Comrade Vaskar Nandi, a frontline leader of the Naxalbari movement, passed away at his residence in Jalpaiguri on the morning of 4th May after a protracted battle with throat cancer. In the 1060s Comrade Nandy had gone abroad for his higher education and briefly taught sociology in Columbia University in the US before returning to India and joining the Naxalbari movement. He played a leading role in building and expanding the CPI(ML) in Assam and Tripura before he got arrested during the Emergency. After coming out of jail he worked as a PB member of the PCC, CPI(ML). Since the 1980s he had been working with various anti-communal campaigns and identity-based movements. He was elected General Secretary of PCC at the last Congress of the organization. On behalf of the Central Committee of CPI(ML), Comrade Abhijit Mazumdar joined the funeral of Comrade Vaskar Nandi and extended condolences to all his comrades, family members and friends.
