A Tribute by Comrade Dipankar, the General Secretary of CPIML - Liberation
It is so hard to believe that we will not see Comrade NK Natarajan again. This afternoon he felt uneasy during a meeting in Dindigul, was rushed to the nearest hospital where he collapsed in no time. He was in his late 60s. Only the other day he was reelected Secretary of the Tamil Nadu State Committee of Communist Party of India -Marxist Leninist- Liberation CPIML following the successful conclusion of the Party's 12th State Conference in Trichy on 25-27 November. This was the biggest conference in the party history in Tamil Nadu in terms of Party membership and the spread of Party work and organisation. He also attended the most recent Central Committee meeting held in Muzaffarpur on 1-3 December.
I have fond memories of knowing and working with him for three decades first on the Trade Union front and subsequently as a leader of the Party's Tamil Nadu State Committee and Central Committee. Always wearing a smile and never to lose his cool, Comrade NK was a most dependable leader for the organisation and a close comrade for all his colleagues. He took over as the Party Secretary in 2019 when he was also coopted to the Central Committee. Under his leadership, the Party was growing steadily in Tamil Nadu. Along with Comrade Shankar, PB in-charge for Tamil Nadu and Comrade Clifton, CC observer for the TN State Conference, I attended the TN Conference for all three days and I could see a new confidence and energy in Comrade NK. The entire CC felt it during the Muzaffarpur meeting. The TN State Committee and the Central Committee will have to work hard to carry forward the unfinished mission of Comrade NK Natarajan. Adieu, Comrade NK!
