Shakti Sinha, 1957–2021. From twitter.com

Shakti Sinha, director general of the New Delhi-based International Buddhist Confederation, died in New Delhi on Monday. He was 64 years old. Media reports gave the cause of death as a heart attack. 

In a public letter sharing the news of Sinha’s passing, the secretary general of the International Buddhist Confederation, Ven. Dr. Dhammapiya, stated:

It is with profound heartfelt sorrow that we have received the news about the demise of Shri Shakti Sinha, Director General, International Buddhist Confederation (IBC).

I wish to express our deepest sympathies on the passing away of Shri Shakti Sinha. He was an eminent scholar and writer. He was associated with many organizations in India and abroad. With his passing away, not only the country of India lost an exemplary scholar and practitioner but also the entire world has lost a great Dhamma brother who had dedicated his life for the Dhamma. (Facebook)

Serving and former political leaders and other dignitaries across India expressed shock and sadness overthe news of Sinha’s passing, recalling his long and illustrious career as a leader in public policy and a remarkable public life.

“How fragile the life is! Met Shakti Sinha ji only yesterday and had a long and enriching interaction. Now he’s no more. Deeply distressing,” Ajay Singh, press secretary to Indian president Ram Nath Kovind, shared on social media. (Twitter)

“The Press Club of India is shocked at the untimely passing of Shakti Sinha, former bureaucrat and director of Nehru Memorial Library and Museum at Teen Murti, academician and author. Mr. Sinha was part of a PCI discussion just a few days ago. We mourn his untimely demise,” the Press Club of India stated. (Twitter)

“We lost a very eminent person. His wonderful work and gentle soul will forever remain in our heart. I pray Lord Buddha for strength to bereaved family. May the departed soul attain Moksha,” said Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Pema Khandu. (Twitter)

An academic and one-time bureaucrat who served as private secretary to former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Sinha was born in 1957. As an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer from 1979, Sinha established a think tank, the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Policy Research and International Studies, at Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, and the academic Institution of Excellence at the Delhi School of Public Policy and Governance, University of Delhi.

Sinha worked closely with Vajpayee from 1996–99 and wrote a memoir titled Vajpayee: The Years That Changed India. He also served as a director of the Nehru Memorial Library and Museum at Teen Murti. Among his many other roles, Sinha served as principal secretary for Finance & Power in the Government of Delhi, and chief secretary of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. He took voluntary retirement from the IAS in 2013.

At the time of his death, Sinha was director general of the International Buddhist Confederation and honorary director of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Policy Research and International Studies (AIPRIS) at Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda in Gujarat.

See more

International Buddhist Confederation
Former Nehru Memorial Museum director Shakti Sinha dead (Hindustan Times)
Shakti Sinha, former private secy to Vajpayee, dies at 64 (The Times of India)
Former bureaucrat Shakti Sinha passes away (The Hindu)

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