Former council member Tara Singh-Varma (78) has passed away

Tara Singh-Varma, a pioneering politician who served as the first woman with a migration background in the Dutch House of Representatives, has passed away at the age of 78. Her career began in local politics, serving as a council member in Amsterdam from 1982 to 1994 representing the Communist Party of the Netherlands and later the Links Akkoord. She gained national recognition for her dedicated work on the parliamentary inquiry committee investigating the Bijlmer disaster, where she advocated for victims and supported women from diverse backgrounds.

Despite her early political successes, Singh-Varma became the center of a major public controversy in 2001. She had previously resigned from the House of Representatives in 2000, claiming she suffered from a terminal illness and appearing in public in a wheelchair. It was later revealed that her health claims were fabricated, which she eventually attributed to a post-traumatic depression. Following her resignation, she moved away from the national spotlight and worked at a sandwich shop in Amsterdam-Oost.