|
Jyoti Basu's death has left a political vacuum in the region, prime minister Sheikh Hasina said as she paid her last respects to the former chief minister of West Bengal in Kolkata on Tuesday.
The lion of Indian communism, who died on Sunday at the age of 95, was given state honours and a gun salute on his last journey before his body was handed over to a hospital in Kolkata for medical research.
Hasina departed Dhaka in the morning on a BAF aircraft to attend the funeral. She went straight to the Bidhan Sabha, lower house of the state legislature, after landing in the West Bengal capital, to lay a wreath on Basu's coffin and sign the condolence book.
In her message, Hasina wrote, "We deeply mourn the loss of Jyoti Basu, the veteran Indian politician and a true friend of Bangladesh. An active life has come to an end of one who worked for common people all through his life."
"The death has left a vacuum in the political arena of the sub-continent."
"His memory will remain forever in our hearts. We remember his contribution and compassion during the war of independence in 1971. We have lost a well wisher," wrote the PM of the iconic Marxist leader, whose ancestral home was in Sonargaon, near Dhaka.
KOLKATA BIDS GOODBYE
Kolkata was paying its last respects to Basu, who headed a CPI(M) state government in West Bengal for 23 long years from 1977.
Around 2,000 police personnel were deployed in the city to ensure order and discipline during the funeral, as thousands of ordinary people bid farewell to India's communist patriarch.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi, former prime minister Deva Gouda, union minister Sharad Power, former speaker Purno Agitok Sangma were among the Indian leaders attending the funeral.
West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya and other ministers of the state paid tribute to Basu at Mohakaran, the secretariat building of the state government.
CPI(M) leaders had earlier paid homage to their leader at the party office at Alimuddin Road in the morning.
The coffin carrying Basu's body was then covered with wreaths at West Bengal's Bidhan Sabha as the funeral rituals began in the morning.
Indian TV showed BJP leader and former Indian minister LK Advani, former minister Lalu Prasad Yadab, Tripura chief minister Manik Sarkar, Jharkhand chief minister Shibu Soren, Andhrapradesh chief minister Chandra Babu Naidu, former West Bengal chief minister Siddhartha Shankar Rao and other leaders from different states paying last respects to Basu at the Bidhan Sabha.
After paying her last respects to Basu, Hasina had lunch at Hotel Taj Bengal before returning home, landing back in the capital at 5.25pm.
Among those accompanying Hasina were foreign minister Dipu Moni, local government minister Syed Ashraful Islam and industries minister Dilip Barua.
Ruling alliance members Jatiya Party chairman HM Ershad, JSD president Hasanul Haque Inu and Workers Party president Rashed Khan Menon were also among the delegation.
Source: bdnews24.com
|
News 
RSS