One of the tallest Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leaders in the country, ideologue, author and founder of Bharatheeya Vichara Kendram (BVK) P Parameswaran died at the age on 93 in his hometown Kochi, Kerala
Kochi: P Parameswaran, one of the senior-most 'pracharaks' of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and former leader of the erstwhile Bharatiya Jana Sangh, passed away in the early hours of Sunday, Sangh Parivar sources said. He was 93.
The founder director of the Bharatheeya Vichara Kendram breathed his last at 12.10 am while undergoing Ayurvedic treatment at Ottappalam in Kerala's Palakkad district, according to sources.
Parameswaran, who had worked with leaders like Deendayal Upadhyaya, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and LK Advani during the Jana Sangh days, was honoured with Padma Vibhushan, the country's second highest civilian award in 2018 and Padma Shri in 2004.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tribute to the RSS ideologue and took to Twitter to pay homage to the departed soul. PM, on his Twitter handle, wrote, “An institution builder, Parameswaran Ji nurtured eminent institutions such as the Bharatheeya Vichara Kendram, Vivekananda Kendra and others. I am fortunate to have interacted with him many times. He was a towering intellectual. Anguished by his demise. Om Shanti.”
An institution builder, Parameswaran Ji nurtured eminent institutions such as the Bharatheeya Vichara Kendram, Vivekananda Kendra and others. I am fortunate to have interacted with him many times. He was a towering intellectual. Anguished by his demise. Om Shanti. pic.twitter.com/DMo2fBiL3r
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi)
Fondly called as Parameswar ji by Sangh Parivar and BJP leaders, Parameswaran was a prolific writer, poet, researcher and a widely respected RSS ideologue. He was the Bharatiya Jana Sangh's secretary (1967 1971) and vice president (1971 1977), as well as the director of the Deendayal Research Institute (1977 1982), New Delhi.
Born in 1927 in Muhamma, Alappuzha district, he joined the RSS during his student days.
His body will be brought to the RSS headquarters in Kochi, Kerala on Sunday morning for people to pay their last respects. The cremation will be held in Muhamma in the evening, the sources said.
During the days of Emergency, he courted arrest as part of the all India Satyagraha against it and was jailed for 16 months.
Bharatheeya Vichara Kendram was established by Parameswaran in 1982 "to promote nationalist thoughts among Keralites".
With PTI Inputs
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