Manmohan Singh’s Final Rites Held as India Mourns the Passing of a Revered Leader

New Delhi, 28th December 2024: The state funeral for Manmohan Singh, former Prime Minister of India and a key architect of the nation’s economic reforms, commenced on Saturday, as politicians and citizens mourned his passing. Singh, who also played a pivotal role in the 2008 nuclear deal with the United States, died late Thursday at the age of 92.

On Saturday morning, his body was taken to the Congress party headquarters in New Delhi, where party members and supporters paid their respects, chanting “Manmohan Singh lives forever.” Party leader Abhishek Bishnoi described Singh’s death as a significant loss for India, noting, “He spoke little, but his actions and talent spoke louder than his words.”

Following the tributes, Singh’s body was transported to a crematorium for his final rites, accompanied by drum beats from soldiers. A seven-day mourning period was declared by the authorities, with all cultural and entertainment events cancelled, and national flags flown at half-staff on government buildings across the country.

Singh, a reserved technocrat, served as Prime Minister for a decade and was widely respected for his integrity. He was appointed Prime Minister in 2004 by Sonia Gandhi, the widow of the late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Reelected in 2009, his second term faced challenges, including corruption scandals related to the 2010 Commonwealth Games, which contributed to Congress’s defeat in the 2014 elections to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led by Narendra Modi.

After stepping down as Prime Minister, Singh maintained a low profile. As Finance Minister in 1991, he introduced reforms that steered India from a socialist to a more capitalist economy, averting a looming economic crisis.

Singh made history as the first Sikh to hold the position of Prime Minister and publicly apologized in Parliament for the 1984 Sikh Massacre, in which around 3,000 Sikhs were killed after Indira Gandhi’s assassination. One of his significant achievements was ending India’s nuclear isolation by securing a deal with the U.S. for access to nuclear technology, although the agreement faced backlash, leading to the withdrawal of Communist allies from his coalition government.