Sudhangshu Dasgupta (1912 – 2003) was an Indian communist and freedom fighter. He was a

Communist Party of India (Marxist) The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (abbreviated as CPI(M)) is a Communism in India, communist List of political parties in India, political party in India. It is the largest communist party in India in terms of membership and electora ...

leader and founder of the ''Desh Hitaishee'', journal of West Bengal Communist Party. Dasgupta joined

Communist Party of India The Communist Party of India (CPI) is a political party in India. The CPI considers the Foundation of the Communist Party of India, December 26, 1925 Cawnpore (Kanpur) conference as its foundation date. Between 1946 and 1951, the CPI led m ...

in 1936.

Early life and education

Dasgupta was born in

Barishal Barisal ( or ; , ), officially known as Barishal, is a major city that lies on the banks of the Kirtankhola river in south-central Bangladesh. It is the largest city and the administrative headquarter of both Barisal District and Barisal Divi ...

on 30 January 1912. His father Motilal Dasgupta was an established

kabiraj Kabiraj is an occupational title found in persons of eastern Indian subcontinent. In older days, people traditionally practising Ayurveda were generally called ''kabi'' in the eastern Indian Subcontinent. Many of them were attached to royal cou ...

. He attended Banipith School in Barishal and passed Matriculation in 1927. He passed I. Sc. from

Brojomohun College Govt. Brojomohun College, Barishal, commonly known as BM College, is one of the oldest institutions of higher education in Bangladesh. It is located in the city of Barishal in south-western Bangladesh. History On June 14, 1889, Ashwini Kumar Dut ...

in 1929. He attended Carmichael Medical College (now called R. G. Kar Medical College) in Calcutta to study medicine. While in Calcutta, he joined the freedom struggle of India and was sent to Andaman Cellular Jail. After returning, he passed his BA and MA examinations in 1936 and 1938 from the

University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta, informally known as Calcutta University (), is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Kolkata, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal, India. It has 151 affiliated undergraduate c ...

Political career

In his student life, he joined the anti-imperialist struggle. He came in contact with Satish Pakrashi, Pannalal Dasgupta, Niranjan Sengupta. In 1930, in connection with the Mechuabazar Bomb Case, he and 23 others were arrested. In 1932, He was sent to the Andaman Cellular jail with other revolutionaries where he became acquainted with Communist ideas. He was one of the members of

Communist Consolidation Communist Consolidation (19351938) was a radical communist organization, founded by the prisoners of the Cellular Jail who got influenced by the philosophy of Marxism. In the mid-1930s, it became the largest resistance group against British r ...

, an Indian communist organisation, founded by

Hare Krishna Konar Hare Krishna Konar (ISO 15919, ISO: ''Harē Kr̥iṣṇā Kōṅār'', ; 5 August 191523 July 1974), also known as H. K. Konar, was an Indian Communist revolution, Marxist revolutionary, Agriculturist, agricultural theorist, peasant leader, and ...

in 1935 among with the prisoners of

Andaman Andaman may refer to: * Andaman Islands, an island group in the Bay of Bengal * Andaman Island, Penang, an artificial island in George Town, Penang * Andaman Sea, a sea of the eastern Indian Ocean * ''Andaman'' (1998 film), an Indian Kannada-lang ...

Cellular Jail The Cellular Jail, also known as Kālā Pānī (), was a British colonial prison in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The prison was used by the colonial government of India for the purpose of exiling criminals and political prisoners. Many ...

. Dasgupta joined the Communist Party in 1936 and started working in the worker's movements. In 1939, when "''Samne Chalo''", the weekly mouthpiece of CPI was launched under the editorship of Abdul Halim, he became associated with it. He was associated with many magazines like "''Janajuddha''" (1942), "''Swadhinata''" (1945), "''Crossroad''" (1953). He was the founder editor of the Desh Hitaishee, the ideological journal of the West Bengal state committee of the Party in 1963. He took a firm stand against revisionism and became a member of the CPI(M) state committee in 1964 and continued in that position till his death. He was also a member of the state secretariat for a period. He was also associated with "''

Ganashakti ''Ganashakti Patrika'' (1967–present) is an Indian Bengali daily newspaper published from Kolkata, West Bengal, India. The paper is an organ of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (abbrev ...

''" in 1967. He wrote numerous books on Marxism in Bengali including: * "Marxbadi: Ki o keno?" * "Communist Manifesto Prosongo" * "Swadhinata sangrame soshostro biplobider bhumika" * "Comrade, somoy kothay?" * "Samajtantra Ke Keno Ebang Kon Pathey" His wife was Communist leader Madhuri Devi. She died in 2013.

References

Communist Party of India (Marxist) politicians from West Bengal 1912 births 2003 deaths University of Calcutta alumni Communist Party of India politicians from West Bengal People from Barisal District Brojomohun College alumni Indian Marxist writers 20th-century Indian politicians 20th-century Indian male writers {{WestBengal-politician-stub