presents

E Awareness

July 8, 1914 January 17, 2010

Jyoti Basu
on his life and politics
 Kolkata: Veteran Marxist leader Jyoti Basu, died here on Sunday, 17
Jan 2010. He was a man of strong views and never hesitated to speak
his mind. Here are some of his comments on his life and politics:
 On childhood

'My mother came from an upper

middle-class family, they were
well-to-do landowners. My father,
Nishikanta Basu, came from a
relatively lower middle-class
background.'

'I was 10 years old. Talk of

revolutionaries and the fight for
independence was in the air.'
 In London

'I was initiated to international politics

in London. Entire Europe was restive.
Fascist Mussolini had wrested power in
Italy.‘

'We formed the `London Majlis' and I

was its first secretary. The idea was to
generate public opinion for the cause of
Indian independence and collect
subscriptions.'
 On return to India

'Marriage was being discussed. I did not

attach importance to this. I knew there was a
long and difficult political agenda ahead.
Anyway, I got married.'
 Political life

'It never occurred to me that I would

one day become an MLA, but the
party thought otherwise. I had to
abide by its directives.‘

'My very first election as a

candidate gave me a taste of what
bourgeoisie elections were all
about. It was baptism by fire. But
all's well that ends well.'
 On undivided CPI

'Raids and arrests were routine.

Between September 1948 and
January 1949, I worked openly in
trade unions, maintaining the
communication links with our
leadership in hiding.'
 Emergency rule

'(Indira) Gandhi was scared. Her

authoritarianism knew no limits.
Thus she chose the option which all
dictators faced with a critical
situation coupled with the fear of
losing power usually do: she opted
to usurp all the rights of the people.'
 Left Front government

'It was exactly at 10.30 a.m. on

June 21, 1977, that the first
Left Front ministry was sworn
in... Land reforms were our
topmost priority.'
 On Sino-Indian war

India and China went to

war over the border
dispute in 1962. The
reactionary forces led by
the Congress cried for
war and inflamed
passions. We said that
talks were the only way;
the reactionaries called
us `anti-nationals' for
this.'
 On Operation Blue star

'If the centre had been

keen and serious
about a political
settlement to the
Punjab problem, then
this operation could
have been avoided.'
 On Babri Masjid razing

On December 6
1992, barbarians
demolished
Babri Masjid. We
stood
dishonoured in
front of the
entire world.'

Prepared by: Mahendra Joshi

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