Comrade Rohtas Bharati
Comrade Rohtas Bharati from Narela, Delhi, passed away in the early morning of 18 November 2016 in a hospital in Faridabad after a long battle with cancer. A veteran comrade, he was active since the days of the Indian People’s Front. He was the Party’s candidate from Narela in the last Assembly elections in Delhi. Till the very last he was active in organising various party initiatives in Delhi.
Comrade Rama Gairola
It is with deep sorrow and shock that we learnt of the untimely death of Comrade Rama Gairola at the prime of her life and revolutionary political journey at the very young age of 30. She was a CPI(ML) State Committee member and AIPWA Joint Secretary in Uttar Pradesh. She died while being treated for dengue.
Dengue has spread in epidemic proportions in Puranpur where the CPI(ML) party office is located. Comrade Rama was involved in helping dengue patients in her locality, when she herself contracted the disease.
The fact that she was diagnosed with dengue – a curable disease – on time and yet her life could not be saved is a comment on the state of health services in rural India.
Comrade Rama was very much liked by the workers, peasants, and women amongst whom she worked. She had been a model elected member of the Zila Panchayat – a post she won with a record margin in 2010 after an election campaign conducted on her own, without any money power, on foot from village to village. She fought against the custodial killing of a dalit youth Rampal while contesting this election. Inside the Zila Panchayat she was a voice for the struggles of people, raising her voice against rampant corruption in different development schemes. She won hearts all through the five years of her tenure. When the Zila Panchayat illegally sanctioned construction of shops on the hospital land it was her struggle that forced the authorities to stop the construction. She joined peasants in the struggle against inclusion of 95 villages of Pilibhit under the Tiger Project, leading thousands in the gherao of central minister Maneka Gandhi’s office in Pilibhit which is the latter’s parliamentary constituency.
She had rejected an award from the UP State Government in protest against violence on women and Mulayam Singh’s rape culture ‘boys are boys, they can make a mistake’ remark.
She had begun organising ASHA and Anganwadi workers and had worked hard during their protest and chakka jam – road blockade – recently held in the state capital Lucknow.
Comrade Ram Gairola lived the life of a revolutionary, and became a fulltime activist. She had to fight personal battles against patriarchal restrictions in her own home, and chose her life companion braving heavy opposition from parents.
We are committed to carrying forward Comrade Rama Gairola’s struggles.
Comrade Jagnarayan
Com. Jagnarayan’s demise came as a sudden blow to comrades in Delhi who admired his dedication, energy and warmth in fulfilling various party responsibilities. Recovering from a recent bout of chikungunya, he had left Delhi on vacation a few days ago to visit his family in Bhojpur where he suffered some unexpected medical complications leading to septicaemia and passed away in a Patna hospital on 1 November 2016.
Comrade Jagnarayan’s association in Delhi spans more than 25 years when he and his comrades working in a security company IPSS came to visit the party office after the CPI(ML) and IPF held a historic rally at boat club in 1990. They wanted to start party’s work in their area and since then he was consistently active in Delhi organisation. He was founder member and office bearer of one of the oldest trade unions in Delhi, the IPSS Security Union which happens to be one of the first unions in the security guards sector. The party branch which IPSS comrades founded through area level activism at Rama Road Jhuggi is one of oldest branches in Delhi and most consistent one owing to the pivotal role played by comrade Jagnarayan.
Comrade Jagnarayan was the one to be seen at the forefront in times of any crisis. And he was always one of the first to volunteer for all kinds of odd jobs from managing big mobilisations and rallies to arranging for various meetings and programmes held in Delhi or attending comrades admitted in hospitals. There may not be a single all India mobilisation held in Delhi for the last two decades without his presence at New Delhi Railway station as a volunteer. He was a most reliable comrade who used to work day and night and never left the station till the last rallyist had boarded the train.
Comrade Jagnarayan along with other IPSS union executive members were illegally suspended from jobs few months back and their President summarily terminated by the management emboldened by the policies and onslaught of Modi government. He was resolutely at the forefront against this victimisation and attack on their Union.
Before coming to Delhi for work, he was active in the party in his village in Bhojpur. Those struggles which he witnessed and took part in his youth were the source of inspiration for Comrade Jagnarayan. We lost him when he was only in his mid-50s.
