Shusil Roy (25 December 1936 — 18 June 2014) popularly known by his

nom de guerre A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

Som alias Ashok was a Maoist ideologue and senior

Politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the executive committee for communist parties. It is present in most former and existing communist states. Names The term "politburo" in English comes from the Russian ''Politbyuro'' (), itself a contraction ...

member of the

Communist Party of India (Maoist) The Communist Party of India (Maoist) is a Marxism–Leninism–Maoism, Marxist–Leninist–Maoist banned Communism, communist political party and militant organization in India which aims to overthrow the "semi-colonial and semi-feudal In ...

. He was the nephew of Indian freedom fighter

Dinesh Gupta Dinesh Chandra Gupta ( bn, দিনেশ চন্দ্র গুপ্ত ''Dinesh Chôndro Gupto'') or Dinesh Gupta (6 December 1911 – 7 July 1931) was an Indian revolutionary against British rule in India, who is noted for launching an ...

Political activities

Roy joined in

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 1963 and led trade union movements in

Bansdroni Bansdroni is a locality of South Kolkata in West Bengal, India. The area is under Kolkata Municipal Corporation & it comes under Kolkata Police jurisdiction. History Bansdroni is a place of Art & culture. The place used to be a port during ...

area of

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

. After the seventh Congress in 1964, he joined

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 ...

and mobilized group of workers against the imperialist

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

. In 1966, Roy was at the forefront of the food movement of

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 ...

, facing police atrocities and became arrested. After the

Naxalbari uprising Naxalbari uprising was an armed peasant revolt in 1967 in the Naxalbari block of Siliguri subdivision in Darjeeling district, West Bengal, India. It was mainly led by tribals and the radical communists leaders of Bengal and further developed i ...

in 1967, Roy left the CPI(M). In 1980 he became the general secretary of erstwhile Maoist Communist Centre of India (MCC) and the post he till kept in 1996. Roy also played a pivotal role in the unification of the M.C.C. with the

Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) People's War Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) People's War, usually called People's War Group (PWG), was an underground communist party in India. It merged with the Maoist Communist Centre of India to form the Communist Party of India (Maois ...

Group in 2004. He inaugurated the United CPI (Maoist). Roy was politically active in the state of

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...

and

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ; ) is a state in eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south. It has an area of . It ...

Maoist Maoism, officially called Mao Zedong Thought by the Chinese Communist Party, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed to realise a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of Ch ...

ideologue and was considered to be the senior most leader of the CPI (Maoist).

Arrest

Sushil Roy was arrested from

Konnagar Konnagar is a town and a municipality of Hooghly district in the state of West Bengal in India. Konnagar has a railway station that connect with Howrah. It is under Uttarpara police station in Serampore subdivision. It is a part of the area co ...

railway station in

Hooghly district Hooghly district () is one of the districts of the Indian state of West Bengal. It can alternatively be spelt ''Hoogli'' or ''Hugli''. The district is named after the Hooghly River. The headquarters of the district are at Hooghly-Chinsura (''C ...

in 2005. He was initially sent in Presidency Jail, Kolkata and later granted bail. Afterward, arrested again in the same year by the Jharkhand Police and taken to

Ranchi Ranchi (, ) is the capital of the Indian state of Jharkhand. Ranchi was the centre of the Jharkhand movement, which called for a separate state for the tribal regions of South Bihar, northern Odisha, western West Bengal and the eastern area ...

. He was released for treatment on bail bond in 2012 by the

Jharkhand High Court The Jharkhand High Court is one of the newest high courts in India. It was established in 2000. The court has jurisdiction over Jharkhand state. The seat of the court is at Ranchi, the administrative capital of the state. The court has a sa ...

on the ground of illness when his physical condition was highly deteriorated.

Death

Roy was suffering from

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

since three years. He died at the age of 78 in Urology isolation ward in

All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, also known as AIIMS Delhi, is a public medical research university and hospital in New Delhi, India. The institute is governed by the AIIMS Act, 1956 and operates autonomously under the Min ...

on 18 June 2014. His body was donated to AIIMS according to his wish.

References

{{Communist Party of India (Maoist) 1936 births 2014 deaths Anti-revisionists Communist Party of India (Maoist) politicians Indian guerrillas Indian Marxists Naxalite–Maoist insurgency People from Kolkata