The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) dips its banner in salute to veteran communist and trade union leader Comrade Mohd. Amin. Comrade Mohd. Amin died this afternoon. He was ninety years old.
Mohd. Amin was born in Kolkata to poor parents who had migrated from Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. Lack of formal education and poverty led Amin to start work at the young age of 14 in a jute mill.
Very soon he joined the trade union movement and became a member of the Bengal Jute Mill Mazdoor Union. By the end of the Second World War, he was attracted to communism and joined the Communist Party in 1946. In the immediate post-Partition period he moved to erstwhile East Pakistan on the instructions of the Party. He was imprisoned for taking the lead in organising movements there. After his release he shifted back to West Bengal.
A good organiser he organised jute mill, beedi and other workers in the Barrackpore industrial belt. All through his life he championed the cause of the working class.
Mohd. Amin was elected to the 24 Parganas District Committee of the Party in 1955. He was elected to the West Bengal State Committee of the Party in 1971. He was elected to the Central Committee at its 12th Congress in 1985. He was elected to the Polit Bureau in 2008. At the 20th Congress of the Party in 2012 he was made a special invitee to the central committee.
He was elected General Secretary of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions at its 12th Conference and later on served as one of its Vice Presidents.
In 1969, he won from the Titagarh assembly constituency and in February 1970, he was sworn in as the Minister of Transport in the United Front government led by Ajoy Mukherjee. He won in the 1971 assembly elections, facing semi-fascist terror. In 1977 assembly elections, Amin was re-elected and became Minister of Transport in the 1st Left Front government. He again served as minority development minister and labour minister from 1996 to 2006. He was also elected to the Rajya Sabha for a term from 1988 to 1994.
During the course of his political life Mohd. Amin spent a total of two years in jail and was underground for an equal period.
Besides being the editor of Kisan Majdoor, Urdu periodical of CPI(M) West Bengal, several of his collection of poems have been published.
He led a very spartan life and his requirements were minimal. Amiable, Amin was down to earth and was always concerned about the plight of the poor and downtrodden.
In his death the Party and the Communist movement have suffered a big loss.
The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) conveys its heartfelt condolences to his three children.