Attempt to Assassinate Jyoti Basu

Jyoti Basu. Pic courtesy Getty Images

NK SINGH

The details of March 31 attempt on the life of Mr Jyoti Basu (at Patna railway station) are well known. At the time of writing, police sources are claiming to be hot on the trails of the assailant.

The den of a group of “extremists” has been raided at Jamsehedpur. The Anand Marga, a socio-religious organisation which is bitterly hostile to the CPM, is also a suspect.

The CPI used the occasion to attack the RSS, the Jana Sangh, the Anand Marg and, of course, the CIA. The parties of right reaction emphasised the point that violence bred violence and that Basu was not only the target of violence but also an instigator of violence.

The meeting of the Bihar State CPM and Kisan Sabha which Basu has come to address was attended by about 15,000 people.

Their 13-point demands include: land reforms, abolition of contract system of labour in coalfields and release of CPM’s MLA A. K. Roy and action against those indicted by the Aiyer and Mudholkar Commissions.

Thanks to the efforts of the kisan leader Ganesh Shankar ‘Vidyarthi’ and labour leader A. K. Roy, the CPM has still some mass base in certain areas.

In the last mid-term poll, the CPM got three members elected on its ticket in a House of 318. One of them defected. So now the party is being represented by two members only – one of whom is in jail.

Excerpts from Frontier 11 April 1970

Editor’s note: Later, Anand Marg's conspiracy was identified behind the assassination attempt.

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