NEW DELHI, July 28 - The nation today paid homage to former President APJ Abdul Kalam with leaders cutting across the political spectrum and personalities from different walks of life hailing him as a �true son� and a �real gem�.
President Pranab Mukherjee, Vice President Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a host of dignitaries offered their last respects to Kalam, whose mortal remains were brought here from Shillong.
The dignitaries placed wreaths on the body that was wrapped in a Tricolour and placed on a deck on the tarmac at the Palam technical area after it was brought down from a special IAF aircraft that ferried it from Guwahati.
The President and other dignitaries stood in silence as a tri-services guard of honour was given before the former President�s body was taken in a flower-bedecked gun carriage to his residence at 10 Rajaji Marg, where people in large numbers paid homage.
A host of VIPs, led by the President, Vice President and the Prime Minister, also went to his Rajaji Marg residence and paid floral tributes to him.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, Delhi Lt Governor Najeeb Jung, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, three service chiefs, the Marshal of the IAF 96-year-old Arjan Singh and cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar were among the dignitaries who paid their last respects to the departed soul.
Kalam�s funeral will be held in Rameswaram, his birth place in Tamil Nadu, on July 30. A seven-day state mourning has been declared. � PTI
(More on page 12)
