Date:03/08/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/08/03/stories/2008080355720900.htm

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Surjeet to be cremated today; tributes pour in

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: The mortal remains of the veteran Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader, Harkishan Singh Surjeet, will be kept at the party headquarters, AKG Bhavan, here on Sunday. The cremation will take place at the Nigambodh Ghat electric crematorium at 5 p.m.

Meanwhile, tributes to the leader continued to pour in.

Vajpayee’s condolence

The Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, expressed his heartfelt condolence over his death and noted that Mr. Surjeet fought for his ideology right through his life.

Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee said he was one of the tallest leaders of the country and one of the main architects of the CPI(M). “Under his leadership, the party has rightly come to be known as the leading Leftist party in the country, working for the emancipation of the working class and the vulnerable sections of our community.”

“Inspiring leader”

Stating that the country and the party had suffered irreparable loss, he said Mr. Surjeet’s principled fight was for the establishment of a democratic way of life based on secularism and preservation of the rights of peasants, workers, and the common people of the country.

“His has been one of the most inspiring leadership in different facets of the Left movement in the country and he has been a crusader for the establishment of a pro-people and anti-imperalist set up in the country,” Mr. Chatterjee said.