Former Indian president Abdul Kalam passes away

Dr APJ Abdul Kalam died apparently of a cardiac arrest in Shillong


Afp/web Desk July 27, 2015
India's 11th President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam. PHOTO: AFP

Former Indian President Abdul Kalam passed away at a private hospital in Meghalaya on Monday evening, Press Trust of India reported.



According to NDTV, India’s 11th president had been admitted to the intensive care unit of a private hospital in Shillong, Meghalaya in critical condition.

He had collapsed at the Indian Institute of Management-Shillong while delivering a lecture to students of the B-school.

https://twitter.com/APJAbdulKalam/status/625546195205648384

"He is in the Intensive Care Unit. We are examining him. We suspect that it could be cardiac arrest," John Sailo Ryntathiang, director of Bethany Hospital, told IANS.

However, there was no immediate official word on the exact cause of his death.

Dr Kalam, 83, had served as the 11th President on India from 2002 to 2007. The government announced seven days mourning for him.

He is expected to be buried in his native Rameshwaram.



Later, his twitter account was converted into a memorial.

https://twitter.com/APJAbdulKalam/status/625731760093921281

Indian premier Narendra Modi noted that Kalam's death was a great loss to the nation.







An acclaimed nuclear scientist and author, Kalam was known as the "people's president" during his time in office and continued to reach out to young people with his scientific lectures after leaving office.

Home minister Rajnath Singh described him as "an inspiration to an entire generation" in a post on Twitter.

Born to a poor family of boatman in Rameswaram, a coastal town in southern Tamil Nadu state on October 15, 1931, Kalam sold newspapers as a child to help his family financially.

He rose through the ranks to become a top scientist at India's defence research organisation, where he worked for four decades helping to develop the country's home grown weapon's programme, earning him the moniker "India's missile man".

He also played a pivotal role in India's nuclear weapons tests in 1998.

After his presidential term, Kalam returned to academics and regularly delivered lectures at top Indian universities. He also published a best seller autobiography entitled "Wings of fire" in 1999.

Nawaz offers condolences

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday expressed his condolences on the demise of former Indian president Dr Kalam.

He commiserated with the bereaved family and the people of India.

COMMENTS (54)

wiseowl | 8 years ago | Reply @ Shahid and @pak punjabi He was not a true muslim? Please be serious when commenting in ET. There are 1.5Billion Muslims in the world. Only insignificant 20 Million are in Pakistan. You are aware that very few muslims are living in Islamic country. Those outside Pakistan are not true muslims? Bombs and or missiles in Pakistan, Iran and elsewhere are made by non muslims. Many muslim thinkers ,scholars, and those practicing muslims are in India. Deobandi, Barelvi,Qadiani ,Bohara muslim thoughts originate in India. Indians are known to look at things differently. Buddhism, Jainism, Shikhism all originated in India. Urdu originated in India. So all Indian Muslims are not true muslims? For Indian Muslims and Indian citizens religion is personal and Indian muslims do not care who calls them true or false.Indian Muslims are true Indians and that matters.Dr. Abdul Kalam was a true and oustanding, a Great Indian who was a Bharatratna. His thought provoking writings, speeches ,books and lectures will be inspiring to all humans irrespective of his nationality. Please see if you find some learning from him. “It’s easy to defeat someone but its extremely difficult to win someone” was one of his quotes.
Abhigyan | 8 years ago | Reply @usman777: You got to start reading more about India.
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