A liberal Marxist

As a pragmatic leader, Sitaram Yechury, whose friendships spanned political lines and who was keen about Indian philosophy despite being a communist, promoted pluralism and dialogue-based democracy

- JAYANTA GHOSAL

Sitaram Yechury liked to make jokes about his name. He used to say, “I own Sita and Ram! I am against Ram”. Not only that, he used to declare: “Despite my admiration for the significant impact this puranic figure has had on Indian society, I am an atheist communist”. Sitaram Yechury is no longer with us. His ideological friend Buddhadeb Bhattacharya passed away a few days earlier. Sitaram’s exit now appears to be that of an artisan who followed a liberal route in Marxist philosophy. Sitaram Yechury was a communist-atheist with a humanitarian heart. A man who supported Indian pluralism with great conviction. It was easy for him to like Nehru’s way of thinking. All of them, even the late Chief Minister Jyoti Bose and the late Harkishan Singh Surjit, also known as Somnath Chatterjee, were at ease with Sitaram. He was a pragmatic leader discussing how to topple Narendra Modi’s BJP from the national political scene with Rahul Gandhi and other non-BJP politicians just a few days before he left.

Any notable person who rises to a particular height has a large circle built around him. As a result, he grew close to a wide range of individuals from various backgrounds and occupations. I also acquired a piece of Sitaram Yechury’s big sky when working as a journalist in Delhi.

There’s something that comes to mind.

On a chilly morning, Comrade dialled me, and the first thing he said was that he was in dire need of multiple books authored by Swami Vivekananda. ‘East and West’ is one of them and ‘Karma Yoga’ is the other.

Oh, father, I exclaimed.

Did JNU’s communist convert, Sitaram, ask for these?