Hundreds of fans and admirers are bidding farewell to Indian singer and actor Prashant Tamang, who rose to fame two decades ago after winning the third season of popular music reality show Indian Idol.
Tamang, 43, who was from the hill town of Darjeeling in West Bengal state, died of a cardiac arrest at his house in Delhi on Sunday.
His body was brought to his hometown on Monday, and fans have been sharing their grief at his sudden death and paying tributes on social media.
Tamang’s successful career in the entertainment industry was a matter of pride for his Gorkha community, a Nepali-speaking ethnic group that mainly lives in India’s Uttarakhand, West Bengal and north-eastern states.
The Gorkhas are from the same ethnic group as the differently spelt Gurkhas in Nepal who serve in the Indian and British armies.
In the hours leading up to Tamang’s funeral on Tuesday, fans gathered on the streets near his house to bid a final goodbye to the singer.
Bimal Gurung, chief of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha – a political party that has long campaigned for a separate Gorkhaland state in India – told Sikkim Express newspaper that Tamang “carried the hopes and aspirations of an entire community onto the global stage, making every Gorkha proud”.
”Prashant was a musical coordinator who unified not only Indian Gorkhas but also the Gorkhas of the world,” he added.
Tamang’s participation in Indian Idol in 2007 brought long-overdue mainstream recognition to the Gorkhas, and the community rallied behind him as he overcame tough competition to win the season.
©️The scope news
