A well-attended meeting of South Asian Peoples Forum UK was held here in Bradford to condole the death of Comrade Jyoti Basu, the veteran communist leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist).

Those who were prominent included Professor Nazir Tabassum, Pervez Fateh, Serwan Singh, Khalid Saeed Qureshi, Lala Mohammed Younis. The meeting expressed deep sorrow over the death of Comrade Basu who has been an iconic figure in the Indian politics. He was at the helms of affairs in bringing all the leftist parties of India together on a single platform and gave the colour of social democracy to this conglomeration. The meeting eulogised his 23 years rule over West Bengal as Chief Minister thus giving stability to this tumultuous State since 1960s and early 1970s. He will always be remembered for his remarkable land reforms by means of which the landless peasants became landowners overnight.

He steadfastly opposed the exploitation of multinationals and did not let them plunder the poor of this State in the name of foreign investment. He strengthened the trade unions in the cities of West Bengal and thus is revered by the poor of urban as well as rural Bengal .

Best regards

Pervez Fateh
Co-ordinator South Asian Peoples Forum, UK

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