The passing of four senior comrades of the second generation of the socialist movement
- The life and struggles of Dr Baba Adhav
- From 'One Village, One Well' to labor movements—Adhav's pro-people contributions
- Baba Adhav's complete dedication to the annihilation of caste
- Introspection on the current state of the socialist movement
- The RSS, the communist movement, and the changing political landscape
- Why has socialist politics lagged behind?
In memory of Dr. Adhav—a pledge to carry forward the fight for equality
This tribute to Dr. Baba Adhav by Dr Suresh Khairnar explores the far-reaching impact of the passing of four key pillars of the second generation of the socialist movement—Dr. G.G. Parikh, Sachchidanand Sinha, Pannalal Surana, and Baba Adhav. It offers an in-depth look at Baba Adhav's 95-year-long life of leadership in the fight against caste discrimination, in labor movements, and in mass movements, along with reflections on the challenges facing the socialist movement today and the need for introspection.
Tribute to Dr. Baba Adhav.
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| Dr Baba Adhav |
Before the year 2025 ends, four eminent figures from the second generation of the socialist movement have passed away one after another. Comrades, First, Dr. G.G. Parikh at the age of 100 on October 2nd; then Satchhidanand Sinha, who was just shy of turning a hundred; followed by Pannalal Surana who passed away at the age of 93; and just today's departure of Dr Baba Adhav. For someone like me, who belongs to the third generation after them, it feels as though our four senior comrades—each of whom lived long, purposeful lives—are now gone. All of them dedicated nearly 75 years of their lives, after spending their first 20–25 years in youth, to building an egalitarian, secular, and socialist India.
Dr Baba Adhav, who lived for 95 years, had been admitted to a Pune hospital for the past week and passed away today. Due to age-related complications.
My personal association with Baba and Pannalalji began in the 1970s, during my first year of college, when I became involved in the “One Village, One Well” movement in Maharashtra. Our connection continued uninterrupted for the next 55 years. The main reason for this enduring bond was that Baba’s public life began with the Rashtra Seva Dal. Baba Adhav, Bhai Vaidya, and Pannalal Suryanarayana were all from the same batch of the Rashtra Seva Dal and also part of the Socialist Party. The passing of Baba, just a week after Pannalalji, is an immense loss to both the Rashtra Seva Dal and the socialist movement.
Although Baba was a professional doctor, he devoted most of his life to curing the centuries-old social illness of inequality. Drawing inspiration from Mahatma Jyotiba Phule, who first raised the banner against the caste system, he distanced himself from parliamentary politics in the 1970s and committed his life to the eradication of caste until his final days. From forming unions of porters and rickshaw drivers in Pune to initiating the Kustachi Bhakar program—providing nutritious meals at very minimal cost to daily-wage labourers—his initiatives inspired the Maharashtra government to start Zhunka Bhakar centres across the state. Similarly, the “One Village, One Well” movement he helped lead was later formally adopted and implemented by the state government.
With the passing of these four senior comrades, a storm brews within me about the current state of the socialist movement. These individuals devoted their entire post-independence lives under the banner of the Socialist Party, facing immense hardships to bring socialism to India. But what is the condition of the socialist movement today? We seem to have limited ourselves to celebrating anniversaries, memorial gatherings, and centenary events of our erstwhile leaders, without meaningful action on the ground.
Meanwhile, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which has completed a century of existence without participating in the freedom struggle or addressing the fundamental social issues of our nation, has successfully gained dominance by exploiting communal polarisation and populist tactics. This may sound bitter, but we must acknowledge it as truth.
It’s worth noting that the Communist Party of India was also founded a hundred years ago this very month in Kanpur, yet where does it stand today compared to the RSS? That is a separate topic, which I will address soon.
For now, if we take stock of the socialist movement, what do we see?
Revolution is often said to erupt when surrounding conditions become unbearable. But perhaps, just as biological organisms develop immunity to endure diseases, people, too, have increased their tolerance for suffering. Inflation, unemployment, corruption, collapse of law and order, casteism, and religious polarisation—all these have reached unprecedented heights today . There was a time when we all united under Jayaprakash Narayan’s leadership in the great movement that marks its 50th anniversary this year. Since then, only scattered protests have occurred. The only movement that truly altered India’s politics was the communal mobilisation around the so-called Ram Temple campaign, which ironically eroded our and the communists’ base.
Even some of our comrades, out of frustration or personal gain, joined communal politics—such examples cannot be denied. Unless we confront these errors in our history, learn from them, and correct our course, we will remain like oxen tied to a mill—moving in circles without real progress.
If we truly love our departed comrades and feel gratitude for their lifelong efforts for the socialist cause, the best tribute we can offer is honest introspection and a renewed effort to break this vicious cycle. Thus, in the memory of Dr Baba Adhav, let us pledge to carry forward his mission to eradicate inequality. That alone will be our true revolutionary homage. Revolutionary Salutations,
Dr. Suresh Khairnar
December 8, 2025, Nagpur.
