Tribute
Memorial Meetings

A memorial meeting for Comrade Swapan was held at the Constitution Club in Delhi on 16 September. At the meeting, a tribute to Comrade Swapan on behalf of the CPI(ML) Central Committee was presented by Comrade Kavita. Comrades Prakash Karat on behalf of the CPI(M), Amarjit Kaur on behalf CPI, RK Sharma of SUCI (C), Dharmendra Kumar of Forward Bloc, Animesh Das of IFTU, and Gautam Mody of NTUI shared their memories of Comrade Swapan and his importance to the Left movement and forging unities at this important juncture when the Sangh Parivar offensive on democracy is at its peak. One of Comrade Swapan’s oldest comrades and friends from his college days, Professor Vinod Khurana shared memories of the tumultuous days in the wake of the Naxalbari movement. Cultural activist and DU Professor Subhendu Ghosh sang a song by Faiz Ahmad Faiz that Faiz had penned and rendered in memory of Makhdoom Mohiuddin, the immortal communist activist and poet of the Telangana movement. Journalist Urmilesh spoke of his memories of being part of the student movement and interacting with Comrade Swapan when they were young. Social scientist Abhay Dubey and Prof Aurobindo Ghose of Delhi University also shared their memories. Civil liberties activists and advocates Anil Nauriya and ND Pancholi spoke of Comrade Swapan’s connections with the civil liberties and working class movements. John Dayal, Kiran Shaheen, Leena Dabiru, and Gautam Mody spoke of Comrade Swapan’s role in building the AIPF in particular. PUDR activist Gautam Navlakha said he will always cherish interactions with Comrade Swapan who was his point of contact and interaction with the CPI(ML). Narendra Jatav recalled how Comrade Swapan shared his home during the days when the party was underground, and he also shared a short story that he had written imagining a conversation between Comrade Swapan as a child and his mother, in which Swapan might have learned to recognise and question his class and caste privilege and challenge the hierarchies of class and caste. Comrade Sharmila, who had been Comrade Swapan’s life partner also shared her memories. Comrade Swapan’s son and daughter were also present.

Speaking at the meeting Comrade Dipankar Bhattacharya, General Secretary of the CPI(ML) spoke of Comrade Swapan’s unquenchable spirit and the role he played in different phases of the party’s life.

Comrade Purushottam Sharma conducted the memorial meeting, which ended with the singing of the Internationale.

On 6 September a memorial meeting for Comrade Swapan was held in the Bihar State CPI(ML) office at Patna, which was addressed by party GS Comrade Dipankar as well as Bihar-based CCMs of the party.

Memorial meetings on 8 September were held by AICCTU and CPI(ML) all over Jharkhand. Comrade Swapan had contested elections from Dhanbad in 2005 and had been General Secretary of the Coal Mines Workers’ Union in 2006-07, so coal mines workers were especially close to him. CMWU held a memorial meeting for him on 8 September at Nehru Park.

JNU’s sanitation workers also held a memorial meeting for Comrade Swapan Mukherjee and Comrade Mulkraj, senior comrade of the Delhi party and working class movement who passed away on 27 August.

A memorial meeting was held at the party State Office at Ranchi, where State Secretary and PBM Comrade Janardan and many other comrades remembered Comrade Swapan. Memorial meetings were also held at Ganday, Dhanbad, Jai Nagar, Bagodar,Garhwa, Jamua, Giridih, Sariya, Rajdhanwar, Vengabad, Kumardhubi, Godda, Bokaro, Domchanch, Koderma as well as by Mugma Area Motor Workers’ Union. Comrades inside Hazaribagh jail led by Comrade BN Singh also held a memorial meeting for Comrade Swapan. Large numbers of workers as well as CPI(ML) activists participated in all these meetings.

A silent procession was held at Puducherry from the CPI(ML) State Office at Bharathi Street to Martyrs Square (where 11 Swadeshi Mills Workers were killed by the then French imperialist army while agitating for an 8-hour day). S.Purushothaman, State General Secretary AICCTU, S Balasubramanian, State Secretary CPI(ML) , Balasundaram, CCM, CPI(ML), R.Viswanathan, State Secretary CPI, Dinesh Ponniah,. AITUC, State General Secretary, Sivandavan, State Secretary LLF (Trade Union Front of VCK), Ramamurthy, BKMU, All India General Secretary, Liaquat Ali, Advisory Council Member AIPF, Gabriel, State President MLF, Ramesh, Leader PMK Trade Union Front spoke at the memorial meeting. R. Rajangam, State Secretary CPI(M) conveyed his condolence message.

Immediately on hearing the news of sudden demise of Comrade Swapan, Coimbatore Pricol workers of Plant 1 and Plant 3 assembled in front of their gates on September 6, 2016 and paid tributes to him with their union flag at half mast. On September 7, a condolence meeting was organized at the Pricol union office under the leadership of Comrade Balasubramanian, District secretary of CPI(ML). Pricol union leaders Saminathan, Jayaprakah, Nataraj, and Ashraf, CPI(ML) SCMs N K Natarajan and Damodharan, as well as leaders of the CPI, CPIM, Periyar Dravidar Kazhakam and the Periyanaickenpalayam Councillor Mr Sivaraj paid tributes to Comrade Swapan.

A meeting was also held in front of the Shanthi Gears Industry on September 6, attended by hundreds of workers. In a meeting at CPI(ML)’S party office at Karanodai of Tiruvellore district on September 9, party cadres and Trade Union activists paid homage, including Comrade A S Kumar, State President of AICCTU and Comrade Janakiraman, State General Secretary of AIARLA.

A condolence meeting on September 8th at Tirunelveli was presided over by Comrade Sankarapandian, state General Secretary of AICCTU. District leaders of CPI(ML), CPI, CPIM as well as Campaign Committee member of AIPF and Coordinator of PMANE Comrade Udayakumar along with other activists paid tributes to Comrade Swapan.

A condolence meeting at Salem was held on 11 September. Meeting were also held at Ambattur and Vandalur. Wall posters carrying the message were released throughout the state.

A memorial meeting was held at People's Convention Centre, Chandigarh on 11 September, 2016 where comrades pledged to take forward Comrade Swapan’s unfinished work.

A memorial meeting was held at Lucknow at the Lenin Pustak Kendra bookstore on 8 September. Marxist writer Ravindra Kumar Singh presided over the meeting which was conducted by the CPI(ML) district in-charge Ramesh Singh Sengar. Several leaders of AICCTU, AIPWA, Jan Sanskriti Manch, Rail workers’ union, construction workers’ union and AISA as well as CPI(ML) spoke at the meeting.

Liberation Archive