Renowned Marxist thinker Sunit Chopra is no more

Well-known Marxist leader Sunit Chopra is no more with us, he died of a heart attack yesterday on 4th April in Delhi when he was going to Ramlila Maidan to meet his rally colleagues from Delhi Metro. His funeral party will be held today at 4:30 pm in Delhi on 5th April with full honours. He remained dedicated to the working class throughout his life by occupying important positions such as Central Committee member of Marxist Party (CPM) and All India Joint Secretary of Agricultural Laborers Union.

Sunit Chopra, prominent philanthropist Arya Samaji Swami Agnivesh Bhatta united day and night in Dehradun and surrounding districts to organize them for their rights in view of the pitiable condition of the kiln workers. Kiln industry which was completely manual work. In India, the laborer’s family used to get lost in the kilns from generation to generation, that is, once he came to work in the kiln, he remained a slave. In those days the middlemen used to give some money in advance to the family members of these labourers. After that their captive life used to start which continued for generations. Sunit Chopra who came from a socially elite family was highly qualified. In the seventies, he came in contact with Major Jaipal and associated with Marxist ideology. Prakash Karat and Sitaram Yechury joined him in that era, who dedicated themselves to the toiling masses throughout their life.

Sunit Chopra was also studying them socially while working among the kiln workers, most of the laborers who used to work in the kilns were from western Uttar Pradesh, who were also socially and economically weak and neglected there. Were. Dehradun which was a glittering city even in those days, but there was equally darkness, lack and exploitation around it. Behind the bricks with which big luxurious buildings were built, many lives were sacrificing their everything, they were hungry, thirsty. Was working for 18 hours.

Comrade Chopra entrusted the responsibility of organizing the kiln workers to Com. Small and big agitations took place during this period, the kiln owners along with the police and goons attacked us many times and made false cases, but change is the rule, no power can stop it when it has to be changed. However, there should be forces to give it the right direction! After the continuous efforts of Com. Chopra, the slavery system ended.

As a result of the efforts of Sunit Chopra, the kiln workers started organizing in 1982-83 and the kiln workers’ movement gained momentum and hundreds of workers sat on a dharna at the court Dehradun, where today there is a memorial for the martyrs of Uttarakhand. Which was led by the leaders of CITU late Com. Puranchand, Com. After the struggle, we brought the laborers from there, during this the police also pointed a rifle at my chest and threatened to shoot, I faced it fearlessly, then I must have been about 19 years old. Then the next day in the morning, we had reached Banshiwala Bhatta laborers in the car of late Com.

On the spot, Sahaspur police was standing in favor of the kiln owners, as per the pre-planned plan, they took all of us to Sahaspur police station, where they released their hands on Virendra Bhandari, in lieu of which I took retaliatory action against Sahaspur police station in-charge. After some time, many friends including late comrade Raj Sharma reached the police station and the station was surrounded and jammed. On the same day, Minister of Mountain Development Chandra Mohan Singh Negi was to come via Saharanpur Vikas Nagar road for the inauguration of Dehradun Sharadotsav. But due to the traffic jam, the hands and feet of the police and the administration were swollen, understanding the delicacy, the police circle officer UN Singh apologized and assured action against the culprits, then the traffic jam opened. On the same day, in the evening, thousands of working people and student youth surrounded the Sharadotsav with red flags and the siege ended after the minister’s apology, the administration was till now in collusion with the kiln owners, collecting huge money under this guise. He was forced to kneel down. After the talks, the kiln workers got relief and a large number of bonded laborers were freed. In this way their sufferings were redressed to some extent. This movement exposed their sufferings and conditions, even today kiln workers are bound to lead a miserable life due to government policies.

Comrade Chopra kept organizing the common people against the communal and corporate policies in the global society throughout his life. Even though Sunit Chopra is not among us today, his important contribution will be remembered forever.

In 1972, he joined Jawahar University and became a member of the SFI Central Committee and later was one of the founding members and treasurer of the Janwadi Naujawan Sabha of India (DYFI) Central Committee. Played an important role in the construction, he was the president of Indo-Korean Culture and was a pillar of art-literary field.