Kalon Tripa mourns the death of former PM Chander Shekhar

Monday, 9 July 2007, 11:28 a.m.

Dharamshala: Kalon Tripa Samdhong Rinpoche deeply mourned the death of former Indian Prime Minister Chander Shekhar, whom he described as “a great leader of India” and “a staunch supporter” of the Tibetan cause.

He conveyed this in his address to an informal interaction between MP Nirmala Desh Pandey and the officials of the Central Tibetan Administration here this morning.

The former Indian PM died of cancer on Sunday, and is due to be cremated shortly. He was 80.

As soon as Mr Shekhar assumed the office of Prime Minister, he explored the possibilities of formulating any concrete change in the status of Tibet issue, Kalon Tripa said.

Kalon Tripa said that later, during a day-long private discussion with him, the former PM conveyed that he was disillusioned and disheartened by his inability to do anything substantive for the Tibetan cause.

Being a true follower of great Indian leaders like Dr Ram Manohar Lohia, who were life-long supporters of Tibet, Mr Shekhar continued to remain a great sympathizer and a staunch supporter of the Tibetan cause, Kalon Tripa added.

Born on 1st July 1927 in Ibrahimpatti in District Ballia of Uttar Pradesh, Chandra Shekhar received his education at Allahabad University.

He was elected to the Lok Sabha for the eight term in the 2004 elections. He served as Prime Minister for a brief period between 10 November 1990 and 6 March 1991.

He had served one term in Rajya Sabha to which he was elected in 1962.

He is survived by his two sons.