Adieu Comrade

vIndianz.com (18 Jan, 2009) — Jyoti Basu, 95, who died on Sunday in Kolkata has several records against his name. Jyoti Basu was the longest serving chief minister of West Bengal for 23 years from June 1977 to November 2000.

Jyoti Basu could have been the first communist Indian Prime Minister in 1996 but for his party Communist Party of India (Marxist) who shot down the idea.

Basu was not only India’s finest Communist leader, one of post-independence India’s greatest and most respected mass political leaders but Basu was the last of the nine founding Polit Bureau members.

The diminutive ‘Comrade’ Basu was always called as one of the tallest leaders of communist movement in India and strode the political scene like a colossus for over six decades.

The Marxist patriarch breathed his last at 11:47 am at the AMRI Hospital in Kolkata where he was admitted with a pneumonia attack on January 1, 2010.

Leaders cutting across parties hailed the charismatic Negali leader as a ‘great son of India’.

‘Comrade’ Basu almost became the Prime Minister after the 1996 Lok Sabha elections at the head of a Centre-Left coalition but missed the crown because his party CPM rejected the offer saying it did not want to participate in the government in which it did not have a majority. Basu himself famously said later that his party’s decision was a ‘historic blunder.’

A barrister by profession, Basu also influenced his party to give outside support to the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre in 2004.

He is survived by son, Chandan, daughter-in-law and three grandchildren. His wife Kamal had died four years ago.

What they said:

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Basu was a powerful regional voice in the national political scene.

He said the death of the CPM leader marked the end of an era in the annals of Indian politics. He was a man of great integrity with a deep commitment to secular values, the Prime Minister said in his condolence message. “In a political career spanning more than six decades, the veteran communist leader steered his party to power in West Bengal, leaving a legacy of uninterrupted rule by the Left Front that he forged through his leadership and legendary skills in building consensus,” he said.

Observing that during his more than 20 years at the helm of affairs in West Bengal, Basu proved himself to be one of the most able administrators and politicians of independent India, Singh said he was “a powerful regional voice in the national political scene and helped to strengthen Indian federalism.”

“Shri Basu will be remembered by the people of West Bengal for bringing stability and order to the State after the turbulent period of the early 70s and for the rural transformation he brought about through his visionary land reforms and his style of democratic and decentralized governance,” Singh said.

The CPM said that in the passing away of Jyoti Basu the party had lost its seniormost leader and one of the tallest leaders of the Communist movement in India. In a release issued here, the Polit Bureau said that Basu belonged to the leadership of the CPM which steered the party through the “difficult days of semi-fascist terror in West Bengal in the early 1970’s”.

“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 the 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,” the party said.

“After the fall of the Soviet Union and the setbacks to Socialism, he provided 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,” it added.

CPM general secretary Prakash Karat, in his condolence, described Basu’s death as the end of an era. “Although he died at the age of 95, he leaves us bereft — because there will be none like Jyoti Basu again,” Karat said. Incidentally, Karat was among those CPM leaders who had shot down the proposal to make Basu the PM in 1996.

Paying glowing tribute to former West Bengal chief minister Jyoti Basu, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee described him as the “first and last chapter of the Left Front government”. The Union Railway Minister said she had developed a close intimacy with Basu in the years before his death after he stepped down as chief minister of West Bengal. “He was a tall political figure in the country. He was instrumental in formation of the Left Front government in West Bengal. He was the first and last chapter of the Left Front government and Left movement,” said Banerjee, who had visited Basu at the

hospital earlier in the day. “I had good contact with him for the last 10 years. After he stepped down from office as chief minister, I had gone to see him 10 times. Towards the end, a deep bond had developed between us. He used to ask me about my political movement,” she said.

Congress party president and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi described Marxist veteran Jyoti Basu as a towering figure on the national scene, who was a tireless crusader against communalism and all sorts of obscurantism and a true patriot who always put the national interest above everything else. In a letter addressed to Basu’s son Chandan Basu, Sonia struck a personal note saying, “I have the warmest memories of our many meetings — of his charm and grace and deep humanity….At this time of grief my thoughts are with you and your family.” She also said that she, her husband Rajiv Gandhi and her mother-in-law Indira Gandhi always held Basu in high esteem.

Recalling Basu’s contribution to the formation of the UPA government with Left support in 2004, Gandhi said, “He contributed to the formation of UPA government in 2004 and we continued to count on him for his wise counsel even after he retired from political life.”

Adding that not just the people of West Bengal and his millions of political followers but the entire nation was in mourning, Sonia described Basu as a tireless crusader against communalism, fundamentalism, casteism and all kinds of obscurantism.

Bengal industry captains called Basu a great politician, pragmatic chief minister, mass leader and a trouble-shooter.

“I met him thrice and found him to be simple, earnest with a lot of integrity,” recalled Basant Kumar Birla, chairman of the B K Birla Group.

“Basu believed rich people should cut down their income. He enforced very high taxes and forced many big industries to exit the state,” recalled Birla. Bengal is still struggling to shake off the perception that the state doesn’t have a conducive climate for business.

R. P. Goenka, chairman emeritus, RPG Enterprises, said: “A long life of turmoil has finally come to an end. India is mourning the demise of Jyoti Basu.” Goenka had an interesting anecdote to share from 1989 when Bengal was suffering from a huge power crisis. “When Basu came to know we had some shareholding in CESC Ltd, he was surprised but not upset. When I explained to him that the power sector needed modern management techniques, I found he was pragmatic and receptive to the concept. He told us to prepare plans as to what could be done to end the power crisis in Kolkata and that was the beginning of a new relationship through CESC.”

“Cricket has lost a helping hand,” rued Jagmohan Dalmiya, chairman and managing director, M L Dalmiya & Co Ltd, and former president International Cricket Council. “Everyone knows he was an outstanding orator, eminent parliamentarian and an expert administrator. Not many people know he was an ardent cricket lover and he made huge contributions towards cricket.”

Jyoti Basu’s body to be donated

Former chief minister Jyoti Basu’s body will be taken from funeral parlour ‘Peace Haven’ on Tuesday morning to the State secretariat, Assembly and the party headquarters before its final journey to the SSKM hospital where it will be handed over to the authorities there.

Basu had pledged his body with ‘Ganadarpan’, an NGO, in the city several years back, party sources said.

CPM State secretary Biman Bose said after a special State secretariat meeting that the body would be kept at the State Assembly premises for four hours (10.30 a.m. to 2.30 a.m.) to enable people to pay their last respects on Tuesday.

Leaders of the country and from abroad will pay their last respects to Basu at the Assembly premises, he said.

The body would then be taken to the party headquarters on Alimuddin Street at 3 p.m. and after an hour it will take the final journey to the State-run SSKM hospital.

A profile

lJyoti Basu was born on July 8, 1914 as Jyoti Kiran Basu into an upper middle-class Bengali family in Kolkata (previously known as Calcutta)

lHis father, Nishikanta Basu, was a doctor from the village of Bardi in Dhaka District, East Bengal (now in Bangladesh), while his mother Hemalata Basu was a housewife

lBasu’s schooling started at Loreto School at Dharmatala, Kolkata, in 1920. It was there where his father shortened his name and he became Jyoti Basu. However, he was moved to St. Xavier’s School in 1925.

lAfter completing his undergraduate studies in 1935, Basu set out for England for higher studies in Law. It is said that Basu attended lectures of Harold Laski in late 1930. It was in England that Basu was introduced to the activities of politics through the Communist Party of Great Britain.

lDuring his stay in England, he was actively associated with the India League and the Federation of Indian Students in England.

lIn England he was inspired by noted Communist Philosopher and prolific writer Rajani Palme Dutt.

lIn 1940, he completed his studies and qualified as a Barrister at the Middle Temple. In the same year, he returned to India.

lIn 1944, Basu became involved in trade union activities when CPI delegated him to work amongst the railway labourers. When B.N. Railway Workers Union and B.D. Rail Road Workers Union merged, Basu became the general secretary of the union.

lHe was elected to the Bengal Legislative Assembly for the first time in 1946.

lAfter partition, he was a member of the Assembly but was arrested when the Communist Party of India was banned following a call for open revolt. He was released on the orders of the High Court and was a Legislative Assembly Member between 1952 and 1972.

lIn the 1950s, Basu and Parmode Das Gupta became joint leaders of the West Bengal Communists.

lHe was state party secretary and led the parliamentary tactics of the CPI in Bengal against the Congress.

lThe anti-Congress nature of Bengal Communism led Basu to align with the Communist Party of India (Marxist) following the division of the Communist Party of India in 1964.

lIn 1967, Basu became Deputy Chief Minister in a coalition United Front government in Bengal in which the CPM was one of the leading parties. This coalition collapsed after eight months.

lFresh elections were held in February 1969 in which the CPM emerged as the largest party. Basu was again Deputy Chief Minister in a United Front government that lasted until 1971.

lIn 1977 Basu was elected to the Parliament from Satgachia and became West Bengal Chief Minister. Under his leadership the CPI (M) has won five successive elections since (1982, 1987, 1992, 1996). It is the largest democratically elected Communist movement in the world.

lBasu was a member of the CPM’s Polit Bureau since 1964. He was influential in shaping the party’s domestic and international policies. Of particular importance, since 1991, was the tactical support given to parties and groupings opposed to the Bharatiya Janata Party. This brought the CPM closer to Congress, but the party avoided an outright coalition.

lBasu was recognized as a clever tactician who used parliamentarism to create conditions for the success of Communism in West Bengal.

lHe acquired a high reputation as a political leader and, following the national elections to parliament (1996), was considered a possible candidate for Prime Minister.

lBasu seemed all set to be the consensus leader of the United Front for the post of Prime Minister, but the CPM Polit Bureau decided not to participate in the government, a decision that he later termed a historic blunder.

lHe resigned from the West Bengal Chief Ministership in 2000 due to health reasons, and was succeeded by fellow CPM politician Buddhadeb Bhattacharya.

lBasu holds the record for being the longest-serving Chief Minister in Indian political history.

lThe 18th congress of CPM, held in the national capital in 2005, re-elected Basu to its Polit Bureau, although he had asked to be allowed to retire from it.

lOn September 13, 2006, Basu entreated the CPM to allow his retirement due to his age, but was turned down. General Secretary Prakash Karat said that the party wanted Basu to continue until its 2008 congress, at which point it would reconsider.

lAt the 19th congress in early April 2008, Basu was not included on the Polit Bureau , although he remained a member of the Central Committee and was designated as Special Invitee to the Polit Bureau

lThe veteran leader was admitted to the AMRI hospital in Kolkata on January 1, 2010, following a severe chest infection. The doctors after conducting a proper check-up had detected that he was suffering from slight pneumonia.

lOn January 15, 2010, haemo-dialysis was done to remove toxins from Basu’s body, as there was a further deterioration in his cardiac and renal functions.

lOn January 16, 2010, his health condition became extremely critical and he was suffering from multiple organ failure.

lOn January 17, 2010, Basu died at the age of 95.

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