Amid ‘shehnai’ tunes, ashes immersed in Ganga in Kashi
VARANASI : Amidst mellifluous ‘shehnai’ tunes and chanting of Vedic hymns, the ashes of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee were immersed in the Ganga, at Rajendra Prasad Ghat here on Saturday.
UP BJP president Mahendra Nath Pandey, along with other leaders, immersed the ashes into the river in presence of hundreds of BJP workers.
Students, shopkeepers, traders, teachers, priests and boatmen etc were among and the Kashiites who paid tributes to Vajpayee when his ‘Asthi Kalash’ reached the city.
Late Ustad Bismillah Khan’s grandson Afaque Haidar, along with four other classical musicians, paid a musical tribute to Vajpayee. They played ‘Raghupati Raghav Rajaram’, ‘Ishwar Allah, Tero Naam’ on ‘shehnai’.
While Haider and Ustad Ali Abbas Khan played ‘shehnai’, Chetan Shukla, Iqlakh Hussain and Tahir Hussain accompanied them on tabla, dukkad and harmonium respectively.
Haider said, “My grandfather had a very close relationship with Vajpayeeji. Dada Huzoor (Ustad Bismillah Khan) always treated him like a brother and shared a strong bond of friendship. Today we paid a musical tribute to the great leader.”
Prof Kaushal Kishrore Mishra, who teaches political science at Banaras Hindu University said, that Vajpayeeji had worked as a journalist in Kashi during his early days.
Mishra recalled that Vajpayee had given a clear message to make India a nuclear power during one of his visits to Banaras Hindu University where he addressed a mammoth gathering.