Version imprimableCommunist Party of India
Central Office
New Delhi
Tele: 011 23235546
July 18, 2026
Press Release
D. RAJA, General Secretary, Communist Party of India, issued the following statement today (July 18, 2026) condemning the destruction of the Statue of Mahapandit Rahul Sankrityayan at Raniganj, West Bengal:
The Communist Party of India strongly condemns the destruction of the statue of Mahapandit Rahul Sankrityayan at Raniganj, West Bengal. This is a reprehensible act of political and ideological vandalism directed against one of India’s greatest scholars, freedom fighters, Marxist thinkers and public intellectuals. Rahul Sankrityayan was not only a towering literary figure but also a distinguished leader of the Communist Party of India and served as the National President of the All India Kisan Sabha in 1940, dedicating his life to the struggles of peasants, workers and the oppressed.
The growing climate of lawlessness and impunity under BJP rule has emboldened such attacks on the country’s progressive and democratic heritage. Across the country, there is a systematic attempt to erase the legacy of rationalist, secular and Left traditions and to replace India’s rich, plural and progressive history with a narrow communal narrative. The attack on Rahul Sankrityayan’s statue is part of this dangerous ideological project and must be viewed in that context.
The CPI demands the immediate arrest and exemplary punishment of those responsible and the restoration of the statue without delay. We call upon all democratic, secular and progressive forces, writers, artists, intellectuals and the people of India to unitedly resist such attempts to erase the legacy of those who devoted their lives to the cause of freedom, scientific temper, social justice and equality.
Sd/-
Roykutty
Office Secretary
