A memorial meeting for Comrade Ganeshan was held on 16 December at Gandhi Peace Foundation, Delhi. Delhi CPI(ML) Secretary Ravi Rai presided over the meeting. Radhika Menon recalled how Comrade Ganeshan would send useful mails to comrades on topics of their interest, helping younger comrades explore their ideas and also how he would say that he became a communist in the quest for his own human liberation as much as for social liberation. KK Saxena, a publisher who runs Aakar Books, spoke about how he relied on Comrade Ganeshan for advice on which books to publish – and how Comrade Ganeshan would himself distribute copies of those books which he found useful for activists and intellectuals in the Left movement. Ajay Kumar of Udbhavna Prakashan also spoke about Comrade Ganeshan’s close interaction with him and other publishers and editors on the Left. Chintu Kumari, an AISA activist, recalled growing up with Comrade Ganeshan around as a very loving and caring mentor. Several others comrades and friends too shared their memories of Comrade Ganeshan.
At the meeting, CPI(ML) GS Comrade Dipankar said that with little formal schooling, Comrade Ganeshan was a self-taught Marxist intellectual who was constantly learning. He was ever willing to confront his own weaknesses, face criticism, and be willing to change himself. It was unfortunate that we could not document an important part of history which Comrade Ganeshan had helped create: the events of the workers’ and peasants’ movements in Tamil Nadu in the 1960s and 1970s. He added that in times when communism isn’t fashionable, Comrade Ganeshan lived all his life with the energy, possibilities, and hope of the communist movement.
A memorial meeting for Comrade Ganeshan was also held at Chennai on December 21st at Ambattur. The meeting also paid tribute to Fidel Castro and Tamil poet Inquilab who passed away recently. CPI(ML) Liberation’s Tamil Nadu Secretary Comrade S Kumarasamy presided over the meeting. CPI(ML) PB member Com. Kartick Pal read out a message from the Central Committee, and PB member Com. Swadesh Bhattacharya addressed the hall packed with workers. At the meeting, comrades recalled how hard-working Comrade Ganeshan was, how generous in sharing his knowledge and insights. They recalled his love for the Tamil language and his committed internationalism.
