Freedom fighter, veteran Gandhian and noted social worker Narayan Das passed away at 94 while undergoing treatment in a private hospital at Bhubaneswar on June 20.
Since his school days, Das was an ardent disciple of Mahatma Gandhi. He visited many countries like Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Singapore and the USA to give talks on the Gandhian philosophy nonviolence. He was the head of the Gandhi Peace Foundation, Rourkela unit. He firmly stood up and faced the Emergency, during which he spread the message of ‘Total Revolution’ of Jaya Prakash Narayan.
He was also associated with Khadi Mandal, Sarva Seva Sangh, Sarvodaya and many more organisations.
Raghunathpali MLA Subrat Tarai, Rourkela MLA Sarada Nayak, former Union Minister Dilip Ray, social worker Sudarsan Das, former MLA George Tirkey, former Rourkela MLA Pravat Mohapatra and many more noted personalities paid their homage to late Das.
He was cremated at the Puri Swargadwar in the presence of family members, friends and well-wishers. Other rituals will be held at Rourkela. He is survived by three sons and two daughters.