People's Democracy

Red Salute to a Great Communist

Biman Basu

COMRADE Samar Mukherjee is no more with us. He passed away on July 18 morning when he was running 100 years.  On November 7, 2012 we felicitated Samarda on beginning the hundredth year of his journey, in a programme outside his ‘Commune’ where he lived many years. In the felicitation programme, our Party General Secretary Prakash Karat in paying tribute to Samarda, described his illustrious work for the working class, peasantry and common mass of people. Correctly Prakash said, “Samarda is an example before entire Party for his sterling qualities, his firm belief in Marxism-Leninism, his simple way of life and dedication to the Party.”  To me, felicitation to Samarda on starting hundredth year, is something new in my life.  He was the oldest leader of the Party in West Bengal and in the country.

Samarda was born on November 7, in 1913. He started his work for the country during his school days. As a young student, he joined the freedom struggle at the call of the National Congress and gradually became a member of the PCCI in  Bengal.  In 1928, he joined the movement against ‘Simon Commission’ when he was only fifteen years old. Again in 1930, he joined the Civil Disobedience Movement at the call of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and was arrested as the president of Uluberia Sub-division Congress in Howrah district.  During the freedom struggle against British-Raj, Samarda engaged himself in organising the peasantry and workers. It is seen that all his activities were continued with love and affection for the toiling people of the society.  Gradually, he was attracted to the philosophy of Marxism and got attracted towards communist activities. He became a member of the Communist Party in 1940 when I was just born.

As a communist, Samarda was involved in multifarious activities in the society and worked with devotion for the interest of working class and exploited people, which he continued for seven decades. After becoming a Party member, Samarda started collecting different types of books on Marxism-Leninism and allied subjects to understand the philosophy in a better way.  Interestingly, in 1945 he wrote an article in Janayudha, the Party organ on the struggling life of pot-makers and their crisis in collecting special type of soil from another district, from a  class point of view. As a young communist, he started organising the Party in the Howrah district as an effective leader. Subsequently, he became the secretary of the Howrah district committee in 1953 and started functioning as an important organiser of the state Party. In 1957, he became a member of the West Bengal state committee and shifted to Kolkata. Since 1957, Samarda started his commune life in Kolkata at the state Party office. Gradually he started functioning centrally and looking after different departments of the Party including the refugee team of the Party. It should be noted that Samarda, not being a displaced person from eastern side of Bengal, became the leader of the East Bengal refugees and the state-level refugee organisation. This was not common in those days. In 1957, Samarda became member of the state assembly from North Howrah seat. This was the beginning of Samarda’s parliamentary activities. He later became member of parliament from Howrah seat. But before taking up parliamentary activities, he became the central functionary of West Bengal state Party.

In the last leg of 1962, Samarda went underground and started functioning from there as a key coordinator in the underground Party.  Subsequently, the Party leadership in different forms of communication with the leaders in the jail and overground, decided that Samarda should function as secretary from underground. This position was maintained for a couple of years.

Comrade Samar Mukherjee played a very important role in the struggle against right revisionism and left adventurism. At this point of time, Samarda visited different places and engaged himself in consolidating our Party. He also started writing articles against revisionism and sectarianism under a pseudo name. Successfully Samarda maintained good coordination between the open, jailed and underground Party. Therefore, it is needless to say that Samarda joined CPI(M) after the division of the Party. Rather, it is to be mentioned that Samarda functioned as one of the main architects of building the Communist Party of India (Marxist) in West Bengal.

Samarda also played a very important role in shaping the Party based on ideology and organisational principles. For a couple of years, he remained in-charge of Party education and organised Party school. He also emphasised on educating student-youth comrades. It is seen that in fighting revisionism when left sectarian political development took place, he started simultaneous struggle against right revisionism and left sectarian politics. During this period, he wrote series of articles in the name of Asoke Mukherjee and published a pamphlet in the name of ‘Prithviraj’.  Samarda looked after student-youth front of the Party and became very close to student-youth leaders. He had the habit of collecting information from the student leaders. During that point of time, many of us became very close to him.

Samarda selected his main work in the trade union front apart from looking after other frontal activities. He started his trade union activities first in Howrah district and then he worked at the state-level. Gradually, he became one of the very important trade union leaders in the state and then became one of its main leader at the national level. He played a significant role in the All India Loco Running Staff of Indian Railways struggle in 1974. By dint of perseverance and his untiring activities in the Party, he became member of the Polit Bureau, leader of the CPI(M) group in parliament, chairman of the Central Control Commission, and general secretary of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions.

Till his death, he remained as the special invitee of the Central Committee and state committee of our Party.  Samarda is known to a large section of our Party for his spartan life style. Samarda was one of the few communists who sacrificed all their personal interests. Since the prime of his life, he started his commune life which continued for more than 56 long years. He is known to the people and comrades as a good communist.  His life and behaviour is an example before us. He was an embodiment of simple living and high thinking. His entire life was dedicated to the emancipation of working class from exploitation. He had no personal demands in his life. His life was a dedicated communist life. We are to learn many things from his life and work. Red salute to Comrade Samar Mukherjee.