OBITUARY

Obituary

Comrade Charan Singh

Comrade Charan Singh, a leading activist in Delhi , passed away on 24 May at the age of 86 years. He joined the communist movement in 1962, and joined our Party in 1990 after conducting an intra-party debate within the CPI, where he had spent much of his political life. He was the Secretary of Patparganj Area Committee in Delhi , and also played an important role in organising the Nagrik Sabha, the women's organisation and the youth organisation. His energy and enthusiasm was remarkable, and he was the founder and current President of the Delhi Building Workers' Union and a founder leader of the Delhi Co-operative Societies Housekeeping Workers' Union . We will always remember him for his age-defying fighting spirit. A memorial meeting was organised for him on 27 May in Delhi , in which CC member Kumudini Pati and Delhi State Secretary Rajendra Pratholi joined Delhi comrades in paying tribute to him.

Comrade Omkarnath Patel

Comrade Omkarnath Patel, National Councillor of Jan Sanskriti Manch and Assistant Editor of Dainik Janmorcha, passed away of June 17 after a long illness. He was 55. Having joined the left movement in 1970, at the start of his career as a teacher, he became active in the cultural movement, and especially in street plays. He later became a journalist, and his role gave Dainik Janmorcha the distinctive character of a progressive voice of dissent from the region. Although he formally joined CPI(ML) in 1992, he was associated with the party since its underground days. He led many cultural campaigns in Ayodhya-Faizabad region against communalism through street plays. He was indefatigably enthusiastic in organising a national-level peasant conference in 2001 and the Shaheed Mela in memory of the martyrs of 1857 in 2002 in Faizabad.

CPI(ML) and JSM organised a memorial meeting at Press Club, Faizabad, on July 21 which was addressed by CPI(ML) UP State Secretary Akhilendra Pratap Singh and National General Secretary of JSM Ajay Singh among others.

Comrade Satish

Comrade Satish, a member of Ghosi Block Committee in Jehanabad district, died at an early age of 45 on June 27, of bone TB. He was a popular peasant leader, and had been the elected Deputy Mukhiya of Ahiyasa panchayat. His untimely death is a great loss to the Party, and comrades at Jehanabad held a memorial meeting to bid him an emotional farewell.

Comrade Bela Chatterjee

Comrade Bela Chatterjee, known fondly as Mashima in Party circles in Durgapur , passed away at a Ranchi nursing home on 16 July, 2006 . She was in her early 70s and is survived by her husband Comrade Hiren Chatterjee and four sons and daughter.

During the early days of reorganization of the Party and revival of our movement, the Party organisation in Durgapur (West Bengal) played a crucial role in keeping the Party alive and active. The three-member reorganized central committee was formed in Durgapur itself on 28 July, 1974 . A batch of outstanding worker cadres and a few dedicated intellectual or middle class supporters and their families were the real architects of this historical role discharged by the Durgapur organisation. Bela Chatterjee and her husband Hiren Chatterjee (our beloved Mashima and Meshomashai) were foremost among these outstanding representatives. Their family was one of the most reliable shelters of the Party during the crucial period of its underground life.

Both Mashima and Meshomashai played a remarkable role in providing food and shelter to party comrades, keeping night vigils to ensure the safety of underground comrades, and also in maintaining the Party's secret communication system. During the days of state terror in the early and mid-1970s, Mashima faced the enemy with great courage and determination.

Alongside her own children, she also showered all her care and affection to bring up the children of underground Party cadres. Financial crisis or physical ailments could not dampen her fighting sprit and faith in the Party and revolution.

We must cherish Mashima's great communist and human values and imbibe her spirit of selfless sacrifice and unshakable commitment to the revolutionary cause.