Centre says it accepted Manmohan Singh memorial space request amid cremation site row

New Delhi: The Union government said on Friday that it has agreed to the Congress' request to allocate space for a memorial to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The Union Home Ministry's announcement came hours after the Opposition party claimed that the Centre had ignored its request that Singh be cremated on Saturday at a spot where a memorial could be created to celebrate his legacy.

The former Prime Minister died on Thursday in New Delhi. He was 92. The Union government has proclaimed a seven-day mourning period and announced that Singh will be given a state funeral. According to the home ministry, the funeral would be held Saturday morning at the NigamBodh Ghat in New Delhi.

On Friday, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said he met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah and suggested that Singh's funeral be held at a "sacrosanct venue" where a memorial for the "great son of India" may be built.

In a social media post, Kharge stated that he had written to Modi over the party's proposal. Singh had a "highly revered place in the psyche of the country and the people of this nation," and the former prime minister's contributions and achievements were phenomenal according to Kharge.

“The nation today reaps the benefits of the robust economic foundations he built,” the Congress chief added.

Kharge believes that a memorial would be an appropriate homage to a leader who came from humble beginnings to become a statesman of his calibre.

Hours later, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said that the country was “unable to understand why the Government of India could not find a location for his cremation and memorial that is befitting of his global stature, record of outstanding achievements, and exemplary service to the nation for decades”.

This was a “deliberate insult” to the first Sikh prime minister, stated Ramesh.

Shiromani Akali Dal leader Sukhbir Badal also said on Friday that the Union government had denied a request by Singh's family to execute the former prime minister's funeral rituals at a site where an “appropriate and historic memorial may be built to commemorate his unparalleled services to the nation”.

Badal said that space at Delhi’s Raj Ghat should be allocated for the memorial. “This will be in keeping with the settled practice and tradition followed in the past,” the former Punjab deputy chief minister said on social media.

“It is inexplicable why the government is showing such disrespect to the great leader who was the only member of the Sikh community to rise to become the prime minister,” he said on Friday. “As of now, the cremation is slated to be performed at the common cremation ground at Nigambodh ghat.”

Badal said he could not believe that the “bias” of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party would “go to such extremes in utter disregard of the towering global stature” that Singh held. He urged Modi to “intervene personally to change this deplorable decision” by the Union government, Scroll.in reported.

Late on Friday, the Union administration acknowledged receiving a request from Congress to designate space for a memorial.

The home ministry stated that immediately following the Cabinet meeting on Friday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah notified Kharge and Singh's family that the government would set aside space for the monument.

“In the meanwhile cremation and other formalities can happen because a trust has to be formed and space has to be allocated to it,” said a statement.