Modi condoles Günter Grass’ demise

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his grief at the news of the death of Günter Grass, German novelist, social critic and Noble laureate, saying that he would be remembered as “intellectual powerhouse”.

The Prime Minister Modi tweeted that “Günter Grass will be remembered as an intellectual powerhouse whose writing was admired all over the world. He will be missed.”

Grass, lauded as Germany’s moral conscience, often found himself in the middle of controversies- he stunned the world with his announcement in 2006 of his brief Waffen-SS (the armed wing of the Nazi Party)membership, during the World War II, and more recently for penning his dissent against Germany selling Israel weapons out of holocaust guilt.

Mr Grass was a poet, playwright, essayist, short-story writer, sculpture, printmaker and a novelist, and his artistic work often drew from his personal experiences of living through Nazi Germany. It was his penchant for social-criticism that made his work insightful while also bringing upon him the ire of several groups.

India’s Prime Minister, who is on a three-day visit to Germany, remembered Mr Grass’ even in his address to the Indian community in Berlin.

Mr Grass had been hospitalized a few days ago after falling ill. He died on April 13 at the age of 87, in the northern German city of Lübeck, which had been his home for decades.

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