Red Salute to Comrade Anarul Islam
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THE Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) issued a statement on February 14, saluting the martyrdom of Comrade Anarul Islam who was brutally killed by the West Bengal police during his participation in the SKM-CTU joint mobilisation and civil-disobedience action held peacefully on February 13, 2024, in Domkal, Murshidabad district, West Bengal. This programme was part of a nationwide joint worker-peasant action programme protesting against the anti-people destructive policies of the BJP government at the centre.
The peaceful protest, organised to voice opposition to the barbaric policy regime of the BJP government, was violently attacked by the TMC government of West Bengal, which pursues similar authoritarian and anti-people policies. CITU strongly condemns this attack by the TMC regime.
Comrade Anarul Islam, aged 53, has become the first martyr of the current phase of SKM-CTU's joint programmes due to the brutal attack perpetrated by the TMC-run West Bengal government.
In light of the upcoming higher secondary examination in West Bengal, the Bengal units of SKM-CTUs constituents collectively made the decision to advance the nationwide worker-peasant agitation originally scheduled for February 16, to February 13, 2024. Comrade Anarul Islam, an agricultural worker and an active member of All India Agricultural Workers’ Union (AIAWU), participated in the programme. The SKM-CTU mobilisation aimed to reach the district headquarters at Baharampur, Murshidabad, at the Textile Mod. The state police erected steel barricades there. Subsequently, without any provocation, the police resorted to a heavy lathi charge and tear-gas shelling on the peaceful demonstrators as the procession reached the spot.
The Bengal police aggressively targeted SKM-CTU leaders, leading to over 60 protesters sustaining grievous injuries in the face of barbaric police repression. Six protesters with severe injuries were promptly rushed to the district hospital. Comrade Anarul Islam was initially admitted to Islampur Hospital, but due to deteriorating health conditions, he was later transferred to Domkal Hospital. His condition continued to worsen, and he was eventually referred to Baharampur Hospital, where he was declared brought dead.
CITU vehemently condemns the police brutality and undemocratic coercive actions of the West Bengal government, which has gained notoriety for its habitual highhandedness and atrocities aimed at suppressing any form of dissent or protest. Despite these oppressive measures, the joint action programme of SKM-CTUs was successfully conducted in West Bengal, marked by massive and militant mobilisations of workers, peasants, and agricultural workers. Every district headquarters in Bengal saw the active participation of thousands of workers, peasants, and ordinary citizens in the mobilisation against the anti-worker, anti-farmer, and anti-people destructive policies, as well as the misrule of the ruling dispensation.
The martyrdom of Comrade Anarul Islam will not be in vain; instead, it will provide impetus and unwavering resilience to the nationwide February 16th joint class action in other states.
CITU once again pays respectful homage to Comrade Anarul Islam and extends deep condolences to his family, comrades, and friends. CITU urges all constituents of SKM-CTUs to express their solidarity and rise in collective rage on February 16, during the countrywide joint action programme, transforming it into a strong action in the protracted battle against the corporate-communal nexus at the centre.
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