ON December 6, SAHMAT organised an event remembering one of the leading lights of the Left Movement in India, Comrade Sitaram Yechury. Held at Jawahar Bhawan, Delhi, the event saw intellectuals, students, Party whole-timers, peasant leaders as well as artists, coming together to pay tribute to Yechury. The event was unique in that, instead of focusing only on the more well-known facets of his life and political career, several little known and fascinating aspects of his, otherwise colourful life, were brought to light. In addition to this, three books by Yechury, selections from his writings on different subjects were released. A calendar with Comrade Sitaram’s photos on various occasions at SAHMAT was also released. These included, Hindu Rashtra Hai Kya, Yechury’s writings: Reflections on Culture, Media, and Science and The Fight for the Republic. Releasing Yechury’s writings on December 6, which also marks the thirty-second anniversary of the demolition of the Babri Masjid, was an apt occasion as a large body of his work focused on the threat of communalism to the unity of the country. The two English books and one Hindi book were published by SAHMAT, in collaboration with the Tulika Books.

Among the speakers at the event were Prakash Karat, Raju Ramachandran, Prabhat Patnaik, CP Chandrasekhar, Ram Rahman, and Rajendra Sharma. The release of the books was followed by the speakers discussing personal and not widely known details of Sitaram Yechury’s life. Karat in his short, but crisp speech, noted that Yechury was a man of firm commitments. Even though the path to a secular and sane republic is peppered with hurdles and difficulties, Yechury never wavered from his beliefs and ideology. Focusing on the book, What is Hindu Rashtra (Hindu Rashtra Hai Kya), which was written by Yechury in 1993, just months after the demolition of the Babri Masjid, Karat mentioned that a sincere attempt was made by his colleague in this book to understand the RSS and other right wing fundamentalist forces. For Yechury, the demolition of the Masjid, rather than being a culmination of the communal agenda of the RSS and the BJP, was the beginning of the ascendancy of the Hindutva ideology in India. That Yechury had interests beyond contemporary politics was also pointed out by Karat. In this regard the latter noted Yechury’s exceptional understanding of complex concepts of science and astrophysics. Though he was a student of economics, he kept himself up to date with developments in these fields, and also at time taught them to his colleagues. In a way, Karat said, Sitaram Yechury was at equal ease in politics as in science and other disciplines.

Raju Ramachandran, Prabhat Patnaik, CP Chandrasekhar and Ram Rahman, in their tributes focused primarily on Comrade Yechury’s personal traits and interests. While Ramachandran shed light on some personal moments he spent with the late general-secretary, Prabhat Patnaik, CP Chandrasekhar, brought to light fascinating details pertaining to his student life in JNU. Raju Ramachandran also spoke about his friend’s deep interest and knowledge about music. Interestingly, rather than being removed, Yechury always tried to associate facets of music with concepts of science and Marxism. Patnaik, who was Yechury’s teacher at the University, mentioned that his student was of a brilliant mind who chose to become a Party whole timer.  Chandrasekhar, classmate of Yechury, besides recalling his days with his friend in JNU, also mentioned that the three books had been put out to celebrate the life of Yechury. Ram Rahman’s speech was quite emotional in nature. In addition to describing the special nature of the event and the many coincidences there were between the programme, venue and the art gallery therein, he narrated some of the personal interactions he had with Yechury. That like a true friend he helped Rahman on a couple of occasions when the latter was facing issues with regard to his projects was also highlighted in the speech. Also, Rahman noted that Sitaram Yechury was a troubleshooter, not just for the CPI(M) and the Left, but also for political leaders of other parties. Responsible for translating one of the released books, What is Hindu Rashtra, into Hindi, Hindu Rashtra Hai Kya, Rajendra Sharma, in his speech, provided a brief, but insightful, overview of the themes that the essays in the book touch upon.

Leaving those present at the event quite emotional the event concluded with the speeches. The programme organised under the aegis of SAHMAT was, indeed, a fitting tribute to one of the stalwarts of the CPI(M), Comrade Sitaram Yechury.