two sons and three daughters.