Authors
Vasudha noticed the growing problem of mis/disinformation online after studying New Media at ACJ in Chennai and became interested in separating facts from fiction. She is interested in learning how global issues affect individuals on a micro level. Before joining Newschecker’s English team, she was working with Latestly.
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
Claim
Sitaram Yechury was buried as per Christian rituals.
Fact
Yechury was born to a Telugu-speaking Brahmin. His mortal remains were donated to AIIMS.
Sitaram Yechury, one of the most prominent leaders of the Left in India, passed away aged 72 at AIIMS, Delhi last week. Following his demise, several social media users shared a photograph allegedly showing the CPM veteran’s body placed in a closed coffin claiming that he was buried in accordance with the Christian tradition. Newschecker, however, found the claim to be untrue.
Multiple social media users alleged that “Sitaram Yechury” was “fooling Indians with a Hindu name,” and he was a “crypto christian,” and “buried with Christian faith.”
Such posts can be seen here, here, here, here and here.
Also Read: GST On Health Insurance Premium Reduced? Here’s The Truth Behind Viral Post
Fact Check/Verification
A Google lens search on the viral image led us to a report by The New Indian Express, dated September 13, 2024, titled “ ‘Long live comrade’: JNU bids farewell to Sitaram Yechury.” Carrying the same photo, the report elaborated, “Hundreds of students and faculty members of Jawaharlal Nehru University paid tribute to late CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, as his body was kept at the JNUSU office for paying homage on Friday.”
“The JNUSU and JNUTA had jointly organised a programme on the campus and sought permission to bring Yechury’s body to the campus before his body was sent back to his house in Vasant Kunj,” it added.
An X post by @jnusu_official, dated September 14, 2024, also carried the viral photograph among others, captioned “JNU pays homage to beloved Comrade Sitaram Yechury…”
The account also shared a poster that the “body of Comrade Sitaram Yechury would be Kept for Paying homage in JNUSU office” on September 13.
A JNU alumnus, Yechury started his political career as a student leader of the SFI, and later joined the CPI(M). He also served as the President of the JNU Students Union.
Hence, the image does not show the last rites of the left stalwart as per the Christian traditions as widely claimed.
Yechury’s Mortal Remains Donated To AIIMS
No last rites were performed for the deceased, The Hindu report stated, adding that his body was donated to AIIMS for medical research in accordance with his wishes.
“The family has donated his body to AIIMS, New Delhi for teaching and research purposes,” AIIMS reportedly said in a statement following his demise.
Multiple other reports such as this, this and this, corroborated that no cremation took place, and Yechury’s body was donated to AIIMS.
Born To A Telugu Speaking Brahmin Family
In his 2017 parliamentary address, Yechury said that he was born into a Telugu-speaking Brahmin family. “I am born in the Madras General Hospital, now called Chennai, the General Hospital in Madras, to a Telugu-speaking Brahmin family…”
“I am married to a person whose father is a Sufi of the Islamic order, whose surname is Chishti, the Chishti-Sufis. Her mother is a Rajput but a Mysorean Rajput, who migrated there in the 8th century AD. We are now in the 21st Century. She is the daughter of these two, father and mother. A South Indian Brahmin born family boy married to this lady! What will my son be known as?…There is nothing that can describe my son rather than being an Indian,” he adds.
During a 2018 interview, Yechury told Hindustan Times, “I was named Sitaramarao, after my grandfather, but I dropped the caste appendage and carried on with my name. So Sitaram, it has remained.
While criticising erstwhile Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad’s comments on Muslims, Yechury stated, “Indians who are Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs or Atheists (like me) are all Indian citizens.”
Conclusion
Hence, viral social media posts claiming that Sitaram Yechury’s body was buried as per Christian rituals are false.
Result: False
Sources
Report By The New Indian Express, Dated September 13, 2024
Report By The Hindu, Dated September 15, 2024
YouTube Video By Sansad TV, Dated August 10, 2017
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Authors
Vasudha noticed the growing problem of mis/disinformation online after studying New Media at ACJ in Chennai and became interested in separating facts from fiction. She is interested in learning how global issues affect individuals on a micro level. Before joining Newschecker’s English team, she was working with Latestly.
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
