CPI-ML General Secretary Com. Dipankar Bhattacharya was the chief guest on 3 February 2014, the second day of the Shaheed Jagdev Prasad Rashtriya Mela organized at Kinjar (Kurtha, Bihar) by the Shoshit Samaj Dal (SSD). On his arrival at Kinjar Com. Dipankar was enthusiastically welcomed by thousands of people waiting at Nagla Mod, with slogans. They were joined by hundreds of others and the procession moved forward to Kurtha bearing red flags.
Com. Dipankar went first to the memorial to poet-revolutionary Virendra Vidrohi where he garlanded the statue. With him were CC member and Khemas National President Rameshwar Prasad, Kisan Mahasabha National Secretary Com. Ramadhar Singh, Arwal District Secretary Mahanand, State Committee member Com. Jitendra Yadav, Upendra Paswan, Ravindra Yadav, Mahendra Prasad and other senior leaders of the District.
From there the gathering proceeded to the Kurtha mela. In the central bazaar the statue of martyr Shyam Behari ‘Benipuri’ (martyred during the 1942 movement) was garlanded. At Kurtha block complex, Com. Dipankar garlanded the life size statue of martyr Jagdev Babu and read his engraved views and demands.
On 5 September 1974 the SSD had organized programmes in several blocks of the District to protest against the tyranny of Indira. After addressing the protest meet at Karpi block, Jagdev Babu joined the programme at Kurtha. As he was addressing the gathering, the police fired on him, injuring him as well as a student Laxman Chowdhuri. The police took Jagdev Babu into their custody and instead of being treated he was tortured. As a result, both he and Laxman died. Thus Jagdev Babu and Laxman Chowdhury were martyred in their fight for democracy against tyranny.
Presiding over the meeting, SSD National President Prof. Jairam Prasad welcomed Com. Dipankar, Com. Rameshwar Prasad, Com. Ramadhar Singh, and Mahanand on to the dais. Addressing the huge gathering, Com. Dipankar said that the decade of the 1970s saw many movements for change all around. Jagdev Babu sacrificed his life during the agitation for democracy against unbridled misrule. At that very time the spark of the Naxalbari agitation in Bhojpur against feudalism and tyranny was spreading like wildfire. He said that today the very definition of social justice is being changed. Placing a particular person in the CM’s seat is being shown as a symbol of social justice. Whereas Jagdev Babu’s demand was that there should be guarantee of water in every field, the landless should get one acre of land, dalits, minorities and weaker sections should be accorded dignity and respect, for without this social justice is not possible.
He pointed out that communist and socialist forces of struggle have their own history in Bihar. Both these forces have always fought for change. Today the need of the hour is for these forces to unite once more. The best and most positive way to remember Jagdev Babu would be to work to fulfil his dreams.
On this occasion Com. Rameshwar Prasad said that Kurtha is the land of revolutionaries. Com. Manju, who sacrificed her life for the struggle against feudal forces, also belonged to this region. He said that in order to bring about a positive change, committed leaders dedicated to the people must be elected to Parliament. The mela was inaugurated by Bharatiya Momin Front National Vice President Dr. Mahboob Alam Ansari. At the close of the programme Com. Dipankar visited the home of martyr Virendra Vidrohi and met and spoke with his family members.
