Moved by Express story on V-P gesture, his final act: I’m with you

In what could well have been his last official letter as Union Sports Minister, Sunil Dutt wrote to Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat o...

In what could well have been his last official letter as Union Sports Minister, Sunil Dutt wrote to Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat on Monday, complimenting him for donating Rs one lakh to the widow of a migrant labourer from UP who had donated his organs to save six other lives.

After reading about Shekhawat’s gesture in The Sunday Express, Dutt, who died of a cardiac arrest in Mumbai today, wrote: ‘‘Shri Bhairon Singh Shekhawatji, I went through yesterday’s Sunday Express paper with the front page headline—‘V-P reaches out to family of migrant labourer who lit up six lives in his death’. It was one of the finest human gestures because in today’s world of materialism, very few people are there like you who feel for the poor. I sincerely salute you for that.’’

Dutt also enclosed a cheque of Rs 25,000 with the letter, leaving the payee column blank. ‘‘I am sending you a blank cheque of Rs 25,000… please hand over the cheque to her and please tell your Secretary to fill the name of the widow on the cheque. This is a very humble contribution from my side, getting the inspiration from you. Thanking you, with regards, Sunil Dutt,’’ wrote the 75-year-old Bollywood legend.

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The letter was received yesterday at the Vice-President’s office. ‘‘We were going through the letter today when we heard of Sunil Dutt’s death. This was perhaps his last letter. His kind-heartedness and generosity is reflected so aptly in this last letter,’’ said K L Kochar, press advisor to the Vice-President.

Shekhawat told The Indian Express that he would ‘‘definitely’’ fulfil Dutt’s last wish and pass on the cheque to Devi. ‘‘Today, I learnt of Sunil Dutt’s fine gesture. I will definitely fulfil this wish of his. I salute him. God bless his soul,’’ the Vice-President said.

On May 22, The Sunday Express had reported how 40-year-old Fulhari Devi from Ghazipur’s Osawan village, 400 km from Lucknow, had received a cheque of Rs one lakh and five sarees for her 19-year-old daughter’s wedding from Vice-President Shekhawat.That was four months after her husband Shivnath Singh (45)—who died of head injuries in a road accident in Delhi—had donated his eyes, kidneys, liver and heart. The recipient of Singh’s heart was a Delhi slum-dweller, who was referred to renowned AIIMS cardiologist Dr P Venugopal by Shekhawat—Chandra had approached Venugopal on January 23, the day Shivnath died in AIIMS.

The Vice-President traced Shivnath’s family and sent the cheque through former UP CM Jagdambika Pal on May 20. Informed about Dutt’s gesture and his death today, Devi said: ‘‘Dutt sahib ko bhagwan swarg mein rakhega. Unki maut ka shayad sabse zyada dukh mujhe hai. (God will keep Dutt sahib in heaven, I am perhaps most pained by his death).’’