Mirwaiz Umar Farooq pays homage to CPI(M) leader Yechury

Srinagar, Sep 13 (PTI) Separatist Hurriyat Conference leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Friday paid homage to CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, a day after the veteran leader passed away in Delhi.

CPI(M) Politburo members and senior leaders paid tribute to Yechury at the party headquarters in Delhi on Friday. His body was taken to the Jawaharlal Nehru University in the evening.

In an emailed statement, the Mirwaiz expressed sorrow at the veteran leader’s passing and said, “Yechury sahab was an advocate of human and political rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and it was always a pleasure to meet and hear him.”

Armed with a Supreme Court order, Yechury was the first national leader to visit Kashmir to meet CPI(M) leader Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami — who was among the mainstream leaders detained by the authorities in the aftermath of the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019.

Yechury was also part of all-party delegations that visited Kashmir following summer agitations in the Valley in 2010 and 2016.

The CPI(M) general secretary died on Thursday after battling a lung infection.

Yechury (72) had been in a critical condition for several days and on respiratory support while undergoing treatment for an acute respiratory tract infection at the ICU in the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). He was admitted to the hospital on August 19.