Tributes paid to Vishnukant Shastri
A loss to Indian literature, polity ?Dr Murli Manohar Joshi
FOC
?Everybody has learnt something from the personality of Acharya Vishnukant Shastri. He was endowed with qualities like simplicity, gentleness and good samskars. His death is a jolt to Indian literature,? said Dr Murli Manohar Joshi, senior BJP leader and former HRD Minister, while paying tributes to Acharya Vishnukant Shastri at a condolence meeting held in Kolkata on April 24. The meeting was organised by Shree Burrabazar Kumarsabha Pustakalaya and various other cultural, social and literary organisations of Kolkata at Mahajati Sadan. Dr Joshi said that Shastriji was totally committed to principles and his dedication to the society was unique.
Paying tributes, Dr Narendra Kohli, a noted Hindi litterateur, said that Shastriji was really a Mahamahim. ?A talented person is born with extraordinary qualities but he lives very simple throughout his life. Vishnukant Shastri was an example of this. His rajniti (politics) was truly rashtraniti,? he said.
Noted thinker Shri Umakant Upadhyaya described him as an extraordinary scholar. Shri Vishwambhar Nevar, a veteran journalist, said that Shastriji was a great personality of his generation. Shri Tathagat Rai, West Bengal BJP president, remembered him as a father-figure of BJP in West Bengal. Dr Pratibha Agarwal, an artist, described Shastriji as an inspiring personality. Swami Yuktanand called him a true pujari of Hinduism, Hindu society and culture. Shri Ranendra Nath Bandhopadhyaya, Prant Karyavah of Dakshin Bang Prant, Dr Amarnath Sharma, head of Hindi Department in Kolkata University, Shrinivas Sharma, a noted critic, also paid their tributes.
Dr Premshankar Tripathi, president of Burra Bazar Kumarsabha Pustakalaya, read out the condolence messages sent by President, Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Vice President, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, Shri K.S. Sudarshan, Shri Atal Behari Vajpayee, Shri L.K. Advani, Shri Ashok Singhal, Dr Pranva Pandya, Sadhvi Ritambhara, Prof. Kalyanmal Lodha, and Chief Ministers and Governors of various states. More than 200 representatives belonging to various organisations of Kolkata paid their tributes to Shastriji.
Tributes were also paid in various parts of the country. A condolence meeting was organised in Lucknow in which various distinguished personalities of the state participated. The Delhi unit of Akhil Bharatiya Sahitya Parishad organised a condolence meeting in New Delhi to pay tributes to him. Prominent among those who paid their tributes were Dr Mridula Sinha, senior BJP leader, Shri Jagdish Prasad Mathur, former MP, Shri Ashwini Kumar, Shri Ram Kripal Sinha, Shri Mahesh Chand Sharma, Shri Devendra Arya, Shri Pravin Arya, Shri Jit Singh Jit, Shri Mohan Manishi and Shri Anand Adish.
