’Nagaland’s prominent Gandhi’ Natwar Thakkar dies at 86

Prominent Gandhian Natwar Thakkar died in a hospital here on Sunday, his family said.

Thakkar was ailing since last month. The 86-year-old scholar is survived by his wife, a son and two daughters.

Thakkar, a Padmashree winner, spent a considerable part of his life in Nagaland. A Gandhian, he arrived in the northeastern state in 1955 and worked among the tribals, spreading the message of Mahatma Gandhi.

Born in 1932 to a Gujarati-speaking family in the then Bombay Presidency, Thakkar was inspired by Gandhian social reformer Kaka Kalelkar early in his life and reached Nagaland at age 23 to work among the poor and downtrodden.

He set up a "Nagaland Gandhi Ashram" in Chuchuyimlang village in 1955.

(With inputs from agencies.)