Mainstream
Mainstream, VOL LIX No 1, New Delhi, December 19, 2020 Jaya Dasgupta, an unsung warrior, is no more | Gargi Chakravartty
Saturday 19 December 2020, by Gargi Chakravartty
Jayashree Dasgupta, popularly known as Jaya, was a silent political activist throughout her life.
Jaya, born on August 15, 1939, belonged to a truly nationalist family, her father, Nirmalendu Mukherjee, being a well known Congress leader in West Bengal. In the humble setting of her home, a photo of Gandhiji used to hang on the wall.
Entering Ashutosh College, South Kolkata in the mid-fifties, she was soon drawn into Left politics and became an active member of the Bengal Provincial Students Federation. In the course of the student movement, she met Gurudas Dasgupta who she married later. Since then she was everywhere introduced as the wife of Gurudas Dasgupta, leader of Communist Party of India (CPI), eminent parliamentarian etc.