Day to pray for late PM, not praise him: Daughter at antim ardas

Thousands turned up on Friday to pay last respects to late Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, whose prayer meeting was held in accordance with Sikh rituals at Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Sahib in the heart of the Capital.

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Mourners included top political and Sikh leaders — Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann, former CMs Ashok Gehlot and Bhupinder Singh Hooda, SGPC chief Harjinder Singh Dhami, former SGPC president Bibi Jagir Kaur, leader of opposition in Punjab Assembly Partap Singh Bajwa, Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, former deputy chairperson of the then Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia and senior Congress brass.

Gurbani recital by US-based ragi Bhai Harjinder Singh (Srinagar wale) added to the sombreness of the occasion, in which the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) made four major announcements to honour the former PM.

These included institution of a new scholarship in economics in four colleges run by DSGMC; dedication to Dr Singh of any new institute the committee established; installation of Dr Singh’s photos across all DSGMC-run institutions and commemoration of December 26, the death anniversary of Dr Singh as per Sikh rituals at Gurdwara Bangla Sahib annually.

The decisions were announced by DSGMC president Harmeet Singh Kalka. The DSGMC runs four colleges in Delhi — Khalsa College North Campus, Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce, Mata Sundri College and Guru Nanak Dev Khalsa College, Karol Bagh. All these institutes will now have economics scholarships in Dr Manmohan Singh’s name.

At the antim ardas and kirtan today, the richest tribute to Dr Singh came from his family friend and old associate Mohinder Singh, who recited a hymn from Guru Granth Sahib which the third Sikh Guru, Guru Amar Das, had rendered.

Translating the hymn for the gathering, he said, “Those who are blessed by the Almighty have their faces forever radiant and the whole world bows in reverence to them. They do not need praise.”

Several relatives and friends of Dr Manmohan Singh remembered him as a simple man who drove his own Maruti 800, renewed his own licences and barely ever allowed the power of the positions he held to overwhelm him.

Wrapping up the evening in line with her father’s life lessons and morals, the late leader’s eldest daughter Upinder Singh said today was an occasion to pray for Dr Singh and not praise him for his merits were all too evident to the world.

Thanked the assembly for its presence, she said, “By coming here today, you have all expressed love and affection for my father. For us in the family, today’s occasion is not meant to praise Dr Singh. His qualities and spirit of national service is well known globally. Today’s occasion is meant to pray for the peace of his soul.”

About Bhai Harjinder Singh’s Gurbani rendition, Upinder Singh said it rekindled memories of Sardar Gurmukh Singh and Sardarni Amrit Kaur, her grandparents and Dr Manmohan Singh’s parents.

Today’s prayer service capped days of mourning over the loss of Manmohan Singh.

Earlier today, former Vice-President Hamid Ansari, Sonia and Kharge also attended the ‘Akhand Path’ at the residence of Dr Manmohan Singh, whose wife Gursharan Kaur, a trained classical vocalist, sang a ‘shabad’ from Sikh holy scriptures.