THE 25th Martyrdom day of Comrade Arun Deb was observed throughout the state of Tripura. On this very day in 1990 during the reign of semi fascist terror in the state under the Congress-TUJS government, a member of the SFI Tripura state committee and a reporter of Desher Katha, Comrade Arun was butchered by the Congress goons at a polling booth at Ishanpur of Sadar north. Comrade Arun was serving as the polling agent of the CPI(M) candidate in the general election of the TTAADC. He was murdered brutally as he tried to resist the forceful capturing of the polling booth and rigging by the Congress goons. In the morning, the leaders of the SFI and the TSU paid floral tributes at the martyr’s column in front of Chhatra Yuva Bhavan in Agartala. In the afternoon, a mass meeting in remembrance of Comrade Arun Deb was organised by the SFI and the TSU at Panchabati. Here CPI(M) state secretary and former leader of student movement Bijan Dhar called for intensifying the struggle to strengthen and safeguard the democratic rights for which Comrade Arun Deb had sacrificed his life. The family members of the martyr were felicitated by Bijan Dhar, AIDWA state working president Krishna Rakshit, Pranab Debbarma, president of TYF, SFI state secretary Nabarun Deb, state president Nilanjana Roy and TSU general secretary Tapan Debbarma. Bijan Dhar warned against the BJP’s attempts to make inroads in the state and urged to ensure victory of the Left and democratic forces in the ensuing three tier panchayat elections by winning over more and more people to the camp of peace, harmony, democracy and development, which he said will be the real tribute to Comrade Arun Deb. (RS)