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Former Indian President Pranab Mukherjee is dead

By Masood Sattar Khan
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Pranab Mukherjee, a former Indian President, passed away at the Army's Research and Referral Hospital in New Delhi on August 31. He was 84. His health had deteriorated earlier in the day after suffering a septic shock due to his lung infection. 

He was admitted to the military hospital on August 10 and also tested positive for COVID-19 prior to the surgery. He later developed a lung infection 

He had himself tweeted having tested positive for COVID-19 and urged people who had come in contact with him in the previous week to isolate and get tested for the novel coronavirus. 

A powerful orator and scholar, Mukherjee was known to be a Congress stalwart before being elected as India's 13th President and serving from July 2012 to 2017 at the top post. 

“India grieves the passing away of Bharat Ratna Shri Pranab Mukherjee. He has left an indelible mark on the development trajectory of our nation. A scholar par excellence, a towering statesman, he was admired across the political spectrum and by all sections of society,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted.

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