Committee for the Abolition of Illegitimate Debt

Since 1993, Ajit was the Director of a center for research and action, known as VAK. Under his leadership the association organized meetings to take action against the caste system and support various forms of expression for the Dalits. It supported actions against religious fanaticism (especially in Gujarat where the Muslim community was the victim of pogroms organized by Hindu fanatics and the far-right, including leaders of the BJP ruling the country), stood with the associations fighting against exploitation (especially sexual) of children (specially at Goa), organized regional, national and international meetings among social movements fighting capitalist globalization etc.

Ajit came into contact with the CADTM In 1998 and invited us to India. Subsequently, VAK joined the CADTM and an intense collaboration took shape in the following manner:

 Organization of various international meetings of the CADTM, encompassing activists in the region (India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh). See:
• Activité en Inde dans le cadre de l’atelier Asie du sud
• Le premier atelier régional Asie du Sud du CADTM
• 2d South Asian Forum IFI and Debt crisis janvier 2009
• Atelier Asie du Sud CADTM - décembre 2009 à Dhaka, Bangladesh
• Inde : Le CADTM au Kerala et au Tamil Nadu ;

 Publication of 11 books from the CADTM:
• Bank of the South. An Alternative to IMF-World Bank
• The Debt Crisis : From Europe to Where ?
• Neo-Liberal Ideology from its Origin to the present – A Retrospective
• 60 Questions on the IMF-World Bank and the Debt Scam
• The World Bank : a never-ending coup d’État. The hidden agenda of the Washington Consensus
• Tsunami Aid or Debt Cancellation
• Your money or our life
• Manifesto for Making Another World Possible
• Globalisation - Reality, Resistances & Alternatives
• The Debt Scam
• Your money or your life ;

 Arranging for the CADTM International’s participation at the 4^th World Social Forum held in January 2004 in Mumbai (erstwhile Bombay)

 Participation of Ajit Muricken and Sushovan Dhar as VAK’s representatives in numerous meetings of the CADTM, whether in Asia, Europe, Africa or Latin America

 Conducting workshops and training programs in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, etc.

From its side, the CADTM International brought several of VAK’s publications on the following issues to international attention: farmers’ indebtedness, water privatization, the resistance to Coca Cola, the Dalit struggle and so on.

Ajit and VAK were very active in the SAAPE network that brings together several organizations of the Indian subcontinent (India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Nepal, Afghanistan and Maldives).

Accompanied by Ajit, I made trips to Nepal; to different parts of India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Venezuela and Kenya; and to several European countries. Our camaraderie had always been immensely enjoyable. We had different temperaments and diverse views, but we exchanged and shared with warmth and happiness. Denise Comanne, my companion, breathed her last in May 2010, and our attachment to Ajit and his wife Mercy was powerful. Whenever we met, it was always an occasion for pleasure and emotions. Every time we went to Mumbai, we were almost always accommodated in the tiny and modest apartment that Ajit and Mercy held for VAK. The windows overlooked the neighboring slum just a few dozen meters away. Every day Mercy would go there for working at the health centre which she ran. Ajit put up with me when he came to Belgium and we shared intense moments.

After he left his post as VAK’s Director in Mumbai in 2011-2012, he devoted his time to local activities. Ajit and Mercy had inherited a property in the hills of Vagamon, Kerala and they introduced several activities there: organic vegetable garden, shelter, meeting hall, spiritual center and so on. Mercy was very active in the village health center. Gandhi’s vision inspired Ajit and Mercy. Denise Comanne, Victor Nzuzi (DRC), Brigitte Ponet, Sushovan Dhar and I regularly spent time there and participated in the activities, especially during 2004-2011. Ajit loved to entertain his friends and comrades in this place where he died unexpectedly on March 14, 2016.

Good bye, Ajit!

Translated by Suchandra De Sarkar