Jagannath Sarkar

Patna, April 8: Veteran freedom fighter and a founder of Communist Party of India (CPI) in Bihar, Jagannath Sarkar (92) passed away at his Bank Road residence here today following protracted illness.

He is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter.

Sarkar’s demise has sent shockwaves in the state’s political and social circles. “His death has caused irreparable loss not only to the communist movement but to the nation as a whole,” chief minister, Nitish Kumar said in his condolence message while announcing the departed leader’s cremation with state honour.

Sarkar laid the foundation of CPI in Bihar along with Indradip Sinha, Chandrashekhar Singh and Sunil Mukherjee. Sarkar and three of his comrades lighted the lamp of communism with élan in large parts of the state. CPI went on to become the main opposition party of Bihar in 70s under the stewardship of the famous quartet.

However, three of Sarkar’s comrades died much earlier. Sarkar too suffered a massive brain haemorrhage in 1985, which made him physically inactive for all practical purposes. Enervated by ailment, the “genuine leader of the people” as he was reverentially referred to, stayed confined to bed for large part of his life.

Fighting against the British rule, Sarkar had landed in jail several times in 1940. But a communist by ideal since the inception of his political career, he rebelled against the system that came into existence in post-Independent Bihar. He fought for the cause of the weaker sections, industrial workers and went to jail again in 1960s.

Though Sarkar was a member of state Legislative Council from 1966 to 1972, he never enjoyed any position of power. He stayed state secretary of the CPI for several years in 1960-70 and later joined the party’s national secretariat.

V.P. Singh’s Janata Dal formed an alliance with the CPI ahead of the 1989 Lok Sabha elections. However, when some Dal workers tried to wrap a green (a colour associated with the Dal) sheet of cloth around Sarkar at a public meeting, he refused saying, “Iss sharir par kewal lal rang hi charh sakta hai (Only red colour suits this frame).”

True to his words, Sarkar became a communist since the start of his political career in 1930s and stayed a communist till his death. His only daughter, Usashi Gupta is married to economist and director of the Asian Development Research Institute (Adri), Shaibal Gupta. His eldest son, Abhijit Sarkar is a scientist while the second son, Gautam Sarkar is a consultant for a company in Bangalore. Jagannath was the nephew of well-known historian Sir Jadunath Sarkar.

Veteran CPM leader, Vasudeo Singh, described “comrade Sarkar’s life as an epitome of political values and struggle for the cause of poor”, and several other leaders from CPI, CPM and CPI ML-Liberation joined in the mourning what they described as one of the “last of the towering personalities in Bihar’s communist movement”.