Having decided to build a memorial for former President Pranab Mukherjee, the Union government has chosen a site for it at the Rashtriya Smriti Sthal in Rajghat. This has been done with good grace and accepted graciously by the former President’s daughter who had reminded the government about the oversight in honouring a past President.
The way in which the Congress Party politicised the issue over a spot to cremate former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and to find a site for his memorial had left a bad taste in the mouth, more so because the gentleman PM himself may have wanted none of it, so self-effacing was he in an important office he held for two terms.
The Congress Party’s anxiety to honour its favourites is understandable though it did not apply the same yardstick to a former Prime Minister in Narasimha Rao who may, however, not have kowtowed to the party’s first family as much as his successor did, even if Manmohan did so only in his understated ways to keep things rolling smoothly in party and government.
The Congress Party is fond of celebrating birth and death anniversaries, which would probably number more than the days in the calendar considering its long history stretches to more than 125 years and the kind of leaders it has had to be celebrated in posterity after their departure. Building memorials does make sense to mark a spot for those wishing to pay homage in a country known for its sentimentality.
The point is bickering over the departure of past luminaries is best avoided since there are so many issues that political parties may wish not to tackle. Regulations to be put in a handbook of how to handle funerals and build memorials for Presidents and Prime Ministers may be welcome, much as Presidents of the US and UK’s royalty do in addressing the issue even when they are alive without being superstitious or sentimental about it.
A memorial for Manmohan will be built in time. While this is not an entitlement considering there are no memorials for every departed Prime Minister — there is none for VP Singh — a beloved two-term PM like the Congressman will deserve to be celebrated with a place in history as well as with a memorial on the ground.
