Red Salute to Com.Vimal Ranadive on her 22nd death anniversary on 24th July 2021. ( below is the post reproduced from CITU two years back.)

Com Vimal Ranadive Amar Rahe

Born on 10 April 1915 in a middle class family in Maharashtra, she joined the anti colonial nationalist movement at the tender age of 12-13 as a Seva Dal volunteer. At the age of 15, she was arrested for picketing a foreign cloth shop. The British judge asked her to admit the mistake and apologise. She boldly refused and said “We know what we have done and for what, we won’t apologise” and went to jail gladly.

In 1930, more than eighty years ago, it was the choice made by a fifteen year old girl, Vimal. It was a choice to fight injustice, to fight all kinds of exploitation and therefore to fight imperialist aggression. She stood by this choice all through her life.

Vimaldi developed solidarity with the cause of the poor, the working class and became a communist. She worked to earn a living for her siblings, married a communist, B T Ranadive, who had to go underground on the day of their marriage. When her son was just two years old she was jailed for two years. She spent many years underground including at the time of the Emergency declared by Indira Gandhi.

She was actively involved in organising workers in Mumbai and was part of the upsurge of the Mumbai working class and the naval ratings in 1946.She was the first General Secretary of the All India Plantation Workers’ Federation, the founder President of the All India Federation of Anganwadi Workers & Helpers Aifawh CITU and was the leader of the #Beedi workers also. She was the founder Convenor of the #AICCWW (CITU) and continued in that position till her death. She was Secretary, CITU – Centre of Indian Trade Unions and was a member of the central committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) . She was the founder editor of ‘The Voice of the Working Woman’ and ‘Kamkaji Mahila’.

She died on 24th July 1999. Let us pledge to continue the uncompromising struggle against all kinds of exploitation, injustice and inequalities. Let us fight authoritarian communal BJP regime. Let us also make a choice-s of commitment to the cause of the toiling people of the world.