Prime Minister Narendra Modi has condoled the demise of spiritual leader J P Vaswani, recalling his contributions in girls' education and furthering the cause of peace.
"I am saddened beyond words on the passing away of Dada J P Vaswani. He lived for society and served the poor and the needy with compassion.
"Blessed with immense wisdom, he was passionate about educating the girl child, cleanliness and furthering peace as well as brotherhood," he said in a series of tweets.
The prime minister said Vaswani's thoughts, teachings and social service efforts would live on. "Dada J P Vaswani was a guiding light for me. About 28 years ago, I had the honour of being with him at a world religions conference in USA. His clarity of thought stood out. In 2013, I had visited Pune to inaugurate a nursing college associated with him," Modi said.
He recalled that in August last, he had addressed the 99th birthday celebrations of Vaswani.
Vaswani died due to old age-related ailments at his Sadhu Vaswani Mission in Pune today. He was 99.