Amartya Sen to deliver a lecture in Parliament today

New Delhi, Aug 11 : Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen will deliver the inaugural Professor Hiren Mukherjee Annual Parliamentary Lecture in the Central Hall of Parliament today.

The lecture on "Demands of Social Justice" will be presided over by Vice President Hamid Ansari, while Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh will be the chief guest.

The lecture is expected to be attended by several dignitaries and guests.

A portrait of Mukherjee will also be unveiled on the occasion.

A leading figure in the political and cultural life of the country, Hiren Mukherjee resented being dubbed as "a grand old Communist" and preferred to call himself an "unrepentant Communist", holding fast to the 'ism' that made him join the then 'illegal' Communist Party of India (CPI) in July 1936.

He had served in bodies as disparate as the All India Congress Committee (1938-39) and the National Council of the Communist Party of India (1958-68).

He was a member of the Lok Sabha from 1952 to 1977, a deputy leader of the Communist party in Parliament (1952-64) and then its leader from 1964 to 1967.

Mukherjee was the recipient of the Soviet Land Nehru Prize (1978), Vidyasagar Literary Prize (1991), Padmabhusan (1990) and Padma Vibhusan (1991).

ANI