India's ex-Prime Minister Manmohan Singh laid to rest with full state honors

One of India’s longest-serving prime ministers — Dr Manmohan Singh — was laid to rest at Delhi's Nigambodh Ghat on Dec 28 morning with full state honours.

Singh (92) led the country from 2004 to 2014 and was considered the architect of India's economic liberalization.

Mourners including top political leaders turned in large numbers to pay their respects as Singh's coffin, flanked by an honour guard, was taken through the city to the cremation grounds.

Singh’s eldest daughter Upinder Singh a renowned historian and the Dean of Faculty at Ashoka University lit his funeral pyre at the crematorium in front of Prime Minister Modi, President Droupadi Murmu, Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar and senior members of the Congress Party.

Singh’s wife, Gursharan Kaur, a professor, author, and kirtan singer, and their three daughters led the ceremony.

Foreign leaders including the King of Bhutan Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and Mauritius Foreign Minister Dhananjay Ramful were also present.

Singh received full state honours in a ceremony that included a 21-gun salute.

Notably, the central government declared seven days of national mourning following his death on Dec 26 night.

Paying tribute to Singh, PM Modi said, "wisdom and humility were always visible" during their interactions and that he had "made extensive efforts to improve people's lives" as prime minister.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who was also present at the funeral, said he had lost "a mentor and a guide".

Among foreign tributes, US President Joe Biden said his country's "unprecedented level of cooperation" with India would not have been possible without Singh's "strategic vision and political courage."

"He was a true statesman. A dedicated public servant. And above all, he was a kind and humble person," Biden said in a statement.

Singh changed India's economic growth trajectory during his time as prime minister and as the country's finance minister in 1991.

The ceremony drew leaders from across the political spectrum, all gathering to pay their final respects to the architect of India’s economic liberalization.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was present at the ceremony on Dec 28. He has called Singh one of the country's "most distinguished leaders".

He is remembered for saying in his first budget speech: "No power on Earth can stop an idea whose time has come".

He continued to build on his economic reform measures as prime minister, lifting millions out of poverty and contributing to India's rise as one of the world's fastest-growing major economies.

The first Sikh to hold India's top post, Singh formally apologized in 2005 for the 1984 riots in which around 3,000 Sikhs were killed.

He was also the first Indian leader after Jawaharlal Nehru, who led the country from 1947 until his death in 1964, to be re-elected after serving a full first term.

Singh's second term in office, however, was marred by a string of corruption allegations.

The scandals, many say, were partially responsible for his Congress party's crushing defeat in the 2014 general election.

‘Memorial issue’

The memorial issue for the former has triggered a war of words between Congress and the central government.

Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Dec 28 said that the decision to accord a memorial in the memory of the former prime minister had been taken and conveyed to the Congress’ leadership on Dec 27 itself, but the Congress continues to play politics over the issue.

“BJP and the NDA government led by Prime Minister Modi is fully committed to giving due respect to him (Manmohan Singh) who laid a major foundation for the country’s economic development. In view of this, yesterday the cabinet decided in its meeting that a memorial and mausoleum will be built in the memory of Manmohan Singh and this was conveyed to the Congress party.” BJP spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Sudhanshu Trivedi told reporters.

He added that Union Home Minister had Amit Shah had conveyed the same to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, that the government has decided to build a memorial and whatever time it takes after the completion of processes like land acquisition, formation of a trust and transfer of land, the work will be done appropriately and as soon as possible.

The Congress has maintained that it wanted the cremation of Singh at a spot where a memorial could be built, however, the cremation took place at Nigambodh Ghat a public crematorium.

“Congress never respected Singh and today even after his death, they are seen doing politics. I want to remind the country that Dr Singh was the first Prime Minister of the country outside the Nehru Gandhi family who held the post of Prime Minister for 10 years...At least today, in this hour of grief, politics should be avoided. As far as our government is concerned, PM Modi’s government has given respect to all the leaders by rising above party feelings,” Trivedi said.

Adding to the controversy, Sharmistha Mukherjee, daughter of former President Pranab Mukherjee, criticized Congress for not holding a Congress Working Committee (CWC) condolence meeting after her father’s death.

“When baba passed away, Congress didn’t even bother to call a CWC for a condolence meeting. A senior leader told me it’s not done for Presidents. That’s utter rubbish,” she wrote on X.