General Bipin Rawat, Chief of Defence Staff, 63

On December 8, Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat along with his wife Madhulika and 12 other defence personnel lost their lives in a tragic chopper crash in Tamil Nadu. Brigadier L S Lidder, Lt. Col. Harjinder Singh, Wing Commander Prithvi Singh Chauhan, Squadron Leader Kuldeep, JWO Pradeep, JWO Das, Naik Gursewak Singh, Naik Jitendra Kumar, Lance Naik Vivek Kumar, Lance Naik B Sai Teja, and Havildar Satpal were among those who lost their lives. The lone survivor, Group Captain Varun Singh, breathed his last on December 15 at Command Hospital, Bengaluru.

In his long and decorative career, General Rawat was appointed as the first CDS in 2019. He was instrumental in reducing militancy in the northeast and also led the cross-border operation into Myanmar to take on NSCN-K militants in 2015. The 63-year-old was also part of the planning process for the 2016 surgical strikes across the LoC. 

Sunder Lal Bahuguna, environmentalist, 94

Renowned environmental activist Sunder Lal Bahuguna, who fought for the preservation of forests in the Himalayas, was a member of the Chipko movement in the 1970s, and later led the anti-Tehri Dam movement from the 1980s to early 2004. The nonagenarian passed away on May 21 due to Covid-related complications at AIIMS Rishikesh in Uttarakhand. He believed in the Gandhian philosophy of non-violence and fought for the rights of poor and the marginalised. Pic/mid-day archives

HS Doreswamy, freedom fighter and journalist, 103

A member of the Indian independence movement, Harohalli Srinivasaiah Doreswamy also ran a publication house, Sahitya Mandira, and nationalist newspaper Pauravani, during the British rule and the period afterwards. Having played a pivotal role in the unification of Karnataka, he was also an active member of the India Against Corruption movement in 2011 and participated in the 2019-2020 protests against CAA-NRC in India even after age 100. He passed away in Bengaluru on May 26 due to cardiac arrest. Pic/mid-day archives

Milkha Singh, athlete, 91

It was an end of an era for Indian sports when ‘The Flying Sikh’ breathed his last on June 18 due to post-Covid complications, in Chandigarh. A legendary sprinter, Milkha Singh won Gold medals in the 1958 and 1962 Asian Games and also clinched the yellow metal in the 1962 Commonwealth Games. He missed the top position at the 1960 Olympic Games by one-tenth of a second when he finished fourth in the 400 metres final. Singh was honoured with Padma Shri in 1959 for his achievement in sports. Pic/AFP

Dilip Kumar, actor, 98

The ‘Tragedy King’ of Hindi cinema, Dilip Kumar, passed away on July 7 in Mumbai. He was known for his roles in films such as ‘Devdas’, ‘Ram Aur Shyam’, ‘Mughal-E-Azam’, ‘Andaz’ and many other timeless classics in a career spanning over five decades. Born as Yusuf Khan in Peshawar (present-day Pakistan), the legendary actor was honoured with numerous awards, including Dadasaheb Phalke (1994) and Padma Vibhushan (2015). Pic/PTI

Stan Swamy, tribal rights activist, 84

Stanislaus Lourduswamy, popularly known as Stan Swamy, was an Indian Roman Catholic priest and a tribal rights activist. He spent five decades fighting for the land, forest and labour rights of adivasi communities in Jharkhand. Swamy was arrested last year by the National Investigation Agency under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, for his alleged role in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon violence, making him the oldest person to be slapped with terror charges. He died a political prisoner in a Mumbai hospital on July 5. 

Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Separatist leader, 91

Syed Ali Shah Geelani was a member of Jamaat-e-Islami Kashmir between 1953 and 2004. After leaving Jamaat in 2004, he founded Tehreek-e-Hurriyat, which became part of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference. Geelani served as a chairman of the Hurriyat Conference until he quit the group in June 2020 allegedly due to internal feud.

Despite being a member of the legislative assembly thrice, Geelani had stark differences with the Central government on the autonomy of Jammu and Kashmir. He was also charged under Section 124A (sedition) for his role in anti-India activities. Geelani died at his Hyderpora residence in Srinagar due to prolonged illness.

Danish Siddiqui, journalist, 38

In an unfortunate incident, Indian photojournalist Danish Siddiqui lost his life while covering a clash between Afghan security forces and the Taliban in Kandahar in July. The Reuters photojournalist was awarded the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for documenting the Rohingya refugee crisis. Siddiqui, through his photos, had also documented the mass cremations of Covid-19 fatalities in India during the second wave and became a target of fringe and Right-wing groups. Pic/Twitter

Chandro Tomar, sharpshooter, 89

Nobody personified the adage ‘age is just a number’ like Dadi Chandro Tomar did. The octogenarian sharpshooter from Uttar Pradesh learnt to shoot when she was in her 60s and went on to win over 30 national championships. Chandro was referred to as the oldest woman sharpshooter in the world. In 2019, a film starring Taapsee Pannu and Bhumi Pednekar ‘Saand Ki Aankh’, was based on the lives of Chandro and another octogenarian sharpshooter Prakashi Tomar. On April 30, Chandro passed away due to Covid-related complications in Meerut. Pic/Twitter

Vinod Dua, journalist, 67

Veteran journalist Vinod Dua passed away due to post-Covid-19 complications on December 4 in New Delhi. In a career spanning four decades, Dua made his name by working at Doordarshan and NDTV as a broadcast journalist. In his later years, he also ventured into digital media. Apart from political journalism, Dua also did shows on art, culture, music and food. The first electronic mediaperson to receive the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award in 1996, Dua was also honoured with Padma Shri in 2008 for his contribution to the field. Dua, who lost his wife Padmavati to Covid-19 infection earlier this year, is survived by two daughters. Pic/Twitter