Revolutionary Tributes to the Lasting Memory of Comrade Sharmistha !
When Comrade Sharmistha departed us at the young age of 45 on 13 June 2021, she was the youngest Polit Bureau member of CPI (ML) Red Star. During 2021, when COVID pandemic ravaged the entire world, it inflicted the biggest damage on CPI (ML) Red Star Star by taking away the lives of two of its youngest Polit Bureau members in 2021, the first being that of Comrade Shivram on May 28, the then Odisha State secretary of the Party.
As a leading revolutionary activist, Comrade Sharmistha played a leading role in the historic Bangar struggle in continuation of her involvement in many struggles such as Singur, Nandigram, Lalgarh, Nonadanga, and against CAA. For leading the Bangar struggle, Sharmishtha had to undergo long period of jail-term under the draconian UAPA provisions. At the same time, with her extraordinary intellect and grasp on Marxist theory, Comrade Sharmishtha played a decisive role in Party’s PB in formulating Party’s policies and resolving crucial political questions.
As General Secretary of All India Revolutionary Women’s Organisation (AIRWO), Comrade Sharmistha was a consistent fighter against patriarchy in all its manifestations, at the realm of both theory and practice. At the same time, Comrade Sharmistha consistently exposed and resolutely opposed all trends of bourgeois feminism including its theoretical foundations. And being a Communist revolutionary, Comrade Sharmistha always took specific attention to emphasize that the liberation of women from patriarchy and all forms of oppression are inseparable from the emancipation of the working class and liberation of all oppressed humankind from the imperialist world system.
In India, while the decadent and reactionary fascist forces, despite reversals in the 18th Lok Sabha election, are still continuing their work to superimpose a regime and a social order based on Manusmriti according to which the status of women is subhuman, the worthy tribute to Comrade Sharmistha’s lasting memory is to relentlessly carry forward the revolutionary tasks including the liberation of women from all obscurantist and reactionary forces, a position resolutely upheld by her.
Today, when we are observing Sharmistha Day, the Central Committee of CPI (ML) Red Star is in session in Kerala. As such, in between the Committee sessions the Party has arranged a Special Program in commemoration of Comrade Sharmistha in which along with Central Committee members, Party comrades and friends are also attending.
Comrade Sharmistha shall remain a source of lasting inspiration to the Revolutionary Movement!
CPI (ML) Red Star
