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Narayanan cremated with full honours
Tribune News Service

Former President K.R. Narayanan's body being taken for the funeral in New Delhi on Thursday. — Tribune photo by Mukesh Aggarwal

The President, Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, and the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, led the nation in paying homage to Mr Narayanan who breathed his last at the Army Research and Referral Hospital at 5.45 pm yesterday. The 85-year-old leader was admitted to the hospital on October 29 and was suffering from pneumonia and renal failure. His condition deteriorated on October 31 and he was on life support since November 3.

The former President’s body draped in the Tricolour was brought to the cremation ground in a flower-bedecked gun carriage. Officers from the armed forces carried the mortal remains of their former Supreme Commander on his last journey.

The Vice-President, Mr Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, Union Ministers Pranab Mukherjee and Shivraj Patil, former Prime Ministers Atal Bihari Vajpayee, V.P. Singh and I.K. Gujral, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee and Congress President Sonia Gandhi and CPM leaders Prakash Karat and Sitaram Yechury paid their last respects to Mr Narayanan. The three service chiefs, Army General J.J. Singh, Chief Admiral Arun Prakash and Air Chief Marshal S.P. Tyagi also paid their tributes to the departed leader.

Former President’s daughters Amrita and Chitra were seated besides Ms Sonia Gandhi and Dr Kalam, respectively.

Earlier in the day, the President, the Vice-President, the Prime Minister, the Congress President and former Prime Minister V.P. Singh, Union Ministers Pranab Mukherjee, P. Chidambaram, A. Raja and Dayanidhi Maran and Governors of Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, Sushil Kumar Shinde and Bal Ram Jakhar and Delhi Lt. Governor B.L. Joshi visited Kapurthala House on Mansingh Road where Mr Narayanan’s body lay in state and laid wreaths.

A large number of social and religious leaders from Mr Narayanan’s home state of Kerala also bid adieu to their leader.

In the condolence register at Kapurthala House, Dr Kalam placed on record his tribute to Mr Narayanan. Dr Kalam’s message reads, “A great leader with inspiring value system. We miss him.”

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh wrote in the condolence register that Mr Narayanan will be remembered by millions of his admirers in India and abroad for his deep patriotism and concern for human beings. “His myriad and substantive contribution to our republic as scholar, diplomat and statesman will ensure that his name will always be remembered,” reads his condolence message.

Former President R. Venkataraman said in a message here today that Mr Narayanan was a model of fairness and wisdom.

The Congress today paid glowing tributes to Mr Narayanan and described him as an embodiment of the aspirations of the downtrodden and the underprivileged sections of society. In a resolution passed here after a 90-minute meeting, the Congress Working Committee said, “Mr Narayanan will be remembered for the vibrancy he lent to his august office, his efforts to bring transparency to presidential decisions, his role in preserving and protecting the Constitution and its secular ethos as well as the composite culture of India.”

The resolution further stated that Mr Narayanan’s life of great achievement and accomplishment overcoming adversities is a testimony not only to his individual drive and determination but also the functioning of the Indian democracy. “For a man who rose to the highest office of our land, K.R. Narayanan never forgot the constant struggle he as a Dalit of humble origin had to wage against a casteist society,” the resolution reads.

In a statement issued here, US Ambassador to India, David C. Mulford said that former President Narayanan had a distinguished, rich and varied career in the service of India and the international community, including serving as Ambassador to the United States, and friend of the American people.

The Indian Foreign Service Association has mourned the demise of Mr Narayanan and placed on record its “deep and sincere appreciation of the services that Mr Narayanan rendered to the country and abiding contribution to Indian diplomacy and foreign policy.”

In a statement issued here, the association said, “It is a matter of great pride for the Indian Foreign Service that he is the first and only member from the Service to hold the highest office. Mr Narayanan is an inspiration and a role model for many generations of Indian diplomats.”

Special prayers at Narayanan’s village

Kottayam, November 10
Special prayers were held at the native village of former President K R Narayanan in Uzhavoor near here and at adjacent Santigiri Ashram today.

People from all walks of life participated in the prayers.

All shops and business establishments in the area remained closed as a mark of respect to the departed soul and people took out a silent march to the former President’s ancestral home.

Condolence meetings were also held in several parts of the district.

Narayanan’s younger brother K R Bhaskaran and elder sister K R Gouri are not participating in the cremation ceremony in New Delhi this evening due to illness and old age.

The former President’s ashes will be brought to Uzhavoor after the cremation, family sources said. — PTI