Farewell, Dr Manmohan Singh

CREMATED WITH FULL STATE HONOURS IN THE PRESENCE OF DIGNITARIES FROM INDIA AND ABROAD

- VINAY KUMAR

NEW DELHI: Mortal remains of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh were consigned to flames as he was cremated with full state honours in the presence of dignitaries from India and abroad on Saturday.

Dr Singh who led India to the path of economic liberalisation in the 1990s died at AIIMS Delhi at the age of 92. The funeral pyre was lit by his eldest daughter, Upinder Singh, at the Nigambodh Ghat public crematorium on the banks of Yamuna amid the chanting of religious hymns. Family members, friends, dignitaries, Congress leaders and workers bid farewell to the reformist former prime minister.

President Droupadi Murmu, the supreme commander of the armed forces, led the nation in paying last respects to the departed leader who was India's 14th Prime Minister.

Priests and family members recited religious hymns from the holy Gurbani, while chants of "Satnam Waheguru" filled the air, as Singh was cremated according to Sikh rituals.

Before Singh's mortal remains were consigned to flames, the security forces gave a salute of three volleys of small arms and the buglers sounded the "Last Post" as a mark of honour for the former prime minister.

Apart from President Murmu, the last rites of the former prime minister were attended by Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, BJP President J P Nadda, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and senior Congress leaders, including party president Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. All of them laid wreaths on mortal remains of Dr Singh as a mark of their last respect.