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SRIKANT—a man
born into a lower middle class peasant family in village Periyari in Jehanabad
district was known to his comrades as a man of convictions and to the masses as
a fierce fighter for the oppressed. The boy who was an average student in his
village school was very sensitive towards the plight of dalits and simmered with
hatred when he saw the feudal lords oppressing and terrorising them. Even during
his college days he could not develop a keen interest in his studies and did not
think of a career in the prevailing social environment but yearned to work for a
change in the suffocating social set-up. He felt that the environment of social
neglect and callousness had little to offer him. He always seethed with hatred
towards the oppressors and started looking for a force which could give vent to
his feelings by translating them into action. For a period he worked with the
Shoshit Samaj Dal but soon found that it was unlikely to become an instrument of
change. He remained restless within and appeared calm in the face. Then, on one
day he came in contact with the revolutionaries. At once he decided to plunge
whole heartedly into the movement. From then on he never looked back. Now, he
had his cause and had found his fellow-travellers. He left college in 1979 and
joined the underground. The old Party Unity took him in its fold and he started
organising the poor in Karpi and Paliganj Area, as an underground activist of
the party.
For two decades he
worked among the poor masses of the Magadh. Srikant alias Vijay (his real name)
alias Sadan became a fierce fighter for the cause of the down trodden. In 1982
he became the secretary of the party unit of Karpi block and concurrently a
member of the Jehanabad Mashauri Area Committee. When the first red detachment
was formed in Jehanabad he was one of its members. When a block-level squad was
formed in Karpi he was given the responsibility to command it. All the
anti-feudal struggles in Karpi-Pali-Arwal area saw in him a promising leader, a
dedicated fighter, that played an important role in fighting against the private
armies of the feudal lords, namely the Bhoomi Sena, Lorik Sena, Brahasm Ridohi
Sena and Ranvir Sena.
In one of the
important guerrilla operations he got seriously injured in 1987 when the party
had decided to wipe-out the Sehja-Ashloke gang of feudal lord marauders. In 1990
he was arrested by the police but came out of prison in mid-1992 and again
disappeared among the masses and continued to participate in the armed guerrilla
actions of the party. He was elected to the State Committee in 1992 and was
discharging his duties as Incharge of the Magadh Sena Sanchalan Team, till his
last days. He achieved martyrdom fighting the enemy heroically and proved in his
death also the staunchness of a dedicated fighter for the cause of Indian
Revolution.
Srikant was not a
fighter who fought with the gun only. He fought against social evils too by
setting an unprecedented example of social reform in the area, by marrying a
widow. For him the liberation of women did not stop at reform only. He continued
to ideologically convince his life-partner to coninue the march towards
liberation through assuming the role of a professional revolutionary. His wife
became his comrade-in-arms when she too plunged into the revoluntionary movement
as a professional, and is there today amidst the oppressed masses continuing the
cause of revolution.
During his jail time
too, comrade Srikant continued to play an active part in organising his fellow
inmates against the inhuman treatment meted out to them. He organised a
committee in the jail, held people’s courts and went on hunger strikes for the
rights of prisoners. Due to his continuous revolutionary activities he was
transferred to the distant Bhagalpur Central jail.
When Srikant achieved
martyrdom along with his 10 comrades he was on an important mission. He and his
squad was suddenly attacked by the reactionary state police from all sides when
they were taking rest in a house. Two policemen were also felled by the bullets
of the revolutionaries. Yet the loss is great as far as the movement in Bihar is
concerned. The martyrdom of Srikant has left a gap as he was a seasoned and
experienced fighter and organiser. Along with Magadh area he was also providing
leadership to the Bhojpur and Buxar areas for the last two years. His valiant
and dedica- ted life will continue to inspire young revolutionaries.
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