Former Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh cremated in New Delhi – National
Manmohan Singh, India's former prime minister widely regarded as the architect of the country's economic reforms, was cremated after a state funeral on Saturday as politicians and the public mourned his death.
The veteran leader, who was also credited with an important nuclear agreement with the United States, died on Thursday night at the age of 92.
Singh's body was taken Saturday morning to his Congress party headquarters in New Delhi, where party leaders and activists paid their respects and chanted “Manmohan Singh lives forever.”
Abhishek Bishnoi, a party leader, said Singh's death was a great loss to the country. “He spoke slowly, but his talent and actions spoke louder than his words,” he said.
Later, Singh's body was taken to the crematorium for his last rites as soldiers beat drums.
Government officials, politicians and family members paid their last respects to Singh, whose casket was decorated with flowers and draped in the Indian flag. The guards honored him with a ceremonial gun.
Indian President Draupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who called Singh one of the country's “greatest leaders,” and several cabinet ministers attended the funeral.
Singh's body was then transferred to the pyre and cremated while religious hymns were played.
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Authorities declared a seven-day mourning period and canceled all cultural and entertainment events during that time. Government buildings across India fly the national flag at half staff.
A gentle professional, Singh was prime minister for 10 years and leader of the Congress party in the upper house of Parliament, earning a reputation as a man of great integrity. He was elected prime minister in 2004 by Sonia Gandhi, the widow of the assassinated Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
Singh was re-elected in 2009, but his second term was marred by financial scandals and allegations of corruption over the organization of the 2010 Commonwealth Games. This led to the heavy defeat of the Congress party in the 2014 general elections by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party under the leadership of Narendra Modi.
Singh got a low profile after he left the post of prime minister.
As finance minister, Singh in 1991 instituted reforms that moved India away from a socialist-like economy and toward a capitalist model in the face of a large balance of payments deficit, averting a potential economic crisis.
Singh became the first Sikh to hold the country's highest office and publicly apologized in Parliament for the 1984 Sikh Massacre in which about 3,000 Sikhs were killed after then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards.
In a move hailed as one of his biggest achievements outside of economic reform, Singh ended India's nuclear isolation by signing an agreement with the US that gave India access to American technology.
But the deal hurt his coalition government, with his Communist allies withdrawing their support and criticism of the deal that grew inside India in 2008 when it was concluded.
US President Joe Biden in a statement of condolence called Singh a true activist and dedicated public servant who “shows progress that will continue to strengthen our nations – and the world – for generations to come.”
“The unprecedented level of cooperation between the United States and India today would not have been possible without the prime minister's strategic vision and political courage,” Biden said.
© 2024 The Canadian Press
