ITANAGAR, 6 May: The Arunachal Indigenous Tribes’ Forum (AITF) expressed shock and sorrow over the demise of former home minister Neelam Taram, who passed away at the TRIHMS in Naharlagun on 5 April.
“A man of multi-faceted personality and asset of the state, the founder president of the All Nyishi Youth Organisation (now ANYA) in 1976, Taram was attached to the grassroots and was actively associated with socio-political and cultural organisations,” the AITF stated in a condolence message.
“His premature demise has caused an irreparable loss to the state, which has created discernible vacuum in the civil society of the state,” the AITF said.
Members of the forum observed two minutes’ silence
on Saturday as a mark of respect for the departed soul.
The AITF conveyed deepest condolences to the bereaved family and prayed for eternal peace of the departed soul. It also urged all its constituent apex CBOs and senior citizens of the state to join the last rites at Neelam Villa in Papu Nallah at 11 am on Sunday.
The Nyishi Elite Society (NES) has also deeply mourned Taram’s demise.
In a condolence letter addressed to Neelam Ben, the widow of late Neelam Taram, the NES on Friday said, “Late Neelam Taram was a thinker, writer, politician, social worker, a good administrator, soft-spoken, a friend of all ages, a philanthropist, a man of practical and principles, a statesman and a veteran public leader of the state.”
“In his demise, the Nyishi community has lost one of the towering personalities of the community in particular and the state in general, which has caused a huge vacuum that is hard to fill,” it said, and prayed to the almighty to give enough strength to the bereaved family to bear the irreparable loss.
Apang mourns Taram
Former chief minister Gegong Apang also deeply mourned Taram’s demise.
“The news has come to me like a bolt from the blue and gave me great shock and pain,” Apang said in a condolence message.
He remembered Taram as “one of the prominent influential leaders who, with his great innovative thinking and ideas, had brought immense administrative reforms and socio-political development in various capacities during his long political career, especially as the home minister of the state.”
“Neelam Taram’s death has caused an irreparable loss not only to the family members but to the state as a whole. The void created by his death will not easily be filled even in the distant future,” Apang said.
Offering heartfelt condolence to the bereaved family, Apang prayed for eternal peace of the departed soul.
