NEW DELHI, 2 May 2008 — Veteran Gandhian Nirmala Deshpande, 79, popularly known as “Didi” (elder sister), passed away yesterday in her sleep. Though she had not been keeping well for the past three days, she attended a session of the Rajya Sabha (upper house) on Wednesday evening. Besides fever, she was suffering from some gastric problems after her return on Tuesday evening from attending a marriage in Dhanbad in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand.
She was single and is survived by her sister. The cremation will take place today after her sister’s arrival from Pune.
“She had not visited the hospital in the recent past and did not complain of any ailments except for joint pains. She died peacefully in her sleep in the early hours of Thursday,” her former private secretary Peter Parekapetil said. Describing Deshpande as an eminent freedom fighter and social worker, President Pratibha Patil expressed deep sorrow at her demise in a message from Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala.
Expressing shock at her death, Vice President Hamid Ansari hailed her as an “eminent Gandhian, social worker and a respected public figure,” who had “served the country with distinction.”
“Her immense contributions to the empowerment of women, promotion of communal harmony and toward rural development were undertaken within the framework of Gandhian thought and philosophy,” Ansari said.
Deshpande was nominated to the Rajya Sabha for a two-year stint in 1997 and again in 2004.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh described her as a “living Gandhian, who was deeply committed to creating a good society based on Gandhian values of simplicity, decency and honesty.”
In his condolence message, Singh said that Deshpande was a leader of the people, who led by example. He recalled “the peace march she organized in Orissa after the terrible murder of missionary Graham Steins inspired many and symbolized her commitment to human life and secular values.”
“Nirmalaji also contributed to peace building in our region, by going beyond our frontiers to spread sadbhavana (harmony) and worked to establish goodwill and peace among neighbors,” he said.
She was a person of rare courage and compassion, deeply imbued with Gandhian values, Congress President Sonia Gandhi said in her message.
Deshpande’s social and political career began with her joining Vinoba Bhave’s Bhoodan movement in 1952. She was born Oct. 17, 1929 in Nagpur (Maharashtra).
She is remembered for the number of peace marches she organized to bring peace in Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir, to instill confidence among the common people and spread the message of compassion and nonviolence. Deshpande also undertook peace marches after the 2002 Gujarat carnage.
Deshpande was a strong advocate of friendship between India and Pakistan. Aside from organizing a number of meetings on friendship between the two countries, she helped in bringing together legislators and retired officers of both the countries. She led a “Women’s Bus of Peace” from New Delhi to Lahore in 2002. She received Padma Vibhushan, Rajiv Gandhi Sadbhavana Puraskar and Russia’s Order of Friendship. She was nominated for the Nobel peace prize in 2005. Her writings include plays, travelogues and several books, including a biography of Vinoba Bhave.
