Headlines
Nation mourns for Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam; seven day state mourning declared
Shillong/New Delhi, July 27
A.P.J. Abdul
Kalam, who rose from humble beginnings to become one of India's leading
scientists and later a hugely popular president, died in Shillong on
Monday evening after collapsing during a lecture at the IIM-Shillong,
plunging the entire country in mourning.
The government has announced a seven day state mourning as a mark of
respect to former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, who passed away in
Shillong on Monday.
"The government announces with profound
sorrow the death of Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, former president of India at
Bethany Hospital, Shillong at 1945 hours today (Monday). As a mark of
respect to the departed dignitary, seven days state mourning will be
observed throughout India from July 27, 2015 to August 2, 2015, both
days inclusive," said a home ministry release.
It said that
during this period, the national flag will fly at half mast on all
buildings throughout India where it is flown regularly and there will be
no official entertainment.
The date, time and venue of the state funeral will be intimated later.
Kalam, who occupied
Rashtrapati Bhavan in 2002-07 as India's 11 president, breathed his last
at 7.45 p.m. at the Bethany Hospital where he was rushed to from the
IIM where he was delivering a lecture on "liveable planet", officials at
the premier institute told IANS.
The 83-year-old Kalam, who had
been lecturing at the IIM-Shillong since last year, reached the
institute at 5.40 p.m. on Monday. According to its director Amitabha De,
he was taken to the guest house where he rested for a while and came to
the lecture hall at 6.40 p.m.
"Kalam must have barely spoken for
five minutes when he suddenly collapsed," De said, recalling the
tragedy. "We rushed him to the hospital by 7 p.m. where he passed away."
Meghalaya
Governor V. Shanmuganathan said the doctors "made enormous efforts to
save him but we lost a great leader". Meghalaya Chief Secretary P.B.O.
Warjri broke the news to IANS: "Kalam is no more."
Doctors at the
hospital said Kalam was brought "almost dead" after suffering a cardiac
arrest. Hospital director John Sailo Ryntathiang said they did their
best to revive him. But he could not be saved.
As the news spread
in the Meghalaya capital, thousands of tear-eyed people gathered at the
Bethany hospital, shouting "Kalam Amar Rahe" and followed the army
ambulance that took his body to the Military hospital where it will ke
kept overnight.
Meghalaya Deputy Chief Minister Roytre
Christopher Laloo, who was at the hospital with his colleagues, said
Kalam's body will flown to New Delhi via Guwahati in an air force
helicopter on Tuesday morning.
President Pranab Mukherjee, who is
in Karnataka, led the nation in mourning Kalam. Saying he will
"cherish" their long association, Mukherjee said: "Dr. Kalam will be
long remembered for his passion for science and innovation...."
The
government has announced a seven day state mourning, till August 2,
during which the national flag will flay at half-mast and there will be
no official entertainment. The date, time and venue of the state funeral
will be intimated later, the union home ministry said.
Prime
Minister Narendra Modi, terming himself greatly upset, said "in this
great shocking situation, I have no words to say". Vice President Hamid
Ansari termed Kalam a "true son of India" and Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra
Mahajan saluted him as a "true patriot, world-renowned scientist and
original thinker".
Former prime minister Manmohan Singh recalled he had worked very closely with Kalam and "greatly benefited from his advice".
Congress
president Sonia Gandhi called Kalam "a scholar-statesman and one of the
greatest scientific minds". L.K. Advani, who was deputy prime minister
when Kalam became president, said he "served Mother India literally
until the last breath".
Other leaders and scientists also mourned
his death, while gloom spread in his hometown Rameshwaram, a Hindu
pilgrim town in coastal Tamil Nadu, 600 km from Chennai.
One of
India's most accomplished scientists, Kalam -- widely known as India's
"Missile Man" -- was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1981, Padma Vibhushan
in 1990 and Bharat Ratna - the highest civilian honour - in 1997.
The
Bharat Ratna came just a year before Kalam played a key role in India's
nuclear test at Pokhran in Rajasthan in May 1998, soon after Atal
Bihari Vajpayee became the prime minister.
Born on October 15, 1931, Kalam went on to become one of the most celebrated aerospace and defence scientists in the country.
Kalam's
early years were, however, steeped in poverty when, as a mere
eight-year-old, he hawked newspapers to supplement the income of a large
family.
There were times when food was scarce in the family and
his hard-pressed mother stretched every resource to the utmost to keep
her five sons and daughters as well as her boat owner husband and his
brother's families fed, clothed and in good health.
By his own
admission, Kalam would wake up much before dawn to distribute newspapers
in the town after collecting newspaper bundles at the Rameshwaram
railway station. The tough routine lasted a year.
His sister
pawned jewellery with a moneylender so that the studious Kalam could
have Rs.600 to join the Madras Institute of Technology.
Kalam
contributed to the development of India's first satellite launch vehicle
and was the architect of the country's guided missile development
programme.
He became the head of the Defence Research and Development
Organisation in 1992. He became the principal scientific advisor to the
Indian government in 1999 with the rank of a cabinet minister. He held
the post till 2001.