I met him for the first time in November 1973. I came to Delhi on my way to Moscow. Second time, I met him in Moscow in 1974. He was going to Mangolia to attend a conference via Moscow.

From 1975 to 1985, I was Tamil Nadu Secretary of All India Youth Federation (AIYF). During that period, I used to visit Delhi to attend national level meetings and programmes of AIYF. During all my visits I used to have some interaction with Com. Shameem in 4/7 Asaf Ali Road, New Delhi where the central Office of AIYF and AISF located. Com. Shameem was working for Hayat Urdu journal brought out by our Party, CPI.

From 1985 to 1990, I was the General Secretary of AIYF. After elected as the General Secretary, I moved to Delhi to function from the all India headquarters. It so happened, I had a room adjacent to another one room accommodation in which Com. Shameem and family were living. Com. T. Lakshmi Narayana, then General Secretary of AISF shared my room. We all used to share the bathroom and toilet.

Com. Shameem’s family is a loving and affectionate family. His wife Nazma, four daughters and one son used to be very affectionate to me. His children were kids. I used to call the girls giving them some pet names. I used to carry the boy Nadeem to the park and other places. Time to time I used to share food cooked by Com. Nazma.

Com. Shameem was going to Ajoy Bhawan, CPI HQRS regularly and working for journals. After Com. Pauly Parakkal passed away, Com. Shameem became the editor of New Age.

After 1992 Hyderabad Party Congress in which I was elected to the central Executive Committee of the Party, I moved to Delhi. As part of the central Secretariat of the Party I started functioning from Ajoy Bhawan.

My interaction with Com. Shameem grew to a higher level. Com. Shameem had a remarkable ideological and political soundness and clarity. He was a prolific writer having proficiency in several languages. He used to write articles for the journals and also news bulletins in Urdu for All India Radio.

He was so sharp in drafting party resolutions and booklets on various ideological and political issues. He played an important role in building Indian Union of Journalists. He was a builder and guide of the IPTA, PWA and INSAF during his time.

He was one of the Best teachers in Party Schools. He was helping in building Party and its activities in J&K, Punjab, Gujarat, UP, Maharashtra and other places. He was also looking after People’s Publishing House, PPH.

We, both worked under the leadership of Com. C. Rajeswara Rao, Indrajit Gupta, A.B. Bardhan and also Com. Sudhakar Reddy. It is quiet saddening that Com. Shameem Faizee was no more when I took over as General Secretary of the Party. It was a huge loss for the Party and me personally.

Born in Nagpur, started as a journalist with Hitavada and moved to Delhi, taking up several responsibilities in the Party Com. Shameem Faizee emerged as one of the noteworthy leaders of our Party. For some time he was suffering from serious illness and finally passed away on July 5, 2019. I pay my tributes to Com. Shameem Faizee, on his first death anniversary. (IPA Service)