Lok Sabha mourns loss of five former members, Manekshaw

The Lok Sabha on Monday mourned the death of five of its former members, including former Union Minister Mohamed Maqbool Dar and veteran parliamentarian G M Banatwalla, besides Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw.

After the new members took the oath, Speaker Somnath Chatterjee took up obituary references and condoled the demise of Dar, Banatwalla, Chiman Bhai Shukla, a member from Gujarat, Gopeshwar, a trade unionist, and Ram Prakash Tripathi, a noted social worker.

Paying glowing tributes to Manekshaw, the Speaker said that in his demise the country had lost a great soldier, a rare military genius, a patriot and a hero who inspired a generation of his countrymen.

The 94-year old war hero, who passed away last month, was associated with several welfare projects for soliders and ex-servicemen even after his retirement, Chatterjee said.

The Speaker also referred to the loss of 50 security personnel in a naxal attack in Orissa, the killing of 10 soldiers in a terror attack in Kashmir and the attack on the Indian Embassy in Kabul.

The House stood in silence as a mark of respect to the memory of the departed.