Fists raised in final salute to their – and several others’ – comrade, hundreds marched over 2 km through New Delhi on Saturday afternoon to bid adieu to CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury.
Yechury’s mortal remains were carried in an ambulance from the CPI(M) headquarters at AKG Bhawan, where they were kept for public viewing, to Ashoka Road in a procession, with his friends, party workers, and students sustaining a relentless chorus of ‘comrade Sitaram ko lal salaam’ – one hoarse voice in the crowd piping down only for the cry to be picked up swiftly by another.
Much like some of New Delhi’s roundabouts on Saturday afternoon, white tents raised in front of AKG Bhawan rang with cries of ‘red salute to comrade’ earlier in the day, where Yechury’s family, his friends, the CPI(M) leadership, students, academics, leaders of other political parties, and representatives of foreign embassies gathered to pay their last respects.
AAP leaders including Manish Sisodia and Raghav Chadha, Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, Udhayanidhi Stalin of the DMK, and former Vice President Hamid Ansari were among those who arrived to pay their respects, as did the ambassadors of China, Palestine, and Vietnam, along with representatives of the embassies of Russia and Cuba.
Those in the CPI(M), who have known Yechury from their own time in student politics, remembered him for his guidance. M B Rajesh, minister in the Kerala government, said, “Since my SFI days, he was a leader who inspired us. Our slogan was ‘study and struggle’ and our SFI leaders would talk of Sitaram and Prakash (Karat) and how they worked towards it, along with his fight against the Emergency. When I became state secretary of the Kerala SFI, I came in contact with him. When we were in Parliament, I had his guidance… he was in the Rajya Sabha and I was in the Lok Sabha…”
“He would teach us how something is to be seen through a Marxist lens… not just politics, but other problems too. He always knew more than any of us no matter what the subject. He came home to Palakkad once for dinner, where there was puttu. Sitaram drew a Portuguese connection to the puttu, and how it was something Portuguese soldiers made to prepare a meal quickly,” he said.
“I used to translate for him when he used to come to Kerala for rallies. He was a favourite and extremely friendly, both within the party and outside,” Rajesh said. “After a literary festival once, we stepped out to drink coffee, and I realised he liked his coffee strong and his cigarettes were the most bitter. But he was the opposite… he had a good sense of humour both in public meetings and in person, and he could connect with people very easily.”
Former Rajya Sabha member and now minister in the Kerala government, P Rajeev, said, “I had worked with him when we were in the Rajya Sabha. It will be difficult to find another leader like him, who could find acceptance irrespective of political affiliations. Party leaders would seek out Sitaram to help bring everybody on a common platform. To bring different sides together and arrive at a consensus, he was important. He upheld democracy even within the party, and could untangle the knots of any problem with grace. He could explain the same things to a whole range of people; nobody else had such a connect. He bid goodbye at a time when he was crucial, to the country and to the Left.”
Students from the SFI who gathered to pay their respects to him said Yechury’s presence was something they had been able to count on. Sanam Hussain, PhD student and unit secretary of the SFI at Jamia Millia Islamia, said, “We have lost not just a political leader, but the leader of a student movement. When we would go to a place, we would look at Sitaram Yechury and go ‘okay, comrade Yechury is there’. Student politics has this legacy now and Sitaram Yechury was a pioneer of that legacy.”
Rajya Sabha MP V Sivadasan also recalled turning to Yechury during his time in student politics. “From my time in student politics onwards, I have had the opportunity of being associated with Sitaram. Once, after a protest, we were jailed and Sitaram came to check on us and welcomed us when we were released, boosting our enthusiasm. He was somebody we could approach with our questions… somebody we could lean on, and a guiding light on our path,” he said.
Former DU professor G N Saibaba told reporters outside AKG Bhawan, “When I was arrested in 2014, Yechury and his comrades stood with me and my family… it is a loss for me, the entire country, and the communist movement.”
After the procession concluded at Ashoka Road, Yechury’s body was donated to AIIMS later on Saturday.
Those in the CPI(M), who have known Yechury from their own time in student politics, remembered him for his guidance. (Express photo) 
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