PUCL Bulletin, September 2002

Obituary
Krishan Kant

K.G. Kannabiran and Dr. Y.P. Chhibbar, President and General Secretary of the PUCL have issued the following statement:

"Shri Krishan Kant, the founding General Secretary of PUCLDR, as the PUCL was known when founded in 1976, died of a heart attack on July 27, 2002. He had 24 more days in office.

"Shri Krishan Kant belonged to a small group in Congress known as Ginger Group or Young Turks when Indira Gandhi was leading the Party, along with Shri Mohan Dharia, Shri Ram Dhan, and Shri Chandrashekhar. All of them left the Congress Party later on when Emergency was imposed. He was governor of Andhra Pradesh from 1989. He took over as tenth Vice-President in August 1997.

"He worked actively with Shri Jayaprakash Narayan and was named by him as the first General Secretary of the PUCLDR in 1976. Others associated with the founding of PUCLDR were Shri Ashok Mehta, Shri V. M. Tarkunde, Shri Surendra Mohan, Shri Era Sezhian, Shri Madhu Dandawate, etc.

"Shri Krishan Kant was the Chief Guest at a function on October 17th, 2001 when the PUCL completed its 25 years. He had said at that time, "Today when I see how the PUCL has won the adherence of intellectuals, activities and human rights campaigners, as well as the ordinary citizens, I can say with confidence that the PUCL is steadily translating JP's dreams into reality."
"Shri Krishan Kant leaves behind his 98 year old mother, two sons, one daughter, and his wife Ms. Suman Krishan Kant. Ms. Suman Krishan Kant is herself also very active in women's movement and has led the Mahila Dakshta Samiti in Delhi for more than twenty-five years along with the late Ms. Pramila Dandwate and Ms. Manju Mohan.

"In his death, the country has lost a dedicated and committed Indian and the PUCL a committed human rights worker." -- K.G. Kannabiran, President; Y.P. Chhibbar, Ph.D, General Secretary, July 27, 2002

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