Sitaram Yechury, general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) passed away at 3.03 p.m. on Thursday, September 2024. He was 72. Undergoing treatment at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMS) since August 19 for an acute respiratory infection, Sitaram Yechury breathed his last on Thursday. He is survived by his wife Seema Chisti, his daughter Akhila, son Danish, and brother Shankar.
The All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) mourns the loss of Comrade Sitaram Yechury, a stalwart leader of the working people and the General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) since 2015. Comrade Yechury was also a highly regarded Marxist intellectual, a member of the politburo of the CPI(M) since 1992 and an ace parliamentarian. The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) also expressed its profound grief at the passing away of Comrade Sitaram Yechury,
An exceptionally brilliant student, Sitaram Yechury got radicalised in the turbulent decade of the 1970s and rose as a towering student leader from JNU. He was elected as JNU Students Union President thrice. In JNU, he led a legendary struggle against emergency. He was also elected as the All India President of the Students Federation of India (SFI) from 1984-86. Both the Polit Bureau of the CPI-M and the AIKS has issued a moving statement signed by Ashok Dhawale President and Vijoo Krishan its general secretary this evening.
Throughout his political life, Yechury remained as one of the sharpest critics of imperialism and neo-colonialism. His lifelong commitment to resolving the “agrarian question” made him close to the peasantry and the Kisan movement, states the AIKS in its statement. In the early 1990s, when the different factions of the ruling class and their intellectuals collaborated to impose neo-liberal policies, Comrade Yechury stood like a rock with the peasantry and other working people. With his in-depth theoretical understanding of political economy, he clinically diagnosed that peasantry will be devastated with the neo-liberal reforms. His widely acclaimed essay “Why This Economic Policy” gave much clarity into the predation of imperialism and monopolies.
Comrade Yechury consistently connected the rise of Hindutva fascistic forces in India with the ascendancy and the hegemony of global finance. He was a firm believer in and always reiterated that only the worker-peasant alliance can halt the Hindutva juggernaut. Sitaram Yechury was the Editor of the Party’s weekly paper, People’s Democracy, for over two decades. He was also a prolific writer. His other main contribution in the ideological field was his critique of Hindutva, which was published in his books – What is this `Hindu Rashtra’? and Communalism vs Secularism.
Sitaram Yechury served two terms in the Rajya Sabha from 2005 to 2017. During both his terms, he was exceptional in articulating class issues of the working people. When the Modi regime wanted to intensify corporatisation in agriculture, Yechury was at the forefront uniting various opposition forces in the Parliament as well as on the streets. Yechury ferociously fought the attempts to give away India’s agriculture to monopolies at a throwaway price. His insights into the emerging contradictions in the agrarian realm nourished the anti-corporate Kisan movement.
In recent years, Sitaram Yechury devoted a lot of his time and energy towards forging a broad unity of the secular opposition parties, which took the shape of the INDIA bloc. In both the period of the United Front government and later the UPA government, Sitaram was one of the key interlocutors for the CPI (M), which was supporting these coalitions.
Given his amiable temperament, he had a wide circle of friends across the political spectrum and in all walks of life. He was respected by all for his political integrity and commitment. The untimely demise of Sitaram Yechury at this crucial juncture in our national politics is a big blow for the CPI(M) and a grievous loss for the Left, democratic and secular forces.
The most fitting tribute to Comrade Yechury, a committed internationalist and anti-imperialist Marxist-Leninist will be to intensify struggles against all forms of exploitation, states The AIKS. AIKS dips the red flag in the memory of Comrade Sitaram Yechury’s meaningful life. Red Salute to Comrade Sitaram Yechury!
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