Comrade Sushital Roy Chaudhuri

Born in 1917 in Allahabad of United Provinces (Uttar Pradesh), comrade Sushital Roy Chaudhuri (SRC) joined the Indian Communist Movement at a very tender age. In 1943, he became the secretary of the Hoogly District Committee and in the Tebhaga days organized a strong peasant movement throughout the district.
In the late forties, he was transferred to the Calcutta District Committee. Comrade SRC was a prolific writer. In those days, people used to wait eagerly for his write-ups in Swadhinata and Matamat.
During the inner party struggle followed by the India-China war, comrade SRC joined the pro-Chinese left faction. In 1964, he joined the CPI (M) and was elected to the editorial board of Deshhitaishi, the Bengali weekly organ of the Bengal Unit of the CPI (M). He was also a member of the CPI (M)’s West Bengal State Committee.
In 1965, he wrote a series of philosophical articles in a progressive journal called Chinta. There he openly challenged the party’s programme as revisionist. In those days, along with comrades Asit Sen and Saroj Dutta, comrade SRC formed the Marxist-Leninist Institute, an inner party ideological study circle. In 1967, for bestowing his active support to the peasant guerrillas of Naxalbari, comrade SRC was expelled from the CPI (M).
After his expulsion, comrade SRC and other like minded comrades (comrades SD, Asit Sen, etc.) joined comrade Charu Majumdar, and founded the CPI (M-L). After the formation, he was elected to the Central Committee and the Polit Bureau. He was also appointed the Editor-in Chief of Deshabrati and Liberation, the CPI (M-L) Bengali and English organs.
In 1970, comrade SRC developed a few ideological differences with the party’s central line. He criticized the party’s view regarding the evaluation of the Bengal Renaissance.
Comrade SRC died of a heart attack in early 1971.
In comrade Charu Majumdar’s words, comrade SRC was the most erudite leader in the Indian Communist Movement.