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Pilot supporters stall cremation

Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi

Slogan-shouting supporters of senior Congress leader Rajesh Pilot, who died in an accident yesterday, refused to allow his body to be transported to the party headquarters from his Akbar Road residence under the plea that he deserved cremation at Kisanghat (near Rajghat) and not at Nigambodhghat as scheduled today.

"Jab tak sooraj chand rahega, Pilot tera naam rahega (as long as the sun and the moon exist, you will remain immortal) aggressive supporters of the departed MP from Dausa shouted. They reminded family members of Pilot that they were willing to die before witnessing any insult, which was being done by his cremation being scheduled at Nigambodh ghat.

At around 1415 hours, Pilot's supporters forced the flower-bedecked truck (for transporting his body to the Congress headquarters here) to reverse and back out of the residence, even as they kept arguing with Pilot's family members over where the cremation should be held.

"Yes, there is a problem about where his cremation ought to be done," admitted a Congress Working Committee member.

Even as the argument between Pilot's followers and his family continued, various Opposition leaders came to pay their last respects.

" There is no doubt that Pilot was a mass leader who was not afraid to say whatever he wanted if he decided that what he was saying was justified," said CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury, who placed a wreath on behalf of his party.

"It was apparent that Pilot had a huge following and mass appeal, qualities which were buttressed by his smiling face and friendly disposition," Yechury pointed out.

Similar tributes came from Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Dr Farooq Abdullah. "My feelings about Pilot is not in the political context, I am talking about the human factor. He was a wonderful person, always warm and smiling. He was very brave and was not at all concerned about a terrorist threat. There was an attempt on his life in J&K. He was genuinely concerned about the plight of Kashmiris in the wake of militancy in the state and he used his good offices in a bid to solve the problems of Kashmiris," the chief minister pointed out.

Uunion Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs S S Dhindsa came with a huge wreath, as did numerous leaders from Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

When people kept streaming in at 1330 hours to pay their last respects, a Pilot family member pointed out that it was time to transport the body to the Congress headquarters. But Pilot's supporters objected.

Although Pilot's cremation at Nigambodhghat was scheduled at 1600 hours, it was still not clear where his last rites would be performed.

The outpouring of genuine grief, especially by old women, was heart-rending. Many broke down and clasped Pilot's flower-bedecked body as party workers guided them out of the hall.

"See, these are not crocodile tears. These women say Pilot is dearer to them than their sons. He has given them so much, always ready to listen to their woes and raising them in Parliament," said Chandiram, a farmer from Rajasthan's Dausa district. "What will we do now, hamara chirag hi ab bujh gaya (the light has gone out of our lives),'' Chandiram said with tears in his eyes.

He spoke of party leaders like Girija Vyas and Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, "but they are like pygmies. They just cannot match Rajesh's abounding sympathy for us. Rajesh inn chuhon mein akela hi sher tha (Rajesh alone was a tiger among these mice),'' Chandiram asserted.

Padmini, also from Dausa, was equally assertive. The 79-year-old lady said, "Ab hamari baat koi nahin sunega. Rajesh Pilot hamari dil ki dard ki janta tha, baki sab log to dramabazi karte hain (now nobody will listen to us, Rajesh Pilot knew and felt the pain in our heart, the rest merely resort to drama).''

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