The seventy-five year old Indian communist leader and women's rights activist, Vimla Farooqi, has died of a heart attack in Delhi.

Born in Rawalpindi, now in Pakistan, Mrs Farooqi migrated with her parents to Delhi after partition.

She joined the Indian Communist Party in l948 and later became a member of its executive committee and national council.

Vimla Farooqi was also a founder member of the National Federation of Indian Women, and wrote a history of the Indian women's movement.

President Narayanan said that her work against violence and social oppression would always be remembered, as would her contribution to the political, social and economic empowerment of women.