Sitaram Yechury is a leading communist politician of India from Andhra Pradesh. He is a senior member of the politburo of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) as well as the party`s Parliamentary group leader. Sitaram Yechury like every other Marxist has stated his concern over globalisation, commercialisation and communalisation.
He has also expressed its impact on culture in many of his writings and speeches. He also said that the culture of globalisation seeks to divert people from the actual realities of day to day life. He also highlighted communalism as the burning issue in the country and even said that such divisive forces weaken the struggle against the existing exploitative order.
Early Life of Sitaram Yechury
Born on 12th August 1952 in Hyderabad Sitaram Yechury completed his schooling from his native place. After schooling he moved to Delhi and completed his graduation in Economics from St. Stephen`s College. In 1975, Yechury completed his Masters in economics from Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi. Later in 1974, he joined the Students Federation of India, which is the student`s wing of the CPM. The very next year, Sitaram Yechury joined the Communist Party of India (Marxist).
Political Career of Sitaram Yechury
In the year 1975 during the Emergency Sitaram Yechury got arrested and as a result he could not complete his doctorate degree from Jawaharlal Nehru University. After the emergency, he was elected as President of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students` Union thrice during one year (1977-78). Yechury is the only JNU president who holds this exclusive distinction.
He was also elected as the All India Joint Secretary of the Students` Federation of India (SFI) in 1978. Yechury is also credited with becoming the All India President of SFI in the same year. He was elected to the Central Committee of the CPIM in 1985 and to the Central Secretariat at the Thirteenth Congress in 1988. He was also elected to the Politburo in 1992. He is the head of the International Department of CPIM. In July 2005 he was elected to Rajya Sabha from West Bengal.
Leaving aside several lucrative career options, Sitaram Yechury plunged into politics with the aim to serve the country. Intellectually elite and behaviourally urban, this young political careerist without fighting any elections is deeply committed to the misery of the downtrodden in this country. Radical in his views and extremely media savvy, Sitaram Yechury played a crucial role in convincing the Nepali Maoists to embrace parliamentary democracy instead of the path of insurgency. Sitaram Yechury is regarded as one of the best writers in India. He has written various books like `Saffron Brigade.` He also works as a columnist in Hindustan Times. He was also the editor of the "Peoples` Democracy", CPIM`s political weekly.
Apart from writing books Yechury has also travelled to different places. He is credited with addressing the British parliament and British and American universities.
Personal Life of Sitaram Yechury
Sitaram Yechury married Seema Chishti, who is a journalist and the former editor of BBC Hindi Service in Delhi. Yechury has a son and a daughter from an earlier marriage.
Men like Sitaram Yechury provide the public with a ray of hope in times of growing disillusionment with the political system. He is one of the prominent leaders who met with the important personalities like Fidel Castro, Yasir Arafat and Nelson Mandela. He was also invited to address the students of IIM Kolkata.
