New
Delhi/Uzhavoor (Kerala): Indians from all walks of life
on Thursday mourned and paid glowing tribute to former President
KR Narayanan, who died at the Army Research and Referral Hospital
on Wednesday evening at the age of 85. The Indian leadership,
diplomats, realtives and friends and the general public paid
their last respects to the 10th President.The body of the
former President lay in state at Kapurthala House in the heart
of the capital. President APJ Abdul Kalam and Prime Minister
Dr. Manmohan Singh led the nation in offering floral tributes
at the venue, just hours before Narayanan is was cremated
near Shantivan, the memorial dedicated to India's first Prime
Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. Since Wednesday evening, leaders
have cut across party lines in proferring glowing eulogies
to Narayanan, the country's first Dalit President.
President Kalam said that India has lost a great leader, who
had a noble and inspiring value system. He said that there
had been many an occasion when he had benefitted from Narayanan's
counsel, and described the former President as an individual
of high intellectual ability, who had distinguished himself
as a diplomat, educationist, a Member of Parliament, a Minister
in the Union Government and as Vice- President of India and
Chairman, Rajya Sabha and as President of India in every respect.
Prime Minister Singh described Narayanan as an original thinker
and who had championed the cause of democracy, equality and
secularism. He said that the former President had braved numerous
hardships and difficulties in life and overcoming social prejudices
to emerge as one of the outstanding personalities of the country.
His phenomenal success in the fields of diplomacy, academics
and politics represented an extraordinary profile of a person
who rose from humble beginnings to become the First Citizen
of the Republic of India, Dr. Singh added. Tributes were also
offered by former Prime Ministers I.K.Gujral, Atal Behari
Vajpayee and Chandrashekhar. Congress President Sonia Gandhi,
who was scheduled to tour Bihar today, cancelled her trip
to attend the last rites of the late President. Speaker Somnath
Chatterjee, Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh
and other leaders also paid floral tribute. "He (K.R Narayanan)
served the nation with dedication as the chairperson of the
Rajya Sabha (upper house of parliament) and as the president
of the country. He worked with pride. It's a great loss to
the nation," said senior BJP leader, Vijay Kumar Malhotra.
Friends and relatives in Uzhavoor, Narayanan's native place,
located 25 kilometres from Kottayam in Kerala, held a prayer
meeting to pay homage to the man who brought glory to the
village. Narayanan's younger brother KR Bhaskaran said that
the loss was irreparable. "Now, that my brother has passed
away, I am very sorry about it. About 62 years back, my two
elder brothers also passed away. When I heard about it, it
was a very sad event," said Bhaskaran. Narayanan took office
on July 25,1997 succeeding Shankar Dayal Sharma. The Government
has announced a seven-day mourning for Narayanan. The Indian
tricolour is flying at half-mast on all public buildings as
a mark of respect to the departed leader, who died of acute
pneumonitis and renal failure.