news from the cpi(m)
January 17, 2010
Condolence Resolution of the Polit Bureau
Homage to Jyoti Basu
The Polit Bureau of the CPI (M) expresses its profound grief at the
passing away of Comrade Jyoti Basu, senior most leader of the Party and
one of the tallest leaders of the Communist movement in India who was
the Chief Minister of the Left Front government of West Bengal from 1977
to 2000. He was 95 years old.
Jyoti Basu became a Communist while studying law in Britain. He came in
contact with the British Communist party. He joined the Communist Party
of India on his return in 1940. He began working in the railway trade
union movement and became an important functionary of the B.A. Railroad
Workers Union and the All India Railwaymen's Federation. In 1946,he was
elected to the Bengal legislative assembly from a railway constituency.
He was the Secretary of the provincial committee of the CPI from 1953 to
1961. He became a member of the Central Committee of the CPI in 1951.
When the CPI (M) was formed he became one of the founder Polit Bureau
and Central Committee members, positions he continued in, till his
death. He played a significant role in developing the CPI (M) in West
Bengal along with Promode Dasgupta.
Jyoti Basu made his mark as the leader of the opposition in the assembly
between 1957 and l967. He was twice Deputy Chief Minister in the United
Front governments between 1967 and 1970. His role in the government in
supporting the struggle for implementation of land reforms and in not
allowing the police to be used against workers and peasants' struggles
was notable.
Jyoti Basu belonged to the leadership of the CPI M) which steered the
Party through the difficult days of semi-fascist terror in West Bengal
in the early seventies. After the sweeping victory of the Left Front in
1977, Jyoti Basu became the Chief Minister of the Left Front government,
a position he held continuously for more than 23 years, a record in the
country. Under his leadership, the Left Front government embarked on
land reforms on a scale unprecedented in the country; it instituted a
panchayati raj system which was radical for its times, which gave the
poor peasants and small farmers a say in running the panchayati
institutions. West Bengal became an oasis of communal harmony and
secular values under his leadership. One has to recall how as Chief
Minister he dealt with the situation after the assassination of Indira
Gandhi in 1984 when violence against Sikhs broke out in various parts of
the country, but nothing was allowed to happen in West Bengal. Similarly
he dealt firmly with efforts to instigate trouble after the demolition
of the Babri Masjid in 1992.
Jyoti Basu became a symbol for the Left, democratic and secular forces
in the country. In West Bengal, the people adored him and respected him
for his championing of their cause. He became the role model for all
Communists and progressives on how to work in parliamentary institutions
and serve the people. During this seven decades of work in the Communist
party, he spent three and a half years in prison and two years
underground.
Jyoti Basu as Chief Minister and as a Left leader played an important
role in pushing for restructuring Centre-State relations and rallying
other Chief Ministers and political leaders for the cause.
He played a prominent role in bringing together Left and secular parties
against the Congress government in the nineteen eighties and later
against the BJP in the nineties.
Jyoti Basu was a Marxist who never wavered in his convictions. After the
fall of the Soviet Union and the setbacks to socialism, he provided the
leadership along with his
colleagues in the Polit Bureau to make a reappraisal of the experience
of building socialism and to pinpoint the errors and to correct wrong
notions and understandings while remaining true to Marxism-Leninism. He
was a Marxist who was not dogmatic and continued to learn from his vast
experience in charting out the course for the Party.
He emerged as the pre-eminent and most popular leader of the Party, but
he always worked as a disciplined member of the Party, setting an
example for all. In his long career in the Party, he undertook various
responsibilities including being the first editor of People's Democracy.
He had a lifelong association with the trade union movement and was the
Vice-President of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions since its inception
in 1970.
He stepped down from the Chief Ministership in 2000 due to ill health
and advanced age. But he continued to work and discharge
responsibilities till the end of his life. He became the source of
inspiration and a fount of advice for the Party and the Left movement in
the country. Irrespective of political affiliation, across the political
spectrum, he was respected by all and accepted as a national leader.
The Left movement in the country was fortunate in having such an
accomplished and dedicated leader at the helm of affairs in West Bengal
and in the leadership of the CPI (M) for such a long time. His precious
legacy is there for all of us to cherish and nurture.
The Polit Bureau salutes the memory of our beloved departed comrade. We
pledge to carry forward his cause and work. We convey our heartfelt
condolences to his son, Chandan Basu, granddaughters and other family
members.
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