Last rites of George Fernandes to be performed according to Hindu rituals and customs

The last rites of stalwart socialist leader and former Defence Minister George Fernandes, who passed away on Tuesday, 29 January at the age of 88, will be performed according to Hindu rituals and customs.

Jaya Jaitly, a close associate of George Fernandes, told that the departed soul had expressed the wish of cremation according to Hindu rituals and customs. According to a Jagran report, she said that Fernandes wanted that his funeral should be performed first by Hindu custom and then buried. Therefore, his funeral will be performed with Hindu custom and his cremation ashes will be buried. In this way, his last wish of performing his funeral according to both Hindu and Christian tradition will be fulfilled.

Jaitly told reporters, “It will be at Lodhi crematorium. We are following two things which he liked. First he wanted a cremation and then during his last days he was saying burial. So we are going to cremate the body and bury the ashes which will fulfil both his wishes.” Keeping his wish funeral will be performed today.

An hour-long prayer service was organized on Thursday before the funeral at Fernandes’ residence, Shanti Niwas, at Panchsheel Park. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar participated in the prayer.

George Fernandes breathed his last in Delhi at 7 AM. He had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. A native of Mangaluru and founder of the Samata Party, Fernandes dedicated his entire life in the service of the nation. His journey from a seminary in erstwhile Bangalore to the trade unions of erstwhile Bombay is extraordinary. He became a national figure for the first time after defeating powerful Congress leader, SK Patil, in 1967 parliamentary elections from the South Bombay constituency. SK Patil had a reputation of being undefeatable. It was a huge victory for George Fernandes which also earned him the reputation of being a “giant killer”. With his good work, he earned the love and respect of people. He won nine Lok Sabha elections from 1967 to 2004. 

The 1974 railway strike is the most remarkable strike organized by George Fernandes. At that time, he was the President of All India Railwaymen’s Federation. The strike was carried out to address the grievances of railway workers. That strike brought the entire nation to a halt. Previous strikes directed against Industries, but this was the first of its kind strike that was aimed at the government. He had faced police torture for it, but it failed to break his spirit. With the time, he became even tougher and fought with all the energy and enthusiasm against the imposition of emergency by Indira Gandhi government in 1975. He is best known for his role as an anti-Emergency crusader. He adopted every method to save democracy. On 10 June 1976, he was finally arrested in erstwhile Calcutta for Baroda Dynamite Conspiracy to protest against the imposition of emergency. His chained photograph is the symbol of struggle during the emergency.

Post-emergency, efforts of George Fernandes and other leaders paid off as Indira Gandhi suffered a humiliating defeat. The anti-Emergency crusader, George Fernandes, won the Muzaffarpur seat in Bihar by over 300,000 vote margin in 1977 from jail despite him not even visiting the constituency. He was appointed as the Union Minister for Industries, and continued his work. During his tenure as MP, he set up a Doordarshan Kendra (1978), Kanti Thermal Power Station (1978) and the Lijjat Papad factory to generate employment in his constituency, Muzaffarpur. In November 2014, Kanti Thermal Power Station was renamed as George Fernandes Thermal Power Station.

In VP Singh’s cabinet in 1989, he pushed for the Konkan Railway project, connecting erstwhile Mangalore with erstwhile Bombay.

Post-Mandal, he shifted towards the NDA and served as Defence Minister of India. During his tenure as the Defence Minister, Kargil war broke out between India and Pakistan in 1999. Indian launched Operation Vijay and came out with flying colors. In May 1998, India carried out five nuclear tests at the Pokharan range in Rajasthan. He openly endorsed NDA government’s decision to test the nuclear bombs. He resigned from the post of Defence Minister in 2004 after the “Coffin Gate” scandal broke out. The Congress milked a lot of electoral benefit from the narrative of fake coffin scam. In 2015, the apex court absolved everyone in Kargil coffin scam but it was too late. The Congress had managed to get what it wanted – Power. 

For more details: George Fernandes and Coffin Gate: The scam that never was!

An emergency crusader, an outstanding defense minister in war-time and an unapologetic politician, George Fernandes embodied the very idea of resistance and was ever-so-wary of the supposed ‘royalty’ of Indian politics, the Nehru-Gandhi family. 

For more details: George Fernandes: The ‘Giant Killer’ who removed Sonia Gandhi’s portrait from the Constitution Club

The former Defence Minister of India was a rebel who has left his mark in the mind of people and his image would continue to stay in hearts of the future generation and would continue to inspire them. Today the nation has lost one of its priceless gems.