Former Union Minister PR Kyndiah Laid To Rest With full State Honour
29 March, Shilong
The mortal remains of P R Kyndiah, theformer Union Minister and veteran Congress leader, was accorded a state funeral here in Meghalaya before being laid to rest at the All Saints’ Cathedral Cemetery this afternoon.
Despite the inclement weather, the ceremony went on as dignitaries of the state laid floral wreathes at the casket draped with the Tricolour, while the Meghalaya Police accorded a gun salute as a mark of respect to the departed leader.
Paying a tribute to the late leader on the occasion, the chief adviser to the Congress-led Meghalaya United Alliance government, D D Lapang recalled Kyndiah as a ”man of passion, mission and determination” and said his passing away was a great loss to the family, the state and the nation as a whole.
Offering his tributes to Kyndiah on behalf of all themembers of the Assembly, state Assembly Speaker, Abu TaherMondal, said it was one of the saddest moments in the history ofstate. ”Late Kyndiah never lost an election in his lifetime and thisonly shows the amount of faith the people had in him. He had beena guiding force to all the members in the Assembly especially tothe new members,” Mondal said.
Home Minister Roshan Warjri in her tribute also recalled theservices of Late Kyndiah to the state and the Nation in variouscapacities, saying that she would greatly miss his ”toweringpresence”.
L K Kyndiah, one of the sons of the veteran Congress leader,spoke on behalf of the family and expressed his gratitude tothe Meghalaya government for according a grand honour to theirlate father and said besides being a great leader, he was ”aloving and caring father and a closest friend we had”.
Among others, the floral tribute to the departed leader onbehalf of the Governor K N Tripathi was paid by the PrincipalSecretary M S Rao, while the tribute on behalf of the ChiefMinister Dr Mukul Sangma was paid by his wife and Chairperson ofMeghalaya Resource Mobilisation and Employment Generation Council,Dikkanchi D Shira on the occasion.
Besides, a number of positions held in his long politicalcareer both in the state and Union governments, Late Kyndiah wasalso actively involved in various social services and also authored a number of books including- Jawaharlal Nehru: the Thinking Dynamo, Meghalaya: Yesterday and Today, Journey of Words,Rev JJM Nichols Roy: Architect of District Council Autonomyand Mizo Freedom Fighters, among others.
The state funeral function for Kyndiah was attended by many citizens of the state, besides the ministers, officials and his family members, relatives, friends and well-wishers.