Jyoti Basu: Difference between revisions

{{short description|Indian politician}}

| deputy              = [[Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee]] <br/> (12 January 1999 – 28 October 2000)

| office10            = [[Member of the Legislative Assembly (India)|Member]] of the [[West Bengal Legislative Assembly]]

| predecessor10      = New constituency

| successor10        = [[Sonali Guha]]

| constituency10      = [[Satgachhia (Vidhan Sabha constituency)|Satgachhia]]

| term_start10        = 1977

| term_end10          = 2001

| office11            =  

| predecessor11      = New constituency

| successor11        = [[Shiba Pada Bhattacharjee]]

| constituency11      = [[Baranagar (Vidhan Sabha constituency)|Baranagar]]

| term_start11       = 1952

| term_end11         = 1972

| office12            = [[Politburo of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)|Member of Polit Bureau]], [[Communist Party of India (Marxist)]]

| term_start12        = 1964

| term_end12          = 2008

| order1              =  

| office1            = Deputy Chief Minister of West Bengal

| term_start1        = 25 February 1969

| term_end1           = 16 March 1970

| 1blankname1         = Chief Minister

| 1namedata1         = [[Ajoy Mukherjee]]

| successor1         = [[Buddhadeb Bhattacharya]] (1999)

| office2            =

| office3             = Home Minister of West Bengal

| term_start3        = 21 June 1977  

| term_end3           = 28 October 2000

| term_start4        = 25 February 1969

| term_end4           = 16 March 1970<ref>https://www.hindustantimes.com/india/last-colossus-of-bengal-politics/story-GKtyhH3hut9qqoX0iigw2H_amp.html</ref>

| successor4          = [[Buddhadeb Bhattacharya]]

| office5             = Minister of Planning and Development

| term_start5       = 21 June 1977  

| term_end5           = 28 October 2000  

| office6             = Minister of Finance

| term_start6        = 1982  

| term_end6          = 1984

| successor6         =  [[Ashok Mitra]]

| office13             = Minister of General administration

| term_start13       = 1977

| term_end13       = 2000

| term_start14     =1969

|term_end14 = 1970

| office15             = Minister of Commerce, Industries and Industrial Reconstruction

| term_start15      = 1993

| term_end15          = 2000

| predecessor15= [[Kanailal Bhattacharyya]]

| successor15         =  [[Nirupam Sen]]

| party              = [[Communist Party of India (Marxist)]] <small>(1964–2010)</small><br>[[Communist Party of India]] <small>(1940–1964)</small>

| spouse              = {{married|Basanti Basu|1940|1942|end=d.}}<br>{{marriage|Kamala Basu|1948|2003|end=d.}}

| alma_mater          = {{nowrap|[[Presidency College, Kolkata]]<br>[[University College, London]]<br>[[London School of Economics]]<br>[[Middle Temple]]}}

| profession          = Barrister <br>

'''Jyoti Basu''' (born '''Jyotirindra Basu'''; 8 July 1914 – 17 January 2010)<ref name=":0">[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8151230.stm Obituary: Jyoti Basu] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100118175613/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8151230.stm |date=18 January 2010 }} 17 January 2010 [[BBC News]].</ref> was an [[India]]n politician and one of the most prominent leaders of [[Communism in India|Communist movement in India]].<ref>https://amp.theguardian.com/theguardian/2010/jan/17/jyoti-basu-obituary</ref><ref>https://theprint.in/theprint-profile/jyoti-basu-the-beacon-of-indian-communism-who-almost-became-prime-minister/260008/?amp</ref> He served as the 6th and longest serving [[Chief Minister of West Bengal]] from 1977 to 2000.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|date=17 January 2010|title=Jyoti Basu: The Communist patriarch|url=https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/jyoti-basu-the-communist-patriarch-408021|website=[[NDTV]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Kanjilal|first=Pratik|date=22 January 2010|title=The statesman, not his politics|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india/the-statesman-not-his-politics/story-obDdVZIGQtjqbAnXDOiMTP.html|website=[[Hindustan Times]]|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":20">{{Cite web|date=12 February 2010|title=Tough, yet gentle|url=https://frontline.thehindu.com/cover-story/article30179133.ece|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200615130708/https://frontline.thehindu.com/cover-story/article30179133.ece|archive-date=15 June 2020|website=[[Frontline (magazine)|Frontline]]|publisher=[[The Hindu]]|language=en}}</ref> He was one of the co-founders of the [[Communist Party of India (Marxist)]] and a member of the [[Polit Bureau]] of the party since its inception in 1964 till 2008.<ref name="Will">{{Cite news|url=http://www.hindu.com/2008/04/04/stories/2008040460771200.htm|access-date=6 January 2010|title=Jyoti Basu will continue on Central Committee|newspaper=[[The Hindu]]|publisher=[[The Hindu]]|date=4 April 2008|location=Kolkata|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081101200940/http://www.hindu.com/2008/04/04/stories/2008040460771200.htm|archive-date=1 November 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref> In the political career of Basu spanning over seven decades, he was noted to have been the [[List of longest-serving Indian chief ministers|longest serving chief minister]] in an elected democracy, at the time of his resignation.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Chakrabarty|first=Bidyut|title=Communism in India: Events, Processes and Ideologies|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|year=2014|isbn=978-0-19-939546-0|pages=92|language=en-US}}</ref>{{Efn|Currently, Jyoti Basu is the 2nd longest serving Chief Minister in the history of India, after [[Pawan Kumar Chamling]] of [[Sikkim]].|name=|group=}}

Basu's schooling began in 1920 at [[Loreto Schools, Kolkata|Loreto School]] [[Kindergarten]] in [[Dharmatala]], [[Calcutta]].<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":3" /> His father shortened his name from Jyotirindra to Jyoti during the time of admission.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" /> However, three years later he was shifted to the [[St. Xaviers School, Calcutta]].<ref name=":2" /> He completed his [[intermediate education]] from St. Xaviers in 1932.<ref>{{Cite web|date=17 January 2010|title=ज्योति बसु के बिना भारत में वामपंथ का इतिहास अधूरा|url=https://aajtak.intoday.in/story/without-jyoti-basu-the-history-of-the-left-in-india-is-incomplete-1-24444.html|website=[[Aaj Tak]]|language=hi}}</ref><ref name=":4" /><ref name=":32">{{Cite web|date=17 January 2010|title=Life and times of a Marxist icon|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/kolkata/life-and-times-of-a-marxist-icon/story-gHv92izXE4UyVOBrMEbIjJ.html|website=[[Hindustan Times]]|language=en}}</ref> Subsequently, he took an undergraduate course in English from the [[Hindu College, Calcutta]] (later renamed to Presidency College).<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":4" /> Following his graduation in 1935,<ref>{{Cite news|date=17 January 2010|title=Jyoti Basu: The Marxist who almost became India's PM|language=en-IN|work=The Hindu|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/Jyoti-Basu-The-Marxist-who-almost-became-Indias-PM/article16840016.ece|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200621052631/https://www.thehindu.com/news/Jyoti-Basu-The-Marxist-who-almost-became-Indias-PM/article16840016.ece|archive-date=21 June 2020|issn=0971-751X}}</ref> he acquired admission in the [[University College, London]] (UCL) to study Law and became a barrister at [[Middle Temple]] on 26 January 1940.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":6">{{Cite web|last=Roy|first=Amit|date=18 January 2010|title=The second home - London, the land that turned Basu into a Marxist, was also his favourite holiday destination|url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/the-second-home-london-the-land-that-turned-basu-into-a-marxist-was-also-his-favourite-holiday-destination/cid/555533|website=[[Telegraph India]]|language=en}}</ref> He had already left for India by the time he acquired his barristerial qualification which he received in absentia.<ref name=":6" />

== Early political career (before 1947) ==

On returning to [[Calcutta]], [[India]] in early 1940,<ref name=":02">{{Cite news|last=Yardley|first=Jim|date=17 January 2010|title=Jyoti Basu, Leader of Communists in India, Dies at 95|language=en-US|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/18/world/asia/18basu.html|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Basu enrolled as a barrister at the [[Calcutta High Court]],<ref name=":4" /> and married Basanti Ghosh.<ref name=":8">{{Cite web|date=25 January 2010|title=Jyoti Basu: Marxist politician who combined realpolitik and revolutionary ideas|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/jyoti-basu-marxist-politician-who-combined-realpolitik-and-revolutionary-ideas-1877891.html|website=[[The Independent]]|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> However, in the same year, he also inducted himself as an activist affiliated to the [[Communist Party of India]] (CPI).<ref name=":02" /><ref name=":32" /> His entry into the communist movement at the time had reportedly been in opposition to the wishes of his relatively well off family.<ref name=":32" /><ref name=":9">{{Cite news|title=Jyoti Basu|work=[[The Economist]]|url=https://www.economist.com/obituary/2010/01/21/jyoti-basu|issn=0013-0613}}</ref> Following the [[Meerut conspiracy]] in 1929, the Communist Party had also been made illegal by British authorities,<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":67">{{Cite journal|last=Stolte|first=Carolien|date=1 December 2013|title=Trade Unions on Trial: The Meerut Conspiracy Case and Trade Union Internationalism, 1929-32|journal=Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East|publisher=[[Duke University Press]]|volume=33|issue=3|pages=345–346|doi=10.1215/1089201X-2378130}}</ref> as a result Basu was initially involved in providing liaison and safe houses for underground Communist leaders in the Independence movement.<ref name=":32" /><ref name=":4" /> However soon afterwards, he also became involved in organising railway workers, planning strikes and is described to have preferred [[direct action]] over [[ballot box]] in the initial years.<ref name=":9" /><ref name=":13">{{Cite web|last=Roy|first=Bidyut|date=18 January 2010|title=Communist who almost became PM - Indian Express|url=http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/communist-who-almost-became-pm/568487/0|website=[[Indian Express]]}}</ref>

In the following [[Bengal famine of 1943]], the members of the Communist Party including Basu were involved in famine relief work.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":10">{{Cite journal|last=Simonow|first=Joanna|date=2 January 2020|title=The Great Bengal Famine in Britain: Metropolitan Campaigning for Food Relief and the End of Empire, 1943–44|journal=The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History|publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]]|volume=48|issue=1|pages=168–197|doi=10.1080/03086534.2019.1638622|s2cid=199282464}}</ref> The party also organised "People's Food Committees" which would attempt to force hoarders into releasing their stocks for distribution; Basu participated in the organisation of such committees in [[Calcutta]] and [[Midnapore]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Gupta|first=Ranajit Das|title=Economy, Society, and Politics in Bengal: Jalpaiguri, 1869-1947|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|year=1992|isbn=978-0195628418|pages=286–288}}</ref><ref name=":10" /> According to Basu's testimony, they only had a small organisation at the time and did the best they could while the famine took the lives of over 3 million people.<ref name="Menon">{{Cite news|last=Menon|first=Parvathi|date=18 January 2010|title=The Left Front has provided an alternative model of government: Jyoti Basu|language=en-IN|work=The Hindu|url=https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/The-Left-Front-has-provided-an-alternative-model-of-government-Jyoti-Basu/article16838203.ece|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200619222721/https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/The-Left-Front-has-provided-an-alternative-model-of-government-Jyoti-Basu/article16838203.ece|archive-date=19 June 2020|issn=0971-751X}}</ref> Basu was elected to the Bengal provincial committee of the Communist Party in the same year.<ref name=":32" /> He would later participate in the [[Tebhaga movement]] between 1945–1947 that sought to end the food crisis in Bengal, in a supportive capacity as a [[Trade unionist|railway unionist]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Debroy|first=Bibek|date=20 January 2010|title=Column: A gentleman, then a communist|url=https://www.financialexpress.com/archive/column-a-gentleman-then-a-communist/568782/|website=[[The Financial Express (India)|The Financial Express]]|language=en-US}}</ref>

In 1946, Basu was appointed by the Communist Party to contest as the candidate for the Railway Employee's constituency in the [[Bengal Legislative Assembly]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Nagchoudhury|first=Subrata|date=15 April 1996|title=Jyoti Basu: Rock-solid cadre base assures Left Front that its trusted warhorse will deliver|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/cover-story/story/19960415-jyoti-basu-rock-solid-cadre-base-assures-left-front-that-its-trusted-warhorse-will-deliver-834705-1996-04-15|website=[[India Today]]|language=en}}</ref> He subsequently defeated [[Humayun Kabir]] of the [[Indian National Congress]] and was elected to the assembly.<ref name=":11">{{Cite web|last=Paul|first=Prasanta|date=18 January 2010|title=Man of seeming contradictions|url=https://www.deccanherald.com/content/47407/man-seeming-contradictions.html|website=[[Deccan Herald]]|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=17 January 2010|title=Date with history: chronology of Jyoti Basu's life|url=https://www.news18.com/news/politics/date-with-history-chronology-of-jyoti-basus-life-332197.html|website=[[News18]]}}</ref> He is noted to have given a "soul stirring speech" on the presiding food crisis in the Bengal Assembly;<ref name=":11" /> according to him the only means of solving the issue was to completely dismantle the [[Zamindari system]] and the [[Permanent Settlement]] agreement, and to drive out the British with haste.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Dev|first1=Bimal J.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oo10MkzU5DQC&q=jyoti+basu&pg=PA211|title=Assam Muslims: Politics & Cohesion|last2=Lahiri|first2=Dilip K.|publisher=Mittal Publications|year=1985|location=Delhi 110035|pages=101–103}}</ref> Basu had also organised a continuous railway strike in support of the [[1946 Royal Indian Navy ratings revolt]],<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Vasudevan|first=H.|date=2017|editor-last=Naimark|editor-first=N.|editor2-last=Pons|editor2-first=S.|editor3-last=Quinn-Judge|editor3-first=S.|title=Communism in India|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-history-of-communism/communism-in-india/AABAF545CE8A7E6DAB9AC2B01681613D|journal=The Cambridge History of Communism|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|pages=491–517|doi=10.1017/9781316459850.021|isbn=9781316459850}}</ref><ref name="Menon"/> and later secured the release of various political prisoners on 24 July 1946.<ref name=":13" /><ref name=":14" />

The party was broadly divided into two sections namely the National Front (referred to as the "rightist section") and the Democratic Front (referred to as the "leftist section").<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":38" /> Basu belonging to the latter advocated for radical change to supplant the domination of big landlords, capitalists and monopolists in the Indian [[polity]] and opposed any conditional support for [[Nehruvian socialism|Nehruvian policies]] while denouncing the "[[Revisionism (Marxism)|revisionist]] position" taken by the former to support [[Jawaharlal Nehru]] on certain issues.<ref name=":35">{{Cite web|date=27 January 2010|editor-last=C.G|editor-first=Manoj|title=Basu's first editorial|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/basus-first-editorial/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200718002446/https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/basus-first-editorial/|archive-date=18 July 2020|website=[[The Indian Express]]|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":37" /> The militant food movement in West Bengal also emboldened the leftist anti-Congress section to overwhelm the rightist section which sought tactical cooperation with the Indian National Congress.<ref name=":282" /> On the other hand, with the flare up of the [[Sino-Indian War]], the leftist section of the Communist Party was portrayed as "pro–china" by their opponents from both within and outside the party.<ref name="Namboodiripad's writings">{{cite news|last=Bhaskar|first=B. R. P.|date=16 November 2004|title=Book Review: Namboodiripad's writings|newspaper=[[The Hindu]]|url=http://www.hindu.com/br/2004/11/16/stories/2004111600451403.htm|access-date=14 March 2015}}</ref><ref name=":39" /> Before the outbreak of the war, the section had taken the stance that dialogue and diplomatic partnership with the Chinese would resolve the disputes, however Basu himself was more sceptical and advocated for the adoption of a twin strategy of maintaining the [[border outpost]]s inside Tibet and then engaging in talks using the outposts as a form of leverage ahead of any commencement on a new treaty.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Bhaumik|first=Anirban|date=11 April 2013|title=Jyoti Basu was sceptic about Chinese|url=https://www.deccanherald.com/content/325289/jyoti-basu-sceptic-chinese.html|website=[[Deccan Herald]]|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Basu|first=Pradip|title=Towards Naxalbari (1953-1967): An Account of Inner-party Ideological Struggle|publisher=Progressive Publishers|year=2000|isbn=978-81-86383-76-6|pages=36–47|language=en}}</ref>

The leftist section continued to oppose the Chinese stand on the India-China frontier but was also opposed to providing unconditional support to the [[Fourth Nehru ministry|Nehru government]] because of its "[[Class in Marxist theory|class character]]" contrary to the rightist section which had declared outright support for the central government.<ref name=":39">{{Cite book|last1=Chandra|first1=Bipan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y5JEDxGZTOUC&q=class+charecter|title=India After Independence: 1947-2000|last2=Mukherjee|first2=Mridula|last3=Mukherjee|first3=Aditya|publisher=Penguin UK|year=2000|isbn=978-93-5118-120-0|pages=202–208|language=en}}</ref> This stance of the leftist section came as dissatisfactory to the Nehru government which had imposed a state of [[national emergency]] and introduced the [[Defence of India Ordinance, 1962]], and henceforth utilised them to imprison various opposition leaders and activists as well as [[Chinese Indian internment|Chinese Indian citizens]].<ref name=":40">{{Cite book|last=Omar|first=Imtiaz|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o6-wZP7Tz8YC&q=1962|title=Emergency Powers and the Courts in India and Pakistan|date=28 March 2002|publisher=[[Martinus Nijhoff Publishers]]|isbn=978-90-411-1775-5|pages=85–96|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":38">{{Cite web|last=Daniyal|first=Shoaib|date=26 April 2015|title=As CPI and CPI-M mull merger, a short history of how they split up in the first place|url=http://scroll.in/article/722209/as-cpi-and-cpi-m-mull-merger-a-short-history-of-how-they-split-up-in-the-first-place|website=[[Scroll.in]]|language=en-US}}</ref> Basu was imprisoned among other major communist leaders such as the former [[List of chief ministers of Kerala|chief minister]] of Kerala, [[E. M. S. Namboodiripad]], the organisational specialist [[Promode Dasgupta]], the [[Indian revolutionary movement|Indian revolutionary]] freedom fighter, [[Benoy Choudhury]], the [[Telangana revolutionaries]], [[Puchalapalli Sundarayya]] and [[Makineni Basavapunnaiah]] as well as some members of the rightist section such as the trade unionist [[A. B. Bardhan]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Sharma|first=Pranay|date=22 October 2012|title=Dialectical Schism|url=https://www.outlookindia.com/magazine/story/dialectical-schism/282594|website=[[Outlook India]]}}</ref><ref name=":37" /><ref name=":4" /> Basu reportedly received the news of his father's death during this time in prison.<ref name=":4" /> Although, the war ended in November 1962, the detainees were only released in December 1963 after an order from the [[Supreme Court of India]].<ref name=":40" />

With the initiation of the [[Jayaprakash Narayan]] (JP)'s movement, the CPI-M began providing support to it and went on to participate in discussions for the creation of a united front under the umbrella of the [[Janata Party]]. Several of the leaders of the CPI-M were also influenced by JP with Basu noted to be one of his prominent admirers having worked under him in the [[All India Railwaymen's Federation]] during the 1940s.<ref name=":582" /> The involvement of the [[Hindutva|Hindutva movement]] however complicated matters, according to JP the formal inclusion of the marxists who had underwent a splintering and whose organisation was localised in particular region would have been detrimental to the movement as the [[Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh]] members would switch sides if they joined.<ref name=":582" /><ref>{{Cite book|last=Prakash|first=Gyan|title=Emergency Chronicles: Indira Gandhi and Democracy's Turning Point|date=8 December 2018|publisher=[[Princeton University Press]]|isbn=978-93-5305-351-2|language=en|author-link=Gyan Prakash}}</ref> JP and Basu eventually came to an agreement that the CPI-M would not formally join the Janata Party as it would weaken the movement.<ref name=":582" /> After the revocation of the emergency, the CPI-M joined an electoral alliance with the Janata Party in the [[1977 Indian general election]] which resulted in an overwhelming victory for the Janata Alliance.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Blair|first=Harry W.|date=April 1980|title=Mrs Gandhi's Emergency, The Indian Elections of 1977, Pluralism and Marxism: Problems with Paradigms|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/modern-asian-studies/article/mrs-gandhis-emergency-the-indian-elections-of-1977-pluralism-and-marxism-problems-with-paradigms/908EF9B139D645655C3336A4D17F2FAE|journal=Modern Asian Studies|language=en|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|volume=14|issue=2|pages=237–271|doi=10.1017/S0026749X00007320|issn=1469-8099}}</ref>

Between 1977–1980, Basu oversaw the identification of nearly 1 million [[acres]] of ceiling surplus land and its subsequent redistribution.<ref name=":292">{{Cite journal|last=Patnaik|first=Utsa|date=2010|title=Jyoti Basu and Bengal|journal=Social Scientist|volume=38|issue=7/8|pages=56–60|jstor=27866723|issn=0970-0293}}</ref> The number of landless rural households decreased by 35% during this period.<ref name=":55">{{Cite journal|last=Lieten|first=G. K.|date=1990|title=Depeasantisation Discontinued: Land Reforms in West Bengal|journal=Economic and Political Weekly|volume=25|issue=40|pages=2265–2271|jstor=4396841|issn=0012-9976}}</ref>

The Left Front government also identified 247,000 acres of readily reclaimable lands mostly in the Sundarban area ([[Ganges Delta]]) for the resettlement of 136,000 agriculturist refugees from [[East Pakistan]].<ref name=":43">{{Cite journal|last=Mallick|first=Ross|date=1999|title=Refugee Resettlement in Forest Reserves: West Bengal Policy Reversal and the Marichjhapi Massacre|journal=The Journal of Asian Studies|volume=58|issue=1|pages=104–125|doi=10.2307/2658391|jstor=2658391|issn=0021-9118}}</ref><ref name=":44">{{Cite journal|last=Sengupta|first=Debjani|date=1 February 2011|title=From Dandakaranya to Marichjhapi: rehabilitation, representation and the partition of Bengal (1947)|journal=Social Semiotics|publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]]|volume=21|issue=1|pages=101–123|doi=10.1080/10350330.2011.535673|s2cid=144730817|issn=1035-0330}}</ref> Under the tenure of [[Bidhan Chandra Roy]], many of the refugees had been relocated to refugee camps in [[Dandakaranya]] and the Left Front government had taken up their cause for resettlement in West Bengal.<ref name=":43" /> Initially Basu and the Left Front government approved voluntary resettlement in the identified lands by the refugees from the Dandakaranya camps to the extent of actively encouraging them to do so,<ref name=":44" /><ref name=":50">{{Cite book|last=Butalia|first=Urvashi|title=Partition: The Long Shadow|date=24 February 2015|publisher=Penguin UK|isbn=978-93-5118-949-7|language=en|chapter=6. Reconstructing Marichjhapi}}</ref> however the implementation of the resettlement process turned lackluster and was bottle-necked with revised priorities for [[environmental protection]] in the [[Sundarbans]].<ref name=":43" /><ref name=":44" /> In a significant development between 1978–1979, a large group of these impoverished refugees who had returned to Bengal seeking resettlement from Dandakaranya had illegally occupied land on the remote island of [[Marichjhanpi]] and refused eviction.<ref name=":50" /><ref name=":44" /> In January 1979, following an economic blockade, the government conducted a forcible eviction leading to the death of several refugees in the consequent abuse by [[Police officer|police personnel]].<ref name=":44" /> The incident led to sharp criticism of the government and raised controversy in the [[News media|media]], [[Parliamentary opposition|the opposition]] as well as from within members of the Left Front coalition.<ref name=":43" /> The demand for a formal investigation into the eviction was however denied by the government with Basu convinced that it was greatly exaggerated by the media;<ref name=":44" /><ref name=":43" /> in the end the official figure put the deaths at 2 but the lack of an investigation led to various other estimates to circulate on the killing years afterwards.<ref name=":44" /><ref name=":43" />

In the 1990s when the government of [[VP Singh]] cleared the ways of [[Mandal Commission]] there was [[Mandal Commission protests of 1990]] in West Bengal and also the silence of Basu triggered him at that time as there was a big problem as the [[CPI (M)]] was popular among both the classes of the society and [[CPI (M)]] supported the verdict.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=2015-06-05|title=Mandal Commission and Left Front in West Bengal|url=https://www.epw.in/journal/1991/8/roots-specials/mandal-commission-and-left-front-west-bengal.html|journal=Economic and Political Weekly|language=en|volume=26|issue=8|pages=7–8}}</ref> Basu who was the leader of the upper caste as he himself belonged to upper-caste [[Kayastha]] community  didn't see the matter properly and there were also upcoming Elections in the [[West Bengal]]. Later Basu made the decision against the Commission and that led to inner break in the [[Communist Party of India (Marxist)]] as the Kerela unit was in favour of the decision and after Basu also known to be a portal of "Anti-Dalits".<ref>{{Cite web|last1=September 30|first1=Prabhl Chawla|last2=September 30|first2=1990 ISSUE DATE|last3=October 1|first3=1990UPDATED|last4=Ist|first4=2013 17:39|title=Mandal Commission: Political parties polarised along caste lines, states rocked by violence|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/special-report/story/19900930-mandal-commission-political-parties-polarised-along-caste-lines-states-rocked-by-violence-813092-1990-09-30|access-date=2020-10-10|website=India Today|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=1998-02-01|title=Left Front is no friend of Dalits|url=https://www.sabrangindia.in/column/left-front-no-friend-dalits|access-date=2020-10-10|website=SabrangIndia|language=en}}</ref> And his Chief ministership was vandalised and he was called upon even for the [[Marichjhapi massacre]] for which his votes of the [[Dalit]] was challenged.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Forgotten Massacre of Dalit Refugees in West Bengal's Marichjhapi|url=https://thewire.in/history/west-bengal-violence-marichjhapi-dandakaranya|access-date=2020-10-10|website=The Wire}}</ref>{{Efn|Once the Left front came to power in 1978, the refugees started to return to Bengal in huge numbers. But the Left Front meanwhile changed its policy on refugee settling and considered the refugees as a burden to the state, as the refugees were not the citizen of West Bengal but India.<ref>{{cite document|first=Chowdhury|last=Debdatta (2011)|title=Space, identity, territory: Marichjhapi Massacre, 1979". The International Journal of Human Rights. 15 (5)|page= 664–682|doi=10.1080/13642987.2011.569333|s2cid=144052321}}</ref> An approximately 150,000, almost all of Dandakaranya refugees arrived (where most of them were deported back). In the meanwhile approximately 40,000 refugees went south and camping for few months in Hasnabad settled in Marichjhapi (renamed by them as "Netaji Nagar"), a protected place under Reserve Forest Act. A survivor claims that there were only shrubs on the island when they came. They were involved in fishing and had built schools and hospitals.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://scroll.in/article/923325/we-were-attacked-thrice-a-survivors-story-of-the-left-front-governments-siege-of-marichjhapi|title= We were attacked thrice': A survivor's story of the Left Front government's siege of Marichjhapi|website=Scroll.in}}</ref>|name=|group=lower-alpha}}

Basu was [[Chief Minister of West Bengal]] for consecutively 5 times and every time [[Member of Legislative Assembly (India)|Member of Legislative Assembly]] from the [[Satgachhia (Vidhan Sabha constituency)]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=[1]|url=http://eci.nic.in/delim/Final_Publications/WestBengal/FINAL%20ORDER%20NOTIFICATION_English.pdf}}</ref> Before that he was MLA from [[Baranagar (Vidhan Sabha constituency)|Baranagar]] seat for 6 times.<ref>http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/-72-baranagar-hero-regrets-defeating-basu/569021/</ref>

== Later life ==

 

=== Post–resignation (2000–2010) ===

[[File:Ashesh Prasad Mitra - Jyoti Basu - Saroj Ghose - Science City - Calcutta 1996-12-21 080.tif|thumb|253x253px|Jyoti Basu with [[Saroj Ghose]] and [[Ashesh Prosad Mitra]] in Calcutta.]]

The 18th congress of CPI(M), held in Delhi in 2005, re-elected Basu to its Politburo, although he had requested acceptance for his retirement. On 13 September 2006, his request for retirement due to age was turned down by the CPI(M), the general secretary [[Prakash Karat]] stated that the party wanted that Basu should continue till at least the 2008 congress.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Bhaumik|first=Subir|date=11 September 2006|title=Left veteran just wants to retire|newspaper=[[BBC News]]|publisher=BBC|location=Calcutta|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5343190.stm|url-status=live|access-date=6 January 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100126073944/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5343190.stm|archive-date=26 January 2010}}</ref> In the 19th congress held in early April 2008, Basu was eventually dis-included from the Politburo, although his membership in the Central Committee was not revoked. He was also granted the designation of Special Invitee to the Politburo, a form of [[emeritus]] status within the CPI(M).<ref name="Will" /><ref name="Nine">{{Cite news|last=Chatterjee|first=Manini|date=3 April 2008|title=Nine to none, founders' era ends in CPM|newspaper=[[The Telegraph (Kolkata)|The Telegraph]]|location=Calcutta|url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080404/jsp/frontpage/story_9094771.jsp|url-status=live|access-date=6 January 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100221050425/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080404/jsp/frontpage/story_9094771.jsp|archive-date=21 February 2010}}</ref>

 

On 1 January 2010, Basu was admitted to AMRI hospital ([[Bidhannagar, Kolkata]]) after he was diagnosed with [[pneumonia]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/jyoti_basu_unwell.php|access-date=6 January 2010|title=Jyoti Basu admitted to hospital|newspaper=[[NDTV]]|publisher=[[NDTV]]|date=1 January 2010|location=Kolkata|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120926132449/http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/jyoti_basu_unwell.php|archive-date=26 September 2012|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/Jyoti-Basu-put-on-ventilator-condition-serious/H1-Article1-494282.aspx|access-date=6 January 2010|title=Jyoti Basu put on ventilator, condition serious|location=Kolkata|date=6 January 2010|agency=[[Press Trust of India]]|newspaper=[[Hindustan Times]]|publisher=[[HT Media]]|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605011134/http://www.hindustantimes.com/Jyoti-Basu-put-on-ventilator-condition-serious/H1-Article1-494282.aspx|archive-date=5 June 2011}}</ref> On 16 January 2010, it was reported that he was suffering from multiple organ failure and that his health condition had become extremely critical. Seventeen days after being taken ill, he died on 17 January 2010 at 11:47&nbsp;am IST. Biman Bose announced with tears, "জ্যোতি বাবু আমাদের ছেড়ে চলে গেছেন।" (trans. "Jyoti Babu is no more. I can't speak any more.")<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/nation/CPM-patriarch-Jyoti-Basu-passes-away/articleshow/5455079.cms|access-date=17 January 2010|title=CPM patriarch Jyoti Basu passes away|newspaper=[[The Economic Times]]|publisher=[[The Economic Times]]|date=17 January 2010|location=Kolkata|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100120082326/http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/nation/CPM-patriarch-Jyoti-Basu-passes-away/articleshow/5455079.cms|archive-date=20 January 2010|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh paying homage to the former Chief Minister of West Bengal, late Shri Jyoti Basu, in New Delhi on January 18, 2010.jpg|thumb|255x255px|Condolences by [[Manmohan Singh]] (right) and [[Sitaram Yechury]] (left).]]

 

The death was followed by public mourning on an unprecedented scale. Draped in the national flag, Basu's body was escorted through the streets of Calcutta on a gun carriage. However, the time schedule went awry in his last moments as lakhs of people thronged the streets of central Kolkata to pay their last respects. Police and volunteers wore a helpless look as a sea of people poured in from every possible corner of the city.{{Efn|Death of Jyoti Basu.|name=|group=lower-alpha}}<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.dailypioneer.com/230600/W-Bengal-bids-tearful-adieu-to-Jyoti-Basu.html|access-date=15 August 2010|title=W Bengal bids tearful adieu to Jyoti Basu|newspaper=The Pioneer|date=20 January 2010|location=Kolkata|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222135926/http://www.dailypioneer.com/230600/W-Bengal-bids-tearful-adieu-to-Jyoti-Basu.html|archive-date=22 December 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> The Army escorted the cortege from the State Assembly to the Maidan through Red Road. At MoharKunj, arrangements for the state Funeral had been made. The army buglers performed the last post as twenty one Gurkha troops fired a 21 volley rifle salute. A day of Mourning was declared nationwide and President [[Pratibha Patil]] along with Prime Minister [[Manmohan Singh]] expressed their condolences.<ref name="Nation mourns Jyoti Basu's death">{{Cite news|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/Nation-mourns-Jyoti-Basu-s-death/Article1-498569.aspx|access-date=15 August 2010|title=Nation mourns Jyoti Basu's death|newspaper=Hindustan Times|date=17 January 2010|location=Kolkata|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606142142/http://www.hindustantimes.com/Nation-mourns-Jyoti-Basu-s-death/Article1-498569.aspx|archive-date=6 June 2011}}</ref>

 

Basu had pledged to donate his body and eyes for medical research on 4 April 2003 at a function organised by Ganadarpan and Susrut Eye Foundation in Kolkata and not to be burned at a crematorium. His eyes are donated to Susrut Eye Foundation.<ref>{{cite news|title=Basu to donate his body for research|url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2003-04-04/kolkata/27272095_1_body-for-medical-research-jyoti-basu-organs |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110517175853/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2003-04-04/kolkata/27272095_1_body-for-medical-research-jyoti-basu-organs |url-status=dead |archive-date=17 May 2011 |work=[[The Times of India]]| date=4 April 2003}}</ref> He is survived by his son Chandan, daughter-in-law Rakhi, grand daughters Payel (Mallika Basu), Doyel (Bithika Basu) and Koyel (Juthika Basu),<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/culture/masala-moments/cid/497990|title=Masala moments|website=www.telegraphindia.com|language=en|access-date=30 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181030170616/https://www.telegraphindia.com/culture/masala-moments/cid/497990|archive-date=30 October 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> offspring of his first daughter-in-law Dolly (separated with son Chandan in 1998), and grand son Subhojyoti, offspring of daughter-in-law Rakhi.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/nation/CPM-patriarch-Jyoti-Basu-passes-away/articleshow/5455079.cms | title=CPM patriarch Jyoti-Basu passes away | work=The Times of India | date=17 January 2010 | access-date=17 January 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100120082326/http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/nation/CPM-patriarch-Jyoti-Basu-passes-away/articleshow/5455079.cms | archive-date=20 January 2010 | url-status=live | df=dmy-all }}</ref> His second wife Kamala Basu had died on 1 October 2003. Basu's body was kept at 'Peace Haven' for those who wanted to pay their respects. His body was handed over to [[SSKM Hospital]], Kolkata for research on 19 January 2010 around 16:50&nbsp;pm IST after a [[guard of honour]] at the nearby Moharkunja park (formerly, citizens' park).<ref>{{cite news| title=Larger than life| newspaper=[[The Daily Star (Bangladesh)|The Daily Star]]|location=[[Dhaka]]|access-date=7 June 2010 | date=20 January 2010|url=http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=122674}}</ref> The hospital authority is considering preserving his brain.<ref>{{cite web|title=Doctors mull preserving Basu's brain|work=sify.com|url=http://sify.com/news/doctors-mull-preserving-jyoti-basu-s-brain-news-national-kbtuNhjgaha.html|date=19 January 2010|access-date=7 June 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100124033655/http://sify.com/news/doctors-mull-preserving-jyoti-basu-s-brain-news-national-kbtuNhjgaha.html|archive-date=24 January 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref>

 

**[[Venu Srinivasan]], CII president: "The nation has lost one of the tallest leaders and CII is grieved by this great loss to the political leadership of the country. India’s longest-serving chief minister Jyoti Basu, served as the chief minister of West Bengal between 1977-2000. During his tenure, the state has made significant progress towards inclusive growth and development."

*''Mother Teresa award'' (2001)<ref>https://m.timesofindia.com/city/kolkata/jyoti-basu-receives-mother-teresa-award/articleshow/115781339.cms</ref>

*''D.Litt'', 2007, from [[University of Calcutta]]<ref>https://m.timesofindia.com/city/kolkata/basu-accepts-cu-honour/articleshow/1965770.cms</ref>

====National awards ====

**[[Guard of honour]] (2010)<ref>https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/Kolkata-set-to-give-Basu-the-last-salute/article16838213.ece/amp/</ref><ref>https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2010/jan/19/india-bids-tumultuous-adieu-to-jyoti-basu-162095.amp</ref>

====Foreign awards====

** [[Awards and decorations of the Bangladesh Liberation War|Friends of Liberation War Honour]] (2012)<ref>https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/south-asia/castro-basu-among-those-honoured-by-bangladesh/article4544641.ece/amp/</ref>

*''Janaganer Sange:A Political Memoir'', autobiography, two volumes<ref>https://books.google.co.in/books/about/Jyoti_Basu_with_the_People.html?id=zDVuAAAAMAAJ&redir_esc=y</ref><ref>http://worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n82142351/</ref> (articles written by Jyoti Basu in [[Ganashakti]], compiled as a book)

*''Jatadur Mone pore'', autobiography<ref>https://www.indiatoday.in/amp/magazine/news-makers/story/20170925-jyoti-basu-communist-party-of-india-marxist-west-bengal-1044935-2017-09-15</ref>

*''MEMORIES: The Ones That Have Lasted, a political autobiography''<ref>https://books.google.co.in/books/about/Memoirs_a_Political_Autobiography.html?id=46BuAAAAMAAJ&redir_esc=y</ref><ref>http://worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n82142351/</ref>

*''Bamfront Sarkar 15 Years'', 1993<ref>https://www.scribd.com/document/364146244/Bamfront-Sarkar-15-Years-Jyoti-Basu</ref>

*''People's power in practice : 20 years of Left Front in West Bengal''<ref>http://worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n82142351/</ref>

*''Jyoti Basu speaks''<ref>http://worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n82142351/</ref>

*''Subversion of parliamentary democracy in West Bengal''<ref>http://worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n82142351/</ref>

In 2010, Rajarhat New Town was named after Jyoti Basu as "Jyoti Basu Nagar" in the presence of then chief minister [[Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee]].<ref>https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/Town-named-after-Jyoti-Basu/article15773178.ece/amp/</ref>

[[Government of Bangladesh]] created 201-member "Comred Jyoti Basu Nagarik Sangsad" in the name of Basu, featuring Chief Justice of [[Bangladesh Supreme Court]] [[Muhammad Habibur Rahman]] as Convener.<ref>https://www.bongnews24x7.com/special-copy-about-comrade-jyoti-basu/amp/</ref><ref>Doinik Ittefauq, [[Dhaka]], 26 January, P. 19-20</ref>

A research institute has been named after Jyoti Basu naming "Jyoti Basu Centre of Social Studies and Research" in [[New Town, Kolkata|Newtown]], West Bengal.<ref>https://www.telegraphindia.com/amp/west-bengal/calcutta/land-allotted-for-research-unit-in-jyoti-basu-name-in-new-town/cid/1823483</ref>

[[Centre of Indian Trade Unions]] along with Haldia Regional Committee released an album on Jyoti Basu in 2000.  

In 2005, Gautam Ghosh made a documentary film named "Jyoti Basur Sange" (trans. A journey with Jyoti Basu"), which was screened at Nandan on 31 April 2005 and at another auditorium in Memari.<ref>https://m.timesofindia.com/city/kolkata/ive-framed-history-in-basu-film-goutam/articleshow/5474819.cms</ref> The film tracks Basu’s childhood days in Bangladesh, student life in London and political career in Calcutta. The writer Goutam Ghose trailed Jyoti Basu for eight years, from 1997 to 2004, across campaigns and countries for making the documentary. <ref>https://www.telegraphindia.com/west-bengal/a-journey-with-him-the-man-who-fascinated-goutam-ghose/cid/1267828</ref>

{{Sister project links|display=Jyoti Basu|wikt=no|c=Common:Jyoti Basu|commonscat=Category:Jyoti Basu|n=no|q=Jyoti Basu|s=no|author=no|b=no|voy=no|v=no|d=y|position=right}}

| title = Member of the politburo of <br/>[[Communist Party of India (Marxist)]]