PRAGOTI

Today we remember one of India's greatest revolutionaries and Marxist theorists, Com. Elamkulam Manakkal Sankaran Namboodiripad, or EMS for short. He passed away on 19 March, 1998 leaving behind him an illustrious legacy of revolutionary commitment and action combined with deep theoretical understanding of Marxism. His writings have been essential readings for generations of communists in India and elsewhere. On this occasion, we reproduce an article Com. EMS wrote some months before his death on the why it is important for the left to build a political platform to oppose the parties of the big bourgeoisie.

Those interested in knowing more about his life and work can read V K Ramachandran's good and succint article written immediately after his death.