Shibdas Ghosh
Source: Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist) [SUCI(C)] (used with kind permission)
Date: September 23, 1974
First published: October 15, 1974
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Addressing the vast gathering at the memorial meeting in remembrance of Comrade Subodh Banerjee on 23 September 1974 in Calcutta, Comrade Ghosh showed how, submitting everything personal unconditionally and happily to revolution and the party strictly in accord with the ideology, thoughts and the basic teachings of the party, Comrade Banerjee had emerged as a fore-ranking leader of the party and the revolutionary mass movement, a steadfast communist leader of the poor peasants, agricultural labourers and the working class.
Comrade President, Friends and Comrades,
I beg your apology at the very outset because I am compelled to make my speech sitting [1] even at this condolence meeting.
You have just now heard about Comrade Subodh Banerjee from leaders of different left parties[2]. Everyone is saying and I know that all of you who have assembled here to pay your homage, to express your pain and sorrow, you too, in consonance, believe heart and soul that he was a dedicated revolutionary and a bold leader of revolutionary mass movement. The ideology, the principles and the ideals he preached to the people, he has tried to mould his life and build up his character through struggle accordingly. He was not the sort of leader who would talk of ideology and principles only in pulpit speeches and writings, but would not practise them in every sphere of life. First of all, in this condolence meeting I want to draw your attention to this very aspect of Comrade Subodh Banerjee's character. Leaders do appear, they have appeared in the past, and also will appear in the future. As to myself and to my party this is not at all a very important point for consideration. All of you present here also know that in all countries and in our country also, during the freedom struggle and in the subsequent people's liberation struggles as well, many persons gave up everything, they sacrificed their all.
Such persons have appeared in large numbers in the revolutionary movements in all countries; it will be a travesty of truth if this is not recognized. It is not proper to take resort to falsehood even while paying homage to any leader. Nothing great can be achieved by falsehood. Those who know the history of the world, all of them would agree that in our country as well as in other countries, in communist movement too, there was no dearth of leaders with erudition and wisdom. But what I want to impress upon you is that Subodhbabu possessed that quality which was often found lacking even among those eminent leaders who had the capacity to sacrifice many things (his voice gets choked with emotion and he resumes after a pause). This very aspect of his character I want to highlight before you, I want you to grasp. I know him (his voice again becomes choked). Perhaps none else knows him better than myself. For a long period of twentyeight years, right from his initiation into political life he was my close comrade-in-arms. During this long period, amidst weal and woe, ups and downs of his life, I have observed one thing in him. Today, I shall tell you just that.
Among all of our leaders he was the most popular and well-known to the masses. And as the most popular and well-known leader he earned high esteem and reverence from all strata of people. Even in the government departments as well as in the press circle he had much reputation and influence. Under these circumstances and in such an atmosphere -- as far as I know history, as far as I have closely and thoroughly observed the different mass movements and much as I have seen many eminent leaders, men of ideals in these movements over a long period -- I have found that even many eminent leaders, men of principle under such a situation were unable to protect themselves from the pernicious influence of individualism, sense of degraded personality, egotism and self-conceit. Populism, I mean thereby popular gestures -- the very way to behave with common people, to talk, to conduct oneself in such a way so as to earn cheap popularity and fame -- keeping only this in view, one who adopts this style of movement falls victim to populism. This happens as an inevitable outcome of one's eager desire to earn fame. And because of this, I have found that many eminent leaders of mass movements and men of principles, of ideals so easily have fallen victim to a false sense of dignity and personality.
As because I have seen Subodhbabu most intimately and very thoroughly I do know him, I can tell you that even in such a background, that is in spite of all these favourable conditions existing in the surroundings for one to fall victim to populism, he could reach a high standard -- I am speaking not only of his achieving a high standard of political consciousness, attaining a remarkable power of oration and brilliant organizing ability but of his successfully reaching such a height of cultural-ethical standard and revolutionary character where he could always unconditionally and without any reservation surrender his self-interest, his everything personal to the revolution, to the ideology through an untiring struggle following the principles of Marxism-Leninism, the thoughts, ideals and the revolutionary basic teachings of our party. Even many eminent leaders appearing in the revolutionary movement fail to attain this standard. They speak of lofty ideals but I have observed that most of them fail to attain this quality in their life (voice of Comrade Ghosh gets choked with emotion).
If our party workers, leaders and the vanguard fighters of revolution can take this lesson from the life and character of Comrade Banerjee, then and then only I shall consider that you have correctly given him his due honour, you have correctly paid him due homage.
"Subodhbabu had no shortcomings, he was all virtue" -- to say this would also be a travesty of truth. All human beings are nothing but admixtures of positive and negative qualities. Marx, Lenin, Stalin were human beings, Mao Zedong is a human being -- we too are human beings. In plain language, whatever elevated standard we may attain, if the positive qualities that we are supposed to possess even at that elevated standard are absent or if these are lacking in us, then this is to be considered negative qualities of our character. From this angle, at all standards, even in a communist society where we conceive of people attaining a higher standard than that of Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin, Mao Zedong -- they too will be admixtures of positive and negative qualities. The only difference is that the positive and negative qualities of great men and the positive and negative qualities of common men are not of the same type. Even though many a time outwardly these appear to be alike, in actuality these are not so. For your standard what is a great quality may perhaps be considered a shortcoming in case of a great man. If we cannot constantly attain a higher and higher standard, more and more elevated height -- even the highest qualities we achieved in the past will turn out to be our shortcomings. So, as because Subodhbabu was a man of stature, a dedicated revolutionary, he was free from all shortcomings -- this is no correct evaluation. All men have positive qualities as well as negative qualities. We all have some shortcomings in our own fields of activities -- this in relation to the respective standard that we are supposed to possess. When we cannot keep up and constantly develop the qualities we are supposed to possess in respect to our standard is in itself a shortcoming. Such shortcomings appear in all of us. But I have drawn your attention to the fact that if you desire to pay respect to Comrade Banerjee at all, then it should be done from this aspect.
Today, the country is passing through a grave crisis. People launched struggles in the past, I believe heart and soul they will jump into struggles again and again. Struggles did appear in the past. Millions sacrificed their lives in these struggles. Many good souls, many beautiful lives, many leaders sacrificed their lives. Yet what we want, what we desire, our object -- the revolution, the socialist society -- we could not establish. Revolution is yet far off; but as there are deep discontents amongst the people, struggles will recur again. So, perhaps proper regard will not be shown to him, if simply and merely it is said that "a militant leader as he was, his death is a great loss to people's struggle." I myself at least have not understood him in this light. I have realized that with whatever sincerity struggle is conducted -- if the path, the object, the thought process is wrong, then in spite of the great sincerity with which struggle is conducted, ultimately it will not only yield nothing good but on the contrary bring about disaster. History has taught us this lesson. Though sincerity is the basis of everything, yet with sincerity alone we cannot win struggles. Along with sincerity, the most essential requirements are the correct base political line and the correct ideology and the correct path.
Those qualities of Subodhbabu which you praise -- at a time of crisis as at present when such degeneration has set in on all sides and in every field of social life, such a degeneration from whose poisonous influence the left movements, the mass movements, even the revolutionary movements are not free -- when lack of ideal and immoral conduct in the political movements, revolutionary movements that we experience every moment and which are hurting us so much -- at such a time what should be kept in mind is that the qualities, the dedication of Subodhbabu, what everybody admits, the qualities he could maintain intact despite attaining a position of power and reaching such a height of popularity, the unconditional submission of his everything personal to mass movements, to revolution and party, which cannot be found now-a-days even in renowned leaders -- what is it the product of ? Even in the midst of such an all-out decadence, wherefrom this has come into being -- the politics, the ideal, the ideology, the organizational process, the essence of the party's teachings centring which this has developed -- you shall have to take note of that, you shall have to know that, you shall have to realize that. To give an example in passing -- observing Subodhbabu's funeral procession so many persons have said personally, so many individuals sent telegrams, so many letters came complimenting, "We have never witnessed before such a well-disciplined, grief-stricken funeral procession. Truly you practise in life what you preach about culture, what you talk about 'cultural tone' in political movement. You do not merely shout slogans, you do not merely talk of battles -- you say that men who should struggle, if they do not make themselves worthy in body, mind and culture for revolutionary struggles then only by shouting slogans, inciting people, battles cannot be won." This is the motto of this party. This way we want to develop all the leaders and workers of this party and are still endeavouring untiringly. Of course, I do not claim that in every case we have succeeded covering every aspect of life. Subodhbabu is a product of this struggle.
Subodhbabu, whom you respect so deeply with all your heart is a product and creation of an untiring struggle. Not dropped from heavens, not created by the Almighty. I think it will entail serious deception and falsehood if while paying your homage you fail to note that politics, that ideal, that process. And we shall not be able to fulfil his unfulfilled task if such deception, such falsehood remains. Never is such a thing possible.
Nothing great can be attained by falsehood. Nothing great can be achieved with even truth alloyed with falsehood. In this regard Saratbabu[3] observed, "To tell a lie is a crime but to tell a lie mixing it with truth is a crime with few parallels in life." Why did he say like this? Because he knew, falsehood will be revealed today or tomorrow to the truth-seekers, to the struggling people. Those who want to forge ahead, those who want to struggle, they will detect untruth one day. But when truth remains alloyed with untruth -- then that element of truth stands in the way of detecting untruth. It becomes difficult for people to detect untruth, it becomes very difficult to identify untruth as it is mixed with some truth. Moreover, as untruth is mixed with truth, it takes time for truth to come to light. Even if it does, it does partially, which cannot be comprehended in totality. The practice of telling untruth mixing it with truth inflicts serious harm to the progressive movement, progress and the process of one's uplift. We are seekers of truth, not worshippers of untruth. We may commit mistakes.It is not that we never commit mistakes. But we are not preachers of untruth and we abhor the practice of mixing truth with untruth. This is all I want to say. With this I want to say that as you saw Subodhbabu, as you have seen in him to be a first ranking leader -- that very political movement, that distinct method of application of Marxism-Leninism in this country which made such an event possible -- an event of Subodhbabu emerging from the standard of a common man, a school teacher, a bank employee gradually rising to the standard of a bold, steadfast communist leader who won the regard and became a beloved leader of the people and even attaining the elevated height of popularity he could every moment protect himself from the influence of vile individualism and egocentrism and could give up unconditionally his everything personal in the interest of revolution and party, in the interest of mass movements, giving up happily, voluntarily -- is not so easy, it is not a very simple affair. Many leaders are endowed with power of oration, and many leaders do possess power of writing also. There has been no dearth of such leaders appearing in any stage of mass movement. But this is a quality which is rarely found in such leaders. Seldom has such a character appeared in the revolutionary movements, and fewer still, I should say, in this country. I say this not from any intention of injuring or belittling anybody. This country witnessed many movements, many struggles in the past. There have been abundance of popular leaders, orators too were never wanting. But what was conspicuous by its absence was this particular quality of character. What we preach, we do not practise. Most of the leaders do not apply in their own life the ideology they preach, they talk of.
The teachings of Marxism-Leninism they preach only in the political movements, in pulpit speeches, but they do not apply these in their lives. Many top leaders, many eminent leaders even do not conduct this struggle to build themselves up in conformity with ideals covering all aspects of life -- their family life, personal life, ethics and culture. To this aspect of struggle they do not pay any heed, they simply neglect it. And because this is neglected, it is through this loophole that many revolutionaries with immense possibilities not only deviate in thoughts and ideals but a revolutionary character gets degraded too. Human history is replete with innumerable such instances. And this is where Subodhbabu marked out his distinction and excelled many established leaders. And this is where Subodhbabu attained a character of a high ranking communist.
In our country such a character is very rare. Subodhbabu has shown this through ceaseless struggles up to his last day, the last moment of his life. So, if we wish to learn from his life, in order to pay him real homage, we should not view the charm of his character, his sacrifice, in a word, all his qualities in isolation from this very process of struggle.
We shall have to realize that qualities and attainments do not fall from heaven -- these are particular products of a particular struggle. I am not at one with those who believe that genius, personality, talent are inborn. In my opinion, man's consciousness is always in contradiction and conflict with the environment in which he is born and lives. Actually man develops in conflict and contradiction with environment. In this very process of perpetual contradiction and conflict of man's consciousness with the social environment -- how and in what manner a man conducts this struggle and guided by which ideal, which morality, which outlook, and how ably he succeeds in conducting this struggle -- on these solely depend what character he will emerge with. Naturally, a genius, a personality, a talent -- they are particular products of particular struggles. That is why we say, man is a product of history. In turn, it is man who influences and creates history with his thoughts, deeds and struggles. So those who, not recognizing these phenomena, not recognizing these processes that remain in the background of the development of a man, only praise a genius, in reality, they preach, even if unknowingly, the theory that talent is inborn. This is unscientific, ahistoric.
The qualities of Comrade Subodh Banerjee are, therefore, products of definite, concrete, ceaseless struggles -- struggle both inside and outside the party. But not slogan-oriented struggles that are devoid of ideal and ethics -- not commonplace struggles mouthing certain demands of the people. But on the contrary, it is the product of a firm, definite, ceaseless process of struggle on the basis of Marxism-Leninism, the party's thoughts and teachings and revolutionary political line -- it is the product of a struggle based on principle, ideology, ethics, morality and culture.
Struggles -- many leaders did conduct. But could all of them happily, unconditionally give up everything personal to the party for the interest of revolution? All of them had suffered imprisonment too. But could all of them attain such a high standard of ethics and culture which alone enables a man to do this? In body and mind, in ethics and culture, covering all aspects of life -- could they build themselves up worthy of revolution? Many leaders could not achieve this, though they made immense sacrifices. That is why, it must be kept in mind, though struggle does create a man, but to say that by only struggles such a personality can emerge -- this is not true. Truth is that a struggle conducted in a correct process, with definite ideology, ethics, programme and philosophy -- such a struggle only creates such a personality. So, while paying homage to Subodhbabu, if this is not recognized then, in the true sense, reverence will not be paid to him, he will not be understood correctly. That is why I need to emphasize this very aspect. I consider it very important and so I need to highlight this.
I say that struggles will again appear, today or tomorrow. But if politics is wrong, if ideology is wrong, if in struggles ethics, morality are absent, people will fight, people will burst out in anger but movement will not proceed very far. A movement becomes decisive, it becomes invincible and reaches its logical culmination -- even if it is insignificant at the outset but gaining in strength it becomes victorious at the end -- only when it is based on the correct ideal, correct politics and when it is tuned to a definite and a very high ethical-cultural standard.
Not in pulpit speeches, not in simple preaching, but the real necessity of an ideal lies in awakening and changing people by bringing them with its golden touch in the midst of struggle and shaking the very foundation of the decadent ethics and culture inherited from the old society, creating new men in body, mind and culture. The question of ethics, culture and ideology is so important as it makes men worthy of the revolutionary struggle for bringing about a transformation of society.
That is why Comrade Mao Zedong said, one cannot master Marxism-Leninism simply by reading books. Even if you can say a lot about Marxism-Leninism, write and quote from the writings of great Marxist-Leninist thinkers at length, but this is no proof that you have realized Marxism-Leninism, attained an all-round knowledge of Marxism-Leninism. Likewise, even if you can organize workers, peasants and soldiers in factories, villages and barracks and gain a lot of experience thereby and show also organizational talent, but this too does not prove that you have realized Marxism-Leninism and have acquired comprehensive knowledge of Marxism-Leninism. Then what is the way to determine that you have correctly realized Marxism-Leninism? It can be determined only if you are able to integrate the two dialectically, if you can correlate them properly. But what again is understood by correlation? Say, a person has achieved informative knowledge on theoretical Marxism-Leninism by reading books, making discussions and participating in debates and has become a scholar thereby. Now he goes to the village ; there, for a year or two, he takes part in peasant movements and at once starts thinking, 'I had enough of theoretical knowledge before and now I have worked with the peasants. So I have thus succeeded to correlate theory with practice'! Again, say, a man has struggled for a decade along with peasants and workers, he has fought, he has undergone imprisonment and has thereby gathered enough experience. Now he goes to the National Library and reads within a year all the classics on Marxism-Leninism and works of great Marxist-Leninist thinkers. He then starts thinking that he has had already enough of practical experiences and now theoretical knowledge has combined with it! So, what else is left for him to learn about Marxism-Leninism? No, Comrades. It is not such easy an affair, not so simple. Mao Zedong says, this is not correlation of theory and practice proper. This is a mechanical understanding of correlation.
Then how to determine that the two are integrated through a correct dialectical process; how to determine that theory is correctly integrated with practice and Marxism is comprehensively realized? There is only one way to determine this. And that is, whether he is reflecting a high standard of ethics and culture in his life. What a beautiful, how wonderful an expression! It means whether there has been total transformation of his life and attitude to things. Marx expressed it differently : in order to change the world, the workers will have to change themselves first. He said that, no doubt, the proletariat will lead the revolution, but simply by shouting slogans, with mere fighting, with sacrifice of lives alone they cannot achieve this great task of revolution. Revolution shall surely have to wait till the proletariat can transform themselves to become fit for accomplishing the task of revolution. If workers cannot change themselves, cannot build themselves worthy of revolution then by raising slogans alone, by laying down their lives even, they will not be able to bring about revolution. SUCI is a firm believer of this essence of revolutionary teachings. And because we believe in this essence of revolutionary teachings, so in the SUCI not only Subodhbabu but, if you enquire, you will find that none can become a first ranking leader who cannot surrender his everything personal happily, voluntarily and unconditionally, including even love, affection, attachment and family, to the party in the interest of revolution. High social background, foreign degrees, power of oration, records of undergoing imprisonment -- these are no qualifications for anybody to become a first ranking leader of this party. So, Subodhbabu was a renowned leader, a leader of the first rank -- no brothers, this is no adequate understanding of him, if along with this you do not remember that Subodhbabu is a product of an untiring struggle, a struggle in the realm of ideology, principle, morality, ethics and culture all combined which the SUCI initiated in the political movement from its very inception and is continuing till today. Subodhbabu is a memorable character, a creation of that process of struggle. By grasping it alone you can pay him proper homage.
In this context, I am obliged to give an answer to a question. For, many supporters and friends outside have asked me a question -- many have asked, many have wanted to know. The question is : "After Subodhbabu's death, when his body was cremated, who had then performed the last rites?" Some have asked : "Why were no rituals performed, as is being practised in case of many leaders, even in the case of many communist leaders? Why have you not done so?" I could not give reply to this question through the press. Since many have asked, it appears that it is a genuine question which has arisen in the mind of many among the people. So I want to provide an answer. At the outset I would tell you that everyone should act according to the ideology and faith he preaches. Otherwise, it becomes a practice of falsehood. You all know that Subodhbabu was an atheist, he believed in Marxism-Leninism and he had accepted Marxism-Leninism as the philosophy of his life -- he had not accepted it as a philosophy or a theory to chalk out a party programme in the political struggle alone. And the domain of Marxism-Leninism is this material world. We, the Marxist-Leninists, the communist revolutionaries, do not believe in the 'other world' or in the existence of soul or spirit detached from the body. It is not just that we do not believe in all this, even more we think that such a deep-rooted faith poses an insurmountable obstacle in the way of realization of truth by the masses. This is the fundamental basis of science and Marxism-Leninism.
Subodhbabu was an atheist. He was a true Marxist-Leninist, and as you all know he was loyal and dedicated to his ideology. While you say that he was "like an all-sacrificing saint", you however must keep in mind that it has nothing to do with seeking salvation of his soul. We, the Marxist-Leninists, believe that in this material world, to become able to give up everything happily and without any reservation for the welfare of mankind, for the onward march of society, for the all-round development and advancement of the individual and for revolution -- herein lies the greatest fulfilment of an individual, his emancipation. Subodhbabu too believed in this heart and soul. Those who know Subodhbabu, they know it well that whatever he believed in with all his heart, whatever he preached to others, he conducted a relentless struggle to apply these in his own life in minutest details. And this is why you believed him so much and respect him so much. I too say, it is only for this that he deserves real reverence. Rather, had he failed to perform this, he would have fallen in esteem, would have become an ordinary man. An established leader like him -- he was not an ordinary man or even an ordinary cadre so that he could have submitted to the family pressure, or else people would misunderstand him. He who had won over the hearts of innumerable people through struggles, through deeds, through movements and devotion -- if that man had failed to practise what he had preached, then the very foundation of this faith would have crumbled down. Whatever one believes in, one thinks to be true -- to pursue that is the practice of truth on his part. Then why will he be misunderstood by people?
There is nothing in it to misunderstand. Subodhbabu was loyal to his ideology, a truth seeker. So before his death, he urged that "even if pressure comes from the relatives, then also no ritual should be performed. I know that there is no question of the party doing this; but even if there is request from people you shall see that no ritual is performed." It is of course true that such a request has not come, either from the relatives or the people. This is also a point which no one should miss to note. Although, had there been any such requests, we would not have accepted that. For, in my opinion, in the opinion of our party, it would have amounted to sheer hypocrisy.
Such an eminent leader, an ardent, undaunted fighter in whose hands the people have put the right and responsibility of leadership with full confidence, if that man is inconsistent in his precepts and practice and if he fails to apply on each and every occasion, till the last day of his life, with honesty and sincerity what he preaches, then on what basis can stand people's faith? If this falsehood persists in the life and conduct of the leaders, then how will people find the strength of their conviction? This very problem has posed a stumbling block before the mass movement, the revolutionary movement in our country. Leaders will profess Marxism-Leninism, on the one hand, but will perform the rituals of their deceased parents for the salvation of their soul in 'the world after', and, on the other, they will claim "we are Marxists-Leninists" but will perform all sorts of religious ceremonies lest they lose popularity -- it is due to this hypocrisy that the morale of revolutionary movement in India, its very backbone has been shattered to pieces. Revolution can never be accomplished with slogans alone, it can never happen. Our party is conducting an unceasing struggle to build up the revolutionary struggle in India on the firm foundation of ethics, morality and practice of truth. And I am convinced that our people are eagerly looking forward with great expectation to our party.
We cannot afford the people to lose their faith in our party. So, we did not want to malign Subodhbabu. His was a bright name till the last day of his life. He did never deviate from his ideal till the last day of his life. He did never submit to weaknesses, did never yield to pressure. Although in this particular instance no pressure arose from any quarters. Is it a mean achievement, if we take into cognizance the mental make-up of our country? Generally, in our society, pressure comes on such occasions from the relatives. Subodhbabu's wife and daughter, both are present here. If you enquire, you will come to know that they could not even dream of it. Rather, along with thousands of comrades present, they paid their homage with red salute and bade him farewell when his body was placed in the electric furnace. None of them did suggest to perform the last rite. Even if they had expressed such a desire, I would have definitely tried to persuade them. But they did not say so as they themselves are inspired by the ideals of Subodhbabu. They do understand the ideology of the party. Even his teenage daughter, she too realizes that had it been done it would have brought disrespect to her father's devotion and good name, it would have maligned his good name. No, they could not even think of it. This is why, we did not perform any ritual. Nobody performed the last rite. Our comrades stood with hands raised in red salute, bade him farewell in tears and with slogans : "Red salute, Comrade Subodh Banerjee. We shall never forget you, you will ever remain in our memory" (here again Comrade Ghosh's voice breaks into sobs and after a considerable pause, he resumes speaking). His wife and daughter too became part of this process. The question of any other ceremony did not arise at all even with them. This very point I was trying so long to bring home. To preach and talk of revolution outside without having any bearing on inner life cannot suffice. Succeed or not -- we are to constantly conduct struggle to inspire the members of our family with our revolutionary thoughts and ideals. Revolution outside, and not inside the family -- no ! Subodhbabu was a vehement and blazing protest against it. Subodhbabu with all his life brought forth this valuable lesson that despite immense sacrifices, it was due to this falsehood and pretension that the door of our emancipation could not be opened up. Leaders appeared in the past and will appear time and again, but as the leadership, the struggle and our activities could not be freed from the ominous influence of pretension and falsehood, despite tremendous sacrifices, we could not achieve our emancipation.
I shall not take much time. I shall only say to you that those who really desire to pay homage to Subodhbabu -- as others present here have said, along with them I also appeal to you : join in thousands in revolutionary politics, devote yourself to grasping revolution with the same honesty, sincerity and dedication like him following his ideals in order to fulfil the unaccomplished task of revolution for which he struggled all through and laid down his life. Then and then only shall we be able to pay due homage to Comrade Subodh Banerjee, shall we be able to show him true respect. Otherwise, any homage paid to him will be an ostentation, a formality and falsehood.
With this I conclude, paying him my last respect, my sincerest reverence. You all know that he was my comrade-in-arms for a very long period. No doubt, although temporary, it is an irreparable loss to both our party and mass struggle. But it is my firm conviction that people will come forward to make good this loss. With this I conclude.
Long live Comrade Subodh Banerjee !
Red Salute, Comrade Subodh Banerjee !
Long Live Revolution !
1.Because of ill-health
2.Leaders of other left parties were present at the meeting and had spoken in memory of Comrade Subodh Banerjee
3.Saratchandra Chattopadhyay, the great Bengali litterateur of Indian Renaissance.