Swami Agnivesh, 80, died in a Delhi hospital on Friday night
New Delhi:
Social activist Swami Agnivesh died after a cardiac arrest on Friday night at the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences in Delhi. He was 80 years old. Admitted to the hospital on Tuesday, Swami Agnivesh was being treated for cirrhosis of the liver and had received respiratory assistance following multi-organ failure.
According to a statement from the hospital, his condition began to deteriorate tonight and he suffered a heart attack at 6 in the afternoon. Doctors tried to resuscitate him, but failed, and he was pronounced dead at 6.30 p.m.
A social activist and religious leader who fought bonded labor, news of Swami Agnivesh’s death was greeted with shock and pain, with Congressional MP Shashi Tharoor, lawyer and activist Prashant Bhushan, and Nobel laureate from Peace Kailash Satyarthi among those who tweeted.
“I am appalled and saddened by his passing. A man of vigor and conviction, he never looked, sounded or behaved his age! The country has diminished at his passing and I cry with the millions whose rights he fought to defend. Om Shanti,” Mr Tharoor said.
I am shocked and saddened by his passing. A man of vigor and conviction, he never looked, sounded or behaved his age! The country is diminished by his passing and I mourn with the millions whose rights he fought to defend. Om Shanti. https://t.co/Kzmwotn1Sb
– Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) September 11, 2020
“My condolences on the passing of veteran leader Arya Samaj, crusader against bonded labor and my old friend Swami Agniveshji. May the souls of the departed rest in peace,” said Satyarthi, who won the Nobel Prize for the Paz 2014 for its campaigns against child labor, he said.
My condolences on the passing of veteran leader Arya Samaj, crusader against bonded labor, and my old friend Swami Agnivesh ji. May the deceased soul rest in peace. ओम् शान्ति, शान्ति, शान्ति:
– Kailash Satyarthi (@k_satyarthi) September 11, 2020
“Swami Agnivesh’s disappearance is a great tragedy. A true warrior for humanity and tolerance. Among the bravest I have ever met … willing to take great risks for the public good. He was brutalized in Jharkhand by a lynch mob of BJP / RSS 2 years ago. The liver was damaged, “said Bhushan.
In July 2018, Swami Agnivesh was brutally assaulted, allegedly by BJP Yuva Morcha workers who chanted “Jai Sri Ram”, in Pakur in Jharkhand, where he supported the protest by tribal communities against the acquisition of land by the state.
The BJP, which was in power in Jharkhand at the time, condemned him and insisted that the attackers were not associated with the party, but added that it was not a surprise given “Swami Agnivesh’s ‘track record’.”
A month later he was attacked again, this time in Delhi, while on his way to pay his last respects to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Swami Agnivesh, who also served as MLA and cabinet minister (for education) in Haryana, was one of 270 eminent personalities who wrote to Delhi’s chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal, calling for an “independent investigation” into the violence he consumed. parts of the national capital. at the beginning of this year.
With PTI inputs
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