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News Daily-Sun, Dhaka, Bangladesh - 7th January 2013

Madanjeet SinghMadanjeet Singh, founder of South Asia Foundation (SAF), a youth movement with chapters in eight countries promoting regional cooperation through educational programmes, passed away on Sunday.

He died at the age of 88 from a stroke, in Beaulieu-sur-Mer in the south of France where he lived his last years.

Mr Singh was a diplomat, artist, writer, philanthropist and a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador since 2000.

He was passionate in his commitment to South Asian regional cooperation and solidarity on a secular, democratic, and progressive basis. This commitment was expressed through an extraordinary personal financial contribution to SAF, which he founded in 2000.

The organisation focuses on providing educational opportunities for young women and men and has an active network across the South Asian region.

SAF has offered scholarships to students under various disciplines in its 12 UNESCO Madanjeet Singh Institutions of Excellence. These institutions are located in all eight countries of South Asia.

Born in Lahore on April 16, 1924, he graduated from the Lahore Government College and then earned an M.Sc. in technical chemistry from the Italian Institute for Middle and Far East in Rome. Revealing his diverse interests early in life, he took a diploma in Buddhist art and culture from Rome University and a diploma in the European history of arts.

SAF Bangladesh Chapter Chairperson Dr. Kamal Hossain offered his condolence to the bereaved family and said his demise was an irreparable loss to the whole SAF family.

(The writer is Secretary, SAF Bangladesh Chapter)

Source : daily-sun.com