THE CPIML dips its flag in salute to Comrade AK Roy, veteran founder of the Marxist Coordination Committee (MCC), who breathed his last at the age of 84 in Dhanbad on 21 July, 2019.
Comrade AK Roy made an invaluable contribution to the Left and democratic movement of Jharkhand and India. He had the distinction of winning the Dhanbad MP seat thrice.
A towering icon of Jharkhand coal workers, he was widely respected for his simplicity and honesty. He cheerfully lived a penurious existence till the last, completely dependent on the love and care which Dhanbad’s working people showered on him.
AK Roy was among the founders of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha. Along with Binod Bihari Mahato and Shibu Soren, AK Roy led the movement for a separate Jharkhand state.
Jailed during the Emergency, he was a resolute and tireless fighter for democracy, which for him meant the true emancipation and rights of the most deprived and oppressed.
His loss is felt especially acutely when the people of Jharkhand and the rest of India are gearing up to fight the policies of privatisation, eviction and assaults on secularism and democracy unleashed by BJP Governments headed by Raghubar Das and Modi.
His example will always burn like a torch, lighting up the way for and inspiring future generations of revolutionaries in India!
Red Salute to Comrade AK Roy!
- Dipankar Bhattacharya,
General Secretary,
CPIML Liberation
