- The political narration in India has stooped to ridiculous levels was so blatantly visible during the recent passing away of Ex-Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s funeral rituals. Remember, Singh is no ordinary individual but has held many high offices during his glorious career. He was an academician, technocrat, bureaucrat, and politician known across the globe for his contributions. Having served the country as an RBI governor, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, Finance Minister, and Prime Minister, Singh was naturally considered an intellectual giant having led the country during the most testing times. His appointment as Finance Minister turned out to be most fortuitous for the country’s economic aspersions. As they say, the rest is history.
PC: News18
- Alongside another less heralded but equally able and intellectually blessed administrator Ex-Prime Minister Narasimha Rao, Singh completely transformed the country’s economic growth trajectory by introducing world-acknowledged globalization and liberalization measures. The seeds that were sown in the 1990s have started yielding palpable fruits now leading to the Indian economy being labelled as the fifth largest. The nation is poised to further scale up to be counted amongst the largest three economies in the world. The people will be proclaiming in unison that the architect for this turnaround is none other than the Singh-Rao combination. This fact is duly acknowledged by all concerned including the opposition political parties.
PC: Swarajya
- However, what transpired leading up to the cremation of the reverential figure of Singh is not only uncharacteristic but also mirrors to what depths our political narration has slipped in recent times. The Congress led by the scion was at the forefront of denigrating the ruling dispensation at the Centre for insulting the first Sikh Prime Minister by not carrying out the cremation at a place where a memorial will eventually come up befitting the stature of the departed soul. The chorus was substantiated by the Congress chief and others taking to the social media handles when the nation was mourning the loss of a towering but simple and humble personality. The moot point to ponder over here is what was the necessity to rake up an issue during such a poignant time.
PC: Oscar Education
The Union Government had made it abundantly clear that a befitting memorial would be set up for Singh after following due procedure and process. Notably, the family of the departed soul kept a dignified silence and was seen to realize the practicality of the situation. That the cremation was conducted at Nigambodh Ghat was not acceptable to Congress and hence kept raising the issue when the occasion demanded decency. Now, the countrymen are aware of how Congress treated Narasimha Rao after he passed away when the mortal remains were not allowed to be kept in the party’s headquarters. The Congress could have resisted politicizing the issue by allowing the final rites to take place without indulging in petty politics.
