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India bid farewell to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with a funeral ceremony at Nigambodh Ghat on Saturday. However, the venue of his funeral has become a subject of heated debate – with Congress leaders accusing the Narendra Modi government of ‘insulting’ the late leader. Party members had repeatedly called for holding the ceremony at a location where a memorial could be built.
“The present government has completely insulted Manmohan Singh ji by cremating him today at Nigambodh Ghat… Till date, respecting the dignity of all former Prime Ministers, their last rites have been performed at authorized cremation grounds so that every individual can be cremated. So that the rituals can take place.” Have the last darshan without any inconvenience and pay homage,” Rahul Gandhi claimed in a long social media post.
Several prominent Congress members have accused the ruling BJP government of “deliberately insulting” the former PM by refusing to designate a place for his funeral and memorial. Meanwhile, the Center said it has already decided to set up a memorial for Singh and efforts are underway to find a suitable location.
Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said the party had written a letter to PM Modi on Saturday morning suggesting that the last rites be performed at a place where a memorial could be built to honor his legacy. He also shared a strongly worded post on Twitter and termed it a “deliberate insult to the first Sikh Prime Minister of India”.
After the demise of Manmohan Singh, the Modi government held a cabinet meeting on Friday and decided to allot space for the memorial. However the process is likely to take some time as a trust has to be formed and space allotted accordingly. Home Minister Amit Shah also informed the Congress and Singh’s family about this decision.
The former prime minister was finally given a state funeral with full military honors at Nigambodh Ghat – a public cremation ground in north Delhi – on Saturday afternoon.
BJP MP Sambit Patra reminded, “There is a process to build a memorial but cremation is a process that cannot wait… This was a direct dialogue that was taken forward by our party.”
He also slammed the Congress for “doing politics” on the day of grief and termed his comments as “absurd”. Patra asserted that it was the Congress which ‘damaged the dignity of former PM Manmohan Singh’ while he was in office.
(with inputs from agencies)
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