Chitta Basu: A Man Of Determination And Courage

Forward Bloc general secretary Chitta Basu, who died of massive heart attack yesterday, had few personal passions in his life. One of them being his zeal to see that legendry freedom fighter Shubhas Chandra Bose gets his due in his country.

It was Basus pesuasive skills, among others, which saw to it that Boses voice resonates the Central Hall of Parliament on August 15, 1997 when the country was to begin its golden jubilee year celebrattion of its Independence from the clutches of the British.

Before he breathed his last after attending a meeting of Left and other parties in Patna, Basu had already given finishing touches to several articles on Bose, highlighting various facets of Boses life. The last one to be completed was his article highlighting the political views of Bose.

Basus life-long mission was, apart from his espousal of the causes of working class as one of the poineers of the Left movement in the country, was to propagate the views of Bose. And he had planned to publish a series of articles on Bose to commemorate the latters birth centenary.

However, Basu never abandoned his work for the working class and what he perceives was their interests. Even as a member of the United Front steering committee he used to hold forth on most of the issues, successfully on many times.

At the meeting of steering committee on Friday he had vociferously demanded that the government must do more for people below poverty line. A man of courage and determination, as West Bengal chief minister Jyoti Basu put it, Basu joined the Forward Block in 1945 kept his life-long association with the party till his death.

He joined the party central committee in 1952 and rose to become its general secretary in 1977. In between, he entered the West Bengal assembly and the Rajya Sabha. He represented the Barasat Lok Sabha constituency uninterrupted since 1977.