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.
