Saroj Mukherjee (14 January 1911 – 9 February 1990) was an Indian freedom fighter and a member of the Polit Bureau of the

Communist Party of India (Marxist) The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (abbreviated as CPI(M)/CPIM/CPM) is a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist communist List of political parties in India, political party in India. It is the largest communist party of India in term ...

. He was also the secretary of the West Bengal state committee of the Communist party.

Early life

He was born in Bahadurpur, Paschim Bardhaman in erstwhile

Bengal Presidency The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William and later Bengal Province, was a subdivision of the British Empire in India. At the height of its territorial jurisdiction, it covered large parts of what is now South Asia and ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

(now in

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

). His father was Shikkhabroti Trilochan. He joined political activities from the beginning of 1920s. In 1928 he passed Matriculation from

Burdwan Municipal High School Burdwan Municipal High School, located at the heart of Burdwan, a town 95 km north-west of Kolkata, is one of the oldest boys' schools in India. The school was established in 1883 by Maharshi Debendranath Tagore, along with Adi Brahmo Sam ...

. He passed I.Sc. from

Serampore College , founders = William Ward, William Carey, & Joshua Marshman , religious_affiliation = Baptist , rector = , location = 8, William Carey RoadSerampore – 712201West Bengal, India , established = , principal = Vansanglura Va ...

with scholarship. As a student at the age of thirteen, Mukherjee joined the Indian freedom movement, joining the

Indian National Congress party The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British E ...

in 1924 along with his friend Benoy Chowdhury. He also joined the

Jugantar Jugantar or Yugantar ( bn, যুগান্তর ''Jugantor''; lit. ''New Era'' or ''Transition of an Epoch'') was one of the two main secret revolutionary trends operating in Bengal for Indian independence. This association, like Anushi ...

group in 1928. While studying in Serampore College, he and Benoy Chowdhury became acquainted with Dr. Bhupendranath Datta and Communist leaders Muzaffar Ahmed and

Abdul Halim ʻAbd al-Ḥalīm (ALA-LC romanization of ar, عبد الحليم) is a male Muslim given name, and in modern usage, surname. It is built from the Arabic words '' ʻabd'' and ''al-Ḥalīm'', one of the names of God in the Qur'an, which gives rise ...

Political activities

In 1930, he participated in the

Civil Disobedience movement The Salt March, also known as the Salt Satyagraha, Dandi March and the Dandi Satyagraha, was an act of nonviolent civil disobedience in colonial India led by Mahatma Gandhi. The twenty-four day march lasted from 12 March to 6 April 1930 as a di ...

and got jailed. After being released got admitted in

Vidyasagar College Vidyasagar College (Bengali: বিদ্যাসাগর কলেজ) is a state government-aided public college, affiliated to the University of Calcutta, located in North Kolkata, West Bengal, India. The college offers both post-gradu ...

. He was again arrested before he could sit for his B.A. examination. While in jail he passed B.A. and studied for M.A. and law. He was released from jail in 1938. He joined the

Communist Party of India Communist Party of India (CPI) is the oldest Marxist–Leninist communist party in India and one of the nine national parties in the country. The CPI was founded in modern-day Kanpur (formerly known as Cawnpore) on 26 December 1925. H ...

in 1931 and went to work for them full-time in 1938. In 1941, Saroj Mukherjee married Kanak Dasgupta, who was also a Communist leader. From 1939 to 1943, he was the Kolkata District Committee Secretary of CPI. Between 1943 to 1948 and 1951 to 1962, he was a member of Bengal State.Committee of CPI and National Council of CPI. Mukherjee was the editor of the

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

daily ''Swadhinata'' from 1956 to 1962. Later, he was the first editor and publisher of CPI(M)'s newspaper ''

Ganashakti ''Ganashakti Patrika'' (1967-present) is an Indian Bengali daily newspaper published from Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Initially the paper started as an organ of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) West Bengal State Committee.

'', which position he held until his death. He was one of the founder-members of CPI(M), when CPI got divided in 1964. He was a member of the Central Committee of CPI(M) until his death. He was elected from

Katwa (Lok Sabha constituency) Katwa Lok Sabha constituency was one of the 543 parliamentary constituencies in India. The constituency centred on Katwa in West Bengal, which was abolished following the delimitation of the parliamentary constituencies in 2008. Overview As pe ...

Barddhaman Bardhaman (, ) is a city and a municipality in the state of West Bengal, India. It is the headquarters of Purba Bardhaman district, having become a district capital during the period of British rule. Burdwan, an alternative name for the city, ...

in 1971. After the death of Pramode Dasgupta in 1982, he became the West Bengal State Secretary of CPI(M). In 1986 he became a Politburo member of CPI(M). Several books were written by him including: * ''Trade Union-er gorar kotha'' * ''1905 saler rush biplob'' * ''Swadhinatar Juge Rangpur'' * ''Trade Union Andoloner Notun Dhara'' * ''Tinti Dashak'' * ''Dui Pathikrit'' * ''Duiti Smaraniyo Din'' * ''Rajniti o Sangbadikota'' * ''Bharater Communist Party o Amra'' He died on 10 February 1990.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mukherjee, Saroj Bengali Hindus 1990 deaths Communist Party of India (Marxist) politicians from West Bengal Politicians from Kolkata 1911 births India MPs 1971–1977 Lok Sabha members from West Bengal People from Purba Bardhaman district 20th-century Bengalis Indian newspaper editors 20th-century Indian non-fiction writers Indian political writers Indian Marxist writers 20th-century Indian male writers Indian Marxist journalists Indian Communist writers 20th-century Indian journalists Indian political journalists Bengali-language writers

Early life

Political activities

See also

References