press release

Communist Party of India (Maoist)
Central Committee

Press Release: April 23, 2008
Red Salutes to CPI(Maoist) central committee member and great revolutionary intellectual comrade Anuradha Ghandy!
Let us emulate com Anuradha’s great revolutionary qualities—her undaunted spirit, staunch determination and selflessness!!

On April 11, 2008 the oppressed masses of our country and the Indian revolution lost an exemplary Communist leader and a brilliant revolutionary intellectual—comrade Anuradha Ghandy—known to the revolutionary camp as comrade Narmada and Rama. On that fateful day this beloved leader of the CPI(Maoist) had breathed her last, at the age of 54, after a severe attack of falciparum malaria. Comrade Anuradha, had just returned from Bihar-Jharkhand region after attending to some Party work there and she did not realize that the fever she was suffering from was due to the deadly cerebral malaria. The negative result in the blood tests had only misled her and the doctors and delay in taking malaria dose resulted in this tragic episode. Comrade Narmada was cremated on April 12. The CC, CPI(Maoist) pays its humble red homage to this seniormost woman member of the Central Committee and vows to fulfill the revolutionary ideals for which she had laid down her life.
Comrade Anuradha had started her revolutionary career in the early 1970s as a student of Eliphinstone college, Mumbai. She is one of the founder-members of the CPI(ML) in Maharashtra. And in the span of over three decades she had been in the forefront in several fronts: student movement, civil rights movement, women’s movement, workers’ movement, dalit movement, adivasi movement, literary and cultural movement. She never remained a spectator to any act of injustice and to the spontaneous struggle of any section of the masses. Her spirited and courageous fight for the rights of the adivasis, landless labourers, dalit masses, women and unorganized labour will forever be remembered. She played a prominent role in organizing the intellectuals of Mumbai and other parts of the state to build a movement for democratic rights and civil liberties. She was a leader of the All India League for Revolutionary Culture (AILRC) from Maharashtra and is well- known in revolutionary circles as a talented writer and fiery orator. Comrade Anuradha was a prolific writer and contributed immensely to the magazines of various fronts. She wrote fluently in three languages—English, Hindi and Marathi. She worked in the city of Mumbai, Nagpur, Surat and several parts of Maharashtra. She served as a member of the Vidarbha regional committee and Maharashtra state committee and was elected to the central committee of the CPI(Maoist) in the Unity Congress (9th Congress) held in January 2007. At the time of her martyrdom she was also in charge of the Party’s central subcommittee for women.
Comrade Anuradha was known for her exemplary communist qualities: she stood steadfast in the most difficult times, was always spirited, hard working, and led a very frugal and simple life with the goal of declassifying herself. Her frail health had not deterred her from carrying out any task and duty entrusted to her. She was suffering from sclerosis but none suspected that she had serious health problems for she never let others know of her problems. When she was in Dandakaranya for two years, she was a great inspiration to the cadres there: she used to walk long distances without ever complaining despite her health problems and she integrated with the cadres and masses with great ease. It is not easy for urban-based petty-bourgeois intellectuals to integrate with the illiterate poverty-stricken masses but comrade Anuradha did with great ease.
Comrade Anuradha was known for frank and fearless criticism of weaknesses, shortcomings and mistakes in the Party’s policies and practice. She had strong views and put these forth without any hesitation in various Party fora. She contributed a lot in making the Party understand the women’s question in the correct light and in realizing the lapses and weaknesses of the Party in the women’s front. She was forthright in her criticism of anyone in the Party, irrespective of one’s position in the Party, if she saw something wrong.
Comrade Anuradha will live forever in the hearts of the Party’s rank and file and millions upon millions of the Indian masses. She will remain an eternal inspiration to all those who aspire for a victorious revolution in our country, and a catalyst driving us towards the ultimate goal of establishing a classless society. Let us emulate the indomitable spirit, dynamism, simplicity, diligence, dedication and communist values of comrade Anuradha. Let us pledge ourselves once again to fulfill the great ideals for which comrade Anuradha had laid down her life.


Azad,
Spokesperson,
Central Committee,
CPI(Maoist)