By IANS,
Karachi : The ashes of Indian peace and human rights activist Nirmala Deshpande were immersed in the Indus River at the steps of the Sadhu Bela temple at Sukkur in Sindh on Saturday.
Deshpande, a widely respected Gandhian and nominated member of the Rajya Sabha upper house of the Indian parliament, had said in her will that her ashes should be immersed in all the rivers of South Asia. Deshpande, 79, died in New Delhi May 1.
A 250-member India-Pakistan peace committee, whose members arrived at Sukkur from different parts of Pakistan, participated in the ceremony to pay homage to Deshpande’s efforts for making South Asia a peaceful region for all nations, Dawn reported Sunday.
Respected internationally, Nirmala Deshpande played a leading role in various peace movements in South Asia over the last six decades.
It was her desire to make South Asia a region free of nuclear weapons. She also played a key role towards bringing people of different religions closer to each other.
The committee was led by its secretary Karamat Ali and included its member Anoosha Alam and her nine-year-old daughter Nisa Alam.
Deshpande had desired in her will that a young girl perform the immersion ceremony. In accordance with this, Nisa Alam led the ceremony.
Similar immersion ceremonies have already been performed in the Ganges and Yamuna rives in India, and in other rivers in South Asian countries.