Forward Bloc veteran, freedom fighter Ashok Ghosh dead

Kolkata, March 3: Freedom fighter and West Bengal’s senior most Left leader, Ashok Ghosh, who was state secretary of the All India Forward Bloc (AIFB) for 65 years at a stretch, died here on Thursday. He was 92. Ghosh had been on ventilator support since last month after being rushed to Apollo Hospital on February 2 following lower respiratory tract infection. “At 11.25 a.m., he breathed his last,” hospital superintendent Partho Bhattacharya said.

With a history of Addison disease and chronic obstructive pulmory disease, Ghosh, during his stay at the hospital, had multiple episodes of rel shutdown and stopped responding to treatment in his fil days. He will be laid to rest at the Netaji Subhas Ashram in Suisa of Purulia district on March 6, as per his wish. “His fil journey will begin from the party office in the city on March 5 and he will be taken to the Netaji Subhas Ashram in Suisa, where he had built a school, college and a charitable dispensary.

“According to his wish, he will be buried at the Ashram,” Bloc leader ren Chatterjee said. Born on July 2, 1923 in Chinsurah of Hooghly district, Ghosh joined India’s freedom movement early in the 1940s after being deeply inspired by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s political philosophy and revolutiory ideals. He participated in the Quit India movement of 1942 and was imprisoned for three years. (IANS)