The Student Leader Sitaram Yechury
M A Baby
MY close association with Comrade Sitaram Yechury began 45 years ago in 1979. The Third All India SFI Conference held in Patna in February, 1979 elected us along with others as the SFI central office bearers. Till then, Comrade Prakash Karat had been single-handedly managing the All India Centre with some support from other office-bearers who were mostly working from their own states.
After the conference, we had five cadres to set-up the All India Centre in Delhi: Nepaldeb Bhattacharya, general secretary, Saifuddin Choudhury, vice president, Sohail Hashmi, treasurer, Sitaram Yechury, joint secretary, and myself, president.
We were given a small room at 20 Janpath, which had been allotted to Susheela Gopalan, MP. The CPI(M) has a system of accommodating comrades functioning from Delhi within the facilities provided for its members of parliament.
I recall many travels jointly undertaken with Sitaram Yechury as part of our work. There were many occasions when we had to travel, even overnight, without reservations on trains.
With extremist forces like Khalistani separatists in Punjab and different divisive forces in the North East launching continuous physical attacks and organising disruptive activities in a systematic manner, the SFI and DYFI had to suffer heavy losses.
In such a situation, along with the leadership of the newly established Democratic Youth Federation of India, we discussed the launching of an all-India campaign among all sections of the students and youth to fight divisive activities focused on them. The positive slogan we gave was "Education for All and Jobs for All" (sab ko shiksha sab ko kaam). As a culmination of this campaign undertaken in every nook and corner of the country where SFI and DYFI cadres could reach, we explained the correctness of this slogan as opposed to the parochial “sons of the soil” slogan and also the scientific reasons responsible for the continuing problems related to education and employment in an exploitative society.
The SFI journal, Students Struggle edited by Sitaram Yechury played a very important role in this campaign. His editorials and the content of the journal were used widely in campuses.
The student and youth rally jointly organised by SFI and DYFI in the Boat Club ground, overlooking the Parliament House and the Rashtrapati Bhavan, on September 15, 1981 was a resounding success. (We all know that no demonstration or public meetings have been permitted here for some time now.) The Herculean preparatory task of organising this huge all India youth-student rally involved meticulous planning. Sitaram Yechury and Sohail Hashmi played a crucial role in this with the help of the comrades of the democratic movement in Delhi.
As an editor and author, the unique qualities of Sitaram Yechury blossomed during his time at Students Struggle. Earlier reports of the student movement and articles related to the current student movement constituted the content of the SFI journal. Yechury transformed it into a highly respected and widely read journal with additional high-quality material on science, history, culture, sports, films, international affairs and so on. In this context, I remember an interview which Yechury himself had with world-renowned Cuban film maker, Tomas Gutierrez Alea, when he visited Delhi for the International Film Festival. Similarly Students Struggle published an article by Rajendra Prasad on the theory of relativity propounded by Albert Einstein. The article was able to explain the complex scientific theory in simple language to ordinary students.
Sitaram Yechury was an example of a model communist, one who was interested in every sphere of human creativity. He loved literature, films, sports, music and food. While living in the Vithalbhai Patel House flats, we all used to go to the nearby badminton court in the UNI premises to play shuttle cock. Being a trained tennis player some of his shots used to put the opposite side to great embarrassment.
He could speak for hours and hours together on Paul Robeson, Bob Marley, Harry Belafonte, Balamurali Krishna, Muhammad Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar and Victor Jara, the Chilean martyr singer.
When Harry Belafonte died, Comrade Sitaram was invited for a programme to pay tribute to the great American artiste of the masses. The speech he delivered there reflected the depth and breadth of his musical knowledge and the role of artists in the society.
One event in which Sitaram participated with keen interest was a workshop held in EMS Academy, Thiruvananthapuram two years ago. Comrades from different states working among children’s organisations or identified to work in such organisations gathered there. A good many were adolescents either already involved in Balasangham or those who had evinced enthusiasm to be part of the movement. Sitaram spoke about the importance of scientific temper. He also spoke in simple language mainly targeting the young. While speaking about legends he explained the correct way to interpret them to address the requirements of our times. He also underlined the importance of organising girls and boys in their own democratic organisations with the help of their parents. Any failure to do so would leave them at the mercy of communal and casteist organisations promoting divisive tendencies.
All these instances showcase the multi-faceted personality of Comrade Sitaram Yechury and his ability to communicate with all, from children to the elderly, from being a critic of art, to its connoisseur. He was a person who could traverse all these fields without ever leaving an opportunity to combine them with politics and Marxist outlook. It is now upto us to carry forward his legacy.
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