Thousands take part in Vajpayee’s last rituals
NEW DELHI: Braving the sultry weather, thousands of mourners walked in solidarity and some clambered on trees to catch a glimpse, as former prime minister and Bharat Ratna recipient Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s cortège left the Bharatiya Janata Party headquarters at Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Marg towards Rashtriya Smriti Sthal for the last rites of the beloved poet-politician.
A sea of white clad-in mourners gathered to remember the BJP patriarch. With parched throats and empty stomachs, many were even be seen wiping their tears for Vajpayee, who wove together pragmatism and his vision for an inclusive India.
Moreover, the intensity of the moment and the heat led to some mourners fainting during the funeral.
Vajpayee, 93, passed away at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here on Thursday evening after prolonged illness.
The air was solemn as Vajpayee’s body draped in the tricolour, and placed on a platform of white flowers. Hundreds of people filed past the body in silence, with a large portrait of a smiling Vajpayee and BJP flags on either side in the backdrop.
The young and the old, men and women, gathered outside the gates of the BJP headquarters and were anxious for a last glimpse of their beloved leader,
before the state funeral at the Raashtriya Smriti Sthal on the banks of the river Yamuna.
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi, accompanied by a few BJP leaders, joined the procession and travelled by foot all the way to the cremation site.
Several people travelled by trains and buses and took the pain to reach Delhi on time to pay their last respects to
Vajpayee. Among these was Aakash Kumar, 25, who rode his scooter from Baghpat in Uttar Pradesh to Delhi, covering
a distance of around 70 km.
He said Vajpayee’s ‘Kaal ke kapaal pe likhta aur mitaata hoon’ is his favourite poem.
“I was probably in Class III or IV, when I heard one of his speeches and was drawn towards him. I really liked his poems,” said Kumar.
“Atalji worked for the nation. It did not matter for him whether someone was a Hindu or a Muslim. All communities had faith in him,” said Sudhir Kumar Ojha, a 49-yearold advocate from Bihar’s Muzaffarpur. Ojha had been waiting outside Vajpayee’s residence at Krishna Menon Marg late since Thursday evening to pay his last respects.
Earlier in the morning, hundreds of people chanted “Atal Bihari Amar Rahe” as Vajpayee’s cortege made its way from his home through the city to reach the BJP office.
Mourners walked and ran beside the carriage, also raising slogans like “Jab tak sooraj chand rahega, Atal ji ka naam rahega”, punctuated by patriotic cheers of “Bharat Mata ki Jai” and “Vande Mataram”.
The funeral procession passed through Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, Delhi Gate, Netaji Subhash Marg, Nishadraj Marg and Shanti Vana, before reaching Smriti Sthal, Delhi Traffic Police said in a tweet.
The journey took nearly 90 minutes to reach the Smriti Sthal on the bank of river Yamuna. Upon reaching the Smriti Sthal, the hearse was escorted by slow marching columns of personnel drawn from the three services of the Indian defense forces.
Vajpayee’s foster daughter Namita Bhattacharya lit the funeral pyre and the legendary leader was also given a 21 gun salute.