Following the tradition of Chinese premiers and Presidents meeting the family of Dr Dwarkanath Kotnis, President Xi Jinping felicitated his sister Manorama on Friday. The 93-year-old, wheel-chair bound Manorama, who can barely see, was flown in specially to Delhi by the Chinese Consulate-General in Mumbai.
Indian physician Dr Kotnis is a highly respected name in China for his services. He died while treating Chinese soldiers during the second China-Japan war in 1942.
“In the critical hour of Chinese people’s war with Japanese aggression, the Indian medical mission travelled thousands of miles to assist us and fought shoulder to shoulder with people of my father’s generation against Japanese fascists. The fine representative, young Dr Kotnis gave his life in China,” said Xi. While remembering Dr Kotnis Xi quoted General Mao Zedong saying, ‘General Mao Zedong once wrote in his honour, “The Chinese Army has lost a helping hand, the nation a friend. let us always bear in mind his international spirit” ‘.
While appreciating the gesture of the Chinese leadership Manorama said that whenever a new Consul-General takes charge in Mumbai, he makes it a point to come and visit the family of Dr Kotnis.“Till now, our extended family has visited China 20 times. They have maintained the warmth for all these years,” said Rajan Borkar, son-in-law of Kotni’s elder brother, whose family takes care of Manorama.
Kotnis went to China in 1937 as part of an Indian medical mission after China was invaded by Japan. He served on the battlefield and saved lives of many soldiers. After working for four years in China, he fell ill and died at a young age of 32.While working in China, Kotnis married a Chinese nurse who worked with him. Quo Qinglan, who remained in China, died in 2012 in the city of Dalian. They had a son, who was studying to become a doctor but died when he was 24.
In the past, the Kotnis family has met premiers Zhou Enlai in 1950, President Jiang Zemin in 1996, President Hu Jintao in 2006, and Premier li Keqiang in 2013.
