[Marxistindia] Homage to Comrade Sitaram Yechury
news from the cpi(m)
marxistindia at cpim.org
Thu Sep 12 16:50:20 IST 2024
September 12, 2024
Press Release
The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the
following statement:
Homage to Comrade Sitaram Yechury
The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) expresses its
profound grief at the passing away of Comrade Sitaram Yechury, General
Secretary of the Party on September 12, 2024. He died after battling a
severe lung infection at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New
Delhi. He was aged 72 years.
Sitaram Yechury was the topmost leader of the Communist Party of India
(Marxist), an outstanding leader of the Left movement and a well-known
Marxist ideologue.
He was a brilliant student who secured a first class in both his
undergraduate and post-graduate degrees in economics. He joined the student
movement in Jawaharlal Nehru University in 1974 and became a leader of the
Students Federation of India. He was thrice elected as President of the JNU
Students Union within a span of two years. He was the All India President of
the Students Federation of India from 1984 to 1986 and played an important
role in developing the student organisation as an all-India force.
Sitaram Yechury joined the CPI(M) in 1975. He was arrested during the
emergency for his political activities. He was elected to the Central
Committee of the Party in 1985 at the 12th Congress and he remained in the
Central Committee till now. He was elected to the Central Secretariat in
1989 and to the Polit Bureau in 1992 at the 14th Congress of the Party.
He was elected as the General Secretary of the CPI(M) at the 21st Congress
in 2015, a position he continued until now. As part of leadership team at
the Party Centre for over three decades, he played an important role in
formulating the political positions of the Party from time to time. It was
in the field of ideology that Sitaram played a distinctive role. The Party
adopted a resolution On Certain Ideological Issues at the 14th Congress,
which formulated the ideological positions of the Party consequent to the
setbacks to socialism. This resolution was presented by Comrade Sitaram to
the Congress. Subsequently, he was the prime mover of the resolution which
updated the ideological positions, adopted at the 20th Congress of the Party
in 2012.
As head of the International Department of the Central Committee, he
participated in various international forums of Communist and progressive
forces and strengthened relations with socialist countries and solidarity
with anti-imperialist movements.
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 was a member of the Rajya Sabha for two terms from 2005 to
2017. He served as the leader of the CPI(M) group and was an effective
parliamentarian. He was given the best parliamentarian award in 2017.
In the recent period, 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 Polit Bureau pays respectful homage to our beloved colleague and dips
the red banner in his memory. The Polit Bureau calls upon all Party ranks
to unite and work harder to advance the struggle for an exploitation-free
society. This is the best tribute that can be paid to him.
The Polit Bureau conveys its deepest sympathy and condolences to his wife
Seema, his daughter Akhila, son Danish, brother Shankar and all other family
members.
(Muralidharan)
For CPI(M) Central Committee office
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