7-Day State Mourning Announced For Late Pranab Mukherjee

As a mark of respect to Late Pranab Mukherjee, who passed away today, a seven-day state mourning has been announced by the government.

A government statement read, "As a mark of respect to the departed dignitary, seven days State Mourning will be observed throughout India from 31.08.2020 to 06.09.2020, both days inclusive."

A report quoted the statement as adding that "during the period of state mourning the national flag will fly at half mast on all buildings throughout the country, wherever it is flown regularly and there will be no official entertainment".

The government also said that the date, time and venue of his state funeral will be declared later.

Earlier today, informing about the death of the former President, his son Abhijeet Mukherjee tweeted, "With a heavy heart, this is to inform you that my father Shri Pranab Mukherjee has just passed away inspite of the best efforts of Doctors of RR Hospital & prayers, duas & prarthanas from people throughout India! I thank you all."

Mukherjee had earlier undergone a surgery for the removal of a blood clot in the brain. He also tested positive for coronavirus.

Conferred with Padma Vibhushan in 2008 and Bharat Ratna in 2019, Mukherjee's political career spanned almost five decades. He became the President of India in 2012 untill 2017.