DHAKA: India former president Dr APJ Abdul Kalam’s funeral will be held on Thursday in Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu, where he was born.

The former president is survived by his older brother Mohammad Muthu Meera Lebbai Maraicker, who is 99.

The body of Dr Kalam was brought to 10 Rajaji Marg, his home in Delhi for the last seven years, on Tuesday afternoon. His body will lie in state at the bungalow in the heart of Delhi and people can pay tribute from 4:00pm (local time).

India President Pranab Mukherjee, Vice President Hamid Ansari and Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tribute to Dr Kalam at his residence.

Among others who visited were former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi and Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and his son and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav.

President Mukherjee and PM Modi had earlier received Dr Kalam’s body at Delhi’s Palam airport. A guard of honor by the three services was held at the airport.

Meanwhile, the India government has declared a seven-day national mourning as a mark of respect for the man known and loved across the country as the ‘People’s President’.

The former President died after a massive cardiac arrest while delivering a lecture at the Indian Institute of Management in Shillong, Meghalaya on Monday evening. He was 83.

BDST: 1726 HRS, JULY 28, 2015
RR

** APJ Kalam’s body to be flown to Delhi