Senior CPM leader and former West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharya has passed away at the age of 80. Buddhadeva was known for his simplicity in life and strong ideological identity. He stayed away from active politics since the TMC government in the state in 2011. He left the field of politics to a new generation. CPM State Secretary Mohammad Salim has said that the former chief minister had resolved to donate his body after death. As per his resolution, his body donation process will be completed. In this regard, his body will be donated on Friday after the Chakshudan on Thursday.
Buddhadev Bhattacharya’s mortal remains will be donated to Neelarat Government Hospital on Friday afternoon. His body will be handed over to the medical research center of the hospital. His mortal remains are currently kept at Palm Avenue. Where his acquaintances, politicians and relatives are paying their last respects. After the eye donation, his dead body will be preserved for donation on Friday.
Jyoti Basu, Somnath Chatterjee have also donated their bodies.
Buddhadev Bhattacharya is not the first CPM leader to pledge to donate his body after death. Many veteran leaders of CPM had taken this pledge before him. Many famous CPM leaders like former Chief Minister Jyoti Basu, Somnath Chatterjee, Manav Mukhopadhyay, Shyamal Chakraborty, Samar Mukhopadhyay, Anil Biswas, Vinay Chaudhary have donated their bodies. Leaders like Biman Bose, Vikas Ranjan Bhattacharya, Suryakant Mishra have also resolved to maintain the tradition of self-sacrifice.
Why do communist leaders donate their bodies?
There is a social idea behind this practice of body donation by communist leaders. This thinking is the contribution of social movements. This trend started with the campaign of an NGO called Gandarpan. Which was established in 1977. Although many luminaries were associated with this organization, one of them was Braj Roy. Aged just 21, Braj Roy became a member of the undivided Communist Party in 1957. He started the Dehdan movement posthumously three decades later.
The aim of the body donation movement was to make bodies available for research and study in medical science. He campaigned for this purpose throughout West Bengal. Since the Communist Party already had a good influence in West Bengal, their movement was also visible on the ground. Many top leaders joined the campaign and pledged to donate their bodies.
Soon plays were staged by this organization to make common people aware about donation. This added momentum to the campaign. Workers of the organization and leftist leaders including Braj Roy continued to push the campaign forward. It was given the form of a cultural movement. Veteran leftist leaders also joined in and pledged to donate their bodies.
Leftists do not believe in the practice of cremation
Political ideology has also played an important role in the practice of body donation by communist leaders. Generally, after the death of a person, his last rites are performed according to his religion. But the communists reject the religious basis itself and therefore do not accept the cremation system according to religious customs. In such a situation, many communist leaders decided during their lifetime that if they did not accept religious diversity while alive, then why should they do so after death? As a result, the option of body donation came up.
Communists believe that a person grows up in society, so shouldn’t his body be useful to society after death? Under this thinking, communist leaders decided to donate bodies for medical research.
A scientist’s pledge boosted morale
Scientist JBS Holden was also an example for communist leaders. Who died on 1 December 1964. His body was donated after death. Following this, five members of Gandarpan, including Braj Roy, pledged to donate their bodies posthumously for medical research. A social movement began on 5 November 1986, JBS Holden’s 95th birthday, with 34 more people pledging to donate their bodies posthumously.
Many communist leaders joined Braj Rai’s social movement and pledged to donate their bodies. Braj Roy passed away in 2021. But their movement is still going on. Buddhadev Bhattacharya’s determination has given this movement a boost.
