Emotional meeting between Chinese delegation and Kotnis family

The highpoint of the day, though, was the meeting with 20 members of the Kotnis family at the Crystal room in the Taj Mahal Hotel. This meeting was the outcome of a request made by the delegation some time ago to the External Affairs ministry for a a meeting with the relatives of the late Dr Dwarkanath Kotnis. As part of the Indian medical team sent by the Indian National Congress to China he sacrificed his life serving the victims of the civil war then raging. He won the hearts of the Chinese and died in harness bringing glory to his motherland.

The family’s links with China are still very strong as his widow, Madame Kuo Ching Lan, continues to reside there. “China considers Dr Kotnis to be a great friend, so this delegation wanteds to pay tributes to the family members. We wanted to meet the members of the family to which Dr Kotnis belonged,” said Huang Quanheng, Consul General of China in Mumbai.

Two weeks ago the Chinese Consulate contacted the Kotnis family, residents of Mumbai, to co-ordinate a meeting with the Chinese delegation.

Le Peng expressed his pleasure at the meeting and said that the work done by Dr Kotnis knows no parallel in the history of their land. The family presented a table cloth made in Solapur (the birth place of Dr Kotnis) to Le Peng. Dr Vatsala Kotnis (sister of the late Dr Kotnis) donned a red broach with the words `Friendship’ scripted in Chinese. This had been gifted to her during one of her visits to China.

The Kotnis family members included 81-year-old Vithal Kotnis, the brother, 82-year-old Leelavati Palekar, 79-year-old Manorama Kotnis and 76-year-old Surekha Nadkarni and 73-year-old Vatsala Kotnis, all sisters of Dr Kotnis. Their children too attended the social event.

The members of the Kotnis family are regularly invited to China by the government. In 1982, 1988 and 1992, the Chinese government paid national tributes to Dr Kotnis on his death anniversary. The Chinese government has constructed two memorial halls in his memory at Schichiashuan and Tanshiang County. The halls regularly exhibit photographs, statues and paintings on the work done by Dr Kotnis.

The Chinese dignitaries who have visited the family include: Marshal Yeh Chin Yin (the chief of the Chinese Army in 1957) and Wong Ping Nan (President of the Chinese Peoples’ Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries – 1978).

The delegation is in India to study India’s management of labour practices, agriculture, trade and commerce. They will also meet the chief minister of Karnataka S.M Krishna on the strides made in the field of Information Technology.