Nation bids tearful adieu to Vajpayee

18/08/2018

New Delhi, Aug 17: Former Prime Minister AtalBihari Vajpayee, whose appeal transcended party lines and geographical boundaries, was cremated with full military honours on Friday in the presence of the country's top leaders cutting across the political divide and adoring masses.
Amidst chanting of vedic hymns and firing of a 21-gun salute by soldiers, his foster-daughter Namita lit the funeral pyre in the presence of a galaxy of leaders including Prime Minister NarendraModi, President Ram NathKovind, Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu, political leaders and foreign dignitaries bidding adieu to the departed leader at the Rashtriya Smriti Sthal.
Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah had earlier walked with the gun-carriage carrying the mortal remains of Vajpayee as it made its way from the party headquarters at Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg to the cremation venue, a designated spot for the last rites of Presidents, Vice Presidents and Prime Ministers.
People had been thronging Vajpayee's residence since morning on Krishna Menon Marg, where the body was kept since Thursday night. The crowds swelled as the mortal remains were brought to the BJP's new headquarters and kept there for over three hours for people to pay their last respects.
Delayed by an hour, the final journey saw a sea of people converging on the route to the Rashtriya Smriti Sthal, a distance of less than 3 km on the banks of the Yamuna river. In keeping with the military traditions, the three service chiefs placed wreaths on the body of Vajpayee before leaders paid their tributes for one last time.
The tricolour that was wrapped around Vajpayee's body was given to his foster granddaughter Niharika after which the body was handed over to the family for the last rites.
Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress President Rahul Gandhi, LokSabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, veteran BJP leaders and Vajpayee's long-time associates L.K. Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman were present at the funeral.
Bhutan King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuk and former Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai led foreign dignitaries including Pakistan Law Minister Syed Ali Zafar, Nepal Foreign Affairs Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali, acting Sri Lanka Foreign Minister Lakshman Kiriella and Bangladesh Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali in paying homage.
Among the dignitaries who attended the funeral were former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad, Mallikarjun Kharge and Anand Sharma, LokSabha Deputy Speaker M. Thambidurai, former Union Minister A. Raja, MDMK chief Vaiko and TMC leader Dinesh Trivedi.
The cremation ground was surcharged with emotion as Vajpayee's body was consigned to the flames. People, many of them misty-eyed, raised slogans like "Ataljiamarrahen".
People gathered at places enroute the procession, including a madrassa, raising slogans hailing Vajpayee. Many of the people who came had grown up with Vajpayee's spellbinding oratory and were impressed with his poems. Vajpayee had a pan-India appeal cutting across boundaries of caste, community, language and his flair for foreign policy and initiatives was acknowledged globally. His political rivals were also touched by his gentleness and magnanimity.
When the final journey started from the BJP's central office, Modi and Amit Shah walked behind the flower-decked gun carriage carrying the body of Vajpayee draped in the tricolour as security personnel kept a tight watch.
Deferring to Vajpayee's stature, Modi and Shah walked the entire route till the cremation ground leading the mourners, who included union ministers, BJP leaders and tens of thousands of people.
People threw flower petals on the casket all through the three-kilometre route as an expression of their love, respect and admiration for the late leader.
Slogans like "Ataljiamarrahen", "Jab taksoorajchandrahega, Ataljikanaamrahega", "Bharat Mata ki jai" and "VandeMataram" rent the air as the procession progressed. Some people were carrying banners containing lines from poems written by Vajpayee.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was also in the procession and supporters accompanying him raised slogans of "Jai Shri Ram". A number of BJP chief ministers including, Shivraj Singh Chouhan (Madhya Pradesh), ManoharLalKhattar (Haryana), Union Ministers and BJP leaders accompanied the funeral procession.
India's top leadership, foreign dignitaries and the common man mourned the death of AtalBihari Vajpayee and bid an emotional farewell to the former prime minister who was one of the most-loved leaders in decades and had acceptability across a diverse ideological spectrum.
Chief ministers, opposition leaders, chiefs of Army, Navy and Air Force, governors and a host of other dignitaries attended the funeral of Vajpayee at Rastriya Smriti Sthal, a cremation site at the heart of the capital.
President Ram NathKovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Vice President Venkaiah Naidu, BJP president Amit Shah, former prime minister Manmohan Singh, veteran politician L K Advani, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Army chief General Bipin Rawat, Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa and Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba laid wreaths.
Other attendees of the funeral included Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Union ministers Harsh Vardhan, Ram Vilas Paswan, Shripad Naik and Piyush Goval. Chief ministers, including Yogi Adityanath, Nitish Kumar, Shivraj Singh Chauhan and Vijay Rupani also attended the funeral.
Foreign dignitaries such as Bhutan King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, Afghan politician Hamid Karzai and Bangladesh Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali also paid last respects to the leader.
Other political leaders at the funeral were Congress president Rahul Gandhi, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, Congress leader GhulamNabi Azad, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, BJP leaders MurliManohar Joshi, SAD patriarch Parkash Singh Badal and Congress leader Raj Babbar.
The country bid farewell to its political icon amid a light drizzle. Foster daughter NamitaKaul Bhattacharya lit the pyre as cries of "AtalBihari Amar Rahe" reverberated through the cremation site.
Scores of people gathered at the Sthal to pay their respects to the tall leader, who was cremated with full state honours. Vajpayee, 93, died at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here last evening after a prolonged illness.
Amid sultry weather conditions, thousands of people walked along the over seven km-long route with some showering petals at the carriage. Heavy security was deployed along the route of the procession.
During the procession, people chanted slogans like "AtalBihari Amar Rahe" as Vajpayee's cortege made its way from the BJP headquarters to the cremation ground.
Last night, Vajpayee's body was taken to his official residence on Krishna MenonMarg from AIIMS where he was admitted in June.
Police have made elaborate security arrangements for the funeral procession, officials said. Over 4,000 police and paramilitary personnel stood guard as the funeral procession of former prime minister AtalBihari Vajpayee started from the BJP headquarters for Rashtriya Smriti Sthal here today, a senior police officer said.
All the senior officers were personally monitoring the situation, including Delhi Police commissioner Amulya Patnaik who was present at RashtriyaSmritiSthal, where Vajpayee's mortal remains were consigned to flames.
Police said a security plan was devised together by the northern and southern ranges.
Thirty companies comprising close to 2,500 police and paramilitary personnel, 600 policemen from the security wing and 800 traffic policemen had been deployed to ensure the procession went off without any glitches.
Thirty Parakram vans manned by NSG-trained drivers and commandos, which are mandated for anti-terror and other operations warranting armed response, were also deployed for the event.
Rajesh Khurana, Joint Commissioner of Police (Central) range, said there was multidisciplinary coordination for the unprecedented event.
Another officer said the New Delhi, Central, North police districts, traffic unit and the security wing have been busy since the last week.
"In the lead-up to Independence Day, they were busy with its preparations and after the news about Vajpayee's death, the three districts had to make arrangements for VIP movement and the common people to pay their last respects," he said, adding the security personnel braved heat and humidity to ensure things went off smoothly.
"After it was announced that his funeral would be taking place at RashtriyaSmritiSthal in north district, we carried out anti-sabotage checks. Anti-aircraft guns were deployed on rooftops to thwart any aerial intrusion by objects like drones and projectiles," the officer said.
He admitted that planning for the state funeral was a mammoth task.

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