Emotional and Resolute Farewell to Sitaram Yechury

A deluge of people thronged A K Gopalan Bhawan, headquarters of CPI-M, in New Delhi on 14 September to pay their last respects to their beloved leader Sitaram Yechury, general secretary of the party. Perhaps the size and diversity of people rightly justified the stature of a man who remained irreplaceable in last three decades of Indian Politics.

Sitaram Yechury died on September 12 at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) after a long fight with a respiratory tract infection. In tradition with party leaders like Jyoti Basu and Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, and as per his wishes, family members donated his body to the AIIMS for medical research.

The mortal remains were first brought to his home in Vasant Kunj on 13 September where political leaders like Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan, Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu, BJP President Jagat Prakash Nadda and CPI General Secretary D Raja, among other leaders, visited to pay homage. The body was also taken to Jawaharlal Nehru University where Yechury is remembered for his stellar role in opposing the emergency.

When the body was finally brought to A K Gopalan Bhawan, revolutionary songs and rousing slogans reminded the emotional mourners about his contribution and struggle for a just and equitable India. Representatives from organisations of Dalit, Adivasis, students, women, workers, farmers and agriculture workers from across the country paid their respects and pledged to continue the struggle for justice.

A teary eyed Umakant, a party whole timer from Kanpur, remembers the party classes on complex issues made simpler by Yechury. “He would always cite examples to illustrate the issue. He would never make you realise that you are conversing with the General Secretary of a communist party. Losing a mature comrade is always a loss in a time the dangers of fanaticism looms large. I think party will decide the best but the vacuum is here to stay.”

Many progressive individuals too came to pay homage to a leader who was seen and appreciated for trying to build unity of secular forces in the country. Among the mourners, G N Saibaba recounts how Yechury came to his rescue when he was arrested in terror related case. Talking to Newsclick, he said, “He was a great communist leader. When I was arrested in a false and fabricated case in 2014, Comrade Yechury and his party men strongly opposed my arrest and stood with my family. He mobilised intellectuals and writers and encouraged them to speak truth to power. His contribution was also remarkable for my family. I strongly believe that socialism is the only way to bring people out of the crisis we are witnessing. This is what Yechury believed in and fought fascist forces till his last breath.” G N Saibaba was released from Nagpur Jail in April this year after 10 years long incarceration.

Apoorvanand, noted commentator, said “Sitaram Yechury had the capacity to converse with diverse sets people and bring them together on one platform. He was among those leaders who had emerged in last decades with such acceptability. Recalling his days in university teachers’ movement Apoorvanand said that Sitaram was “an intimate friend” of students’ and teachers’ movements.

Remembering his student days in JNU, Yogendra Yadav, founder of Jan Swaraj Abhiyan, said, “I am not affiliated to the politics of left. However, Yechury connected the left to rest of the parties engaged in politics of secularism and democracy and emerged as the face of popular front. Even I began my student politics in JNU by opposing the students organisation he led. However we could oppose SFI only because he had laid democratic foundation”.

Several diplomats to had reached AKG Bhavan to pay their respects to Sitaram Yechury. Adnan Abu Al Haija, Palestinian Ambassador to India told NewsClick that it’s a sad moment for Palestinian cause and people. “India has lost a person who struggled for its poor people. We together held many events. He was a committed friend of Palestine. One week before his admission into hospital, he was presiding a programme in solidarity with Palestinian cause”.

Among other notable people, Former UP CM Akhilesh Yadav, Former Maharashtra CM Sharad Pawar and other leaders from INDIA bloc too laid wreaths on the mortal remains of Yechury.

In the afternoon, a procession led by red draped volunteers carrying CPI-M flags accompanied the hearse carrying Yechury’s body to AIIMS where the formalities of handing over the body were completed.