No separate cremation site insult to 1st Sikh PM: Congress

The government’s refusal to allocate a site for the cremation of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh where a memorial could be erected drew flak from Congress leader Rahul Gandhi who on Saturday accused the Narendra Modi-led BJP government of insulting “the first Prime Minister from the Sikh community”.

“The government should have shown respect to this great son of the country and his proud community,” Rahul wrote in a social media post in Hindi after Manmohan Singh’s funeral, which the Congress leader attended.

“The great son of Mother India and the first Prime Minister from the Sikh community, Dr Manmohan Singh ji, has been totally insulted by the present government by performing his last rites today at the Nigambodh Ghat,” Rahul wrote on X.

Earlier, Congress president and Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, wrote to Prime Minister Modi urging him to allocate a site for the cremation of Manmohan Singh “that would be a sacrosanct venue for a memorial to the great son of India”.

On Friday night, the Home Ministry announced allocating a site for Manmohan Singh’s memorial after forming a trust for this purpose. However, this did not meet Congress’ demand who wanted a memorial built at the site of cremation itself.

Except for Narasimha Rao, cremation sites of all the Prime Ministers have structures erected in their memory.

Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav also slammed the BJP government for denial of a site for Manmohan Singh’s cremation. “The tradition of respect should be followed in the context of the ‘samadhi’ of the former Prime Minister. Dr Manmohan Singh’s ‘samadhi’ should be built at Rajghat only. The BJP should not present an inappropriate example of its narrow thinking,” Yadav wrote on X.

The government’s announcement regarding giving state funeral to Manmohan Singh at Nigambodh Ghat crematorium in Delhi attracted strong protest from SAD leader Sukhbir Singh Badal also. “It is condemnable that the Union Government has declined the request of Dr Manmohan Singh ji’s family for performing the last rites of the highly distinguished leader at a place where a historic memorial may be built,” Sukhbir wrote on X.

The Aam Aadmi Party also condemned the BJP for not allotting space in the Rajghat complex for the cremation and memorial of former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh. “I am stunned to hear that former PM Dr Manmohan Singh ji was cremated at Nigambodh Ghat. Until now, all former Prime Ministers were cremated at Rajghat,” AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal said.