COM. Jagdish Ram, CPIML leader from Barkatta block (Hazaribagh district) passed away in a road accident on 22 February. He was 58. He was employed with HSCL in Durgapur Steel Plant and joined CITU in 70s. In 2008, he joined the CPI (ML). He was deeply influenced by the ideas of Dr. B.R.Ambedkar and was impressed by the party’s struggles in Bengal. CPIML leaders visited his family home to pay tributes to the departed leader. CPIML leaders from Jharkhand met the family of Com. Jagdish Ram to offer their condolences and to stand with his family at this hour of grief. Com. Jagdish Ram was always active in struggles for the Dalits and other oppressed and it is this dedication to the cause of the oppressed that brought him closer to the party. He organized the poor of his village under the red flag of the party to fight against the Brahmanical and feudal forces. The party leaders while paying tributes to him resolved to learn from his struggles. Even after his death, the anti-people goons of the village tried to stop his burial in the village’s cremation ground, however, the party organized the poor in the village and ensured that he was cremated at an appropriate spot in the cremation ground and offered him their salute.