THE last remaining ashes of Mahatma Gandhi were scattered across the Ganges River yesterday, 49 years after the independence leader was assassinated. Mr Tushar Gandhi, Gandhi's great grandson, took the ashes to the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna at the town of Allahabad, a place revered by Hindus.
Gandhi was assassinated in New Delhi by a Hindu fanatic for agreeing to the partition of India and the formation of the Islamic state of Pakistan on January 30th, 1948. After his cremation his ashes were sent to each Indian state to be immersed in various rivers. But a small portion, somehow forgotten in the vault of the State Bank of India in the city of Cuttack, was discovered two years ago. Mr Tushar Gandhi filed a case in the Supreme Court for possession of the ashes and won.
State officials were disappointed with the low turnout at the ash scattering ceremony yesterday. The Prime Minister, Mr H.D. Deve Gowda, who had said he would attend the event, was not present. But Mr Tushar Gandhi was not disappointed. "I would be gratified even if one person came to pay homage to Mahatma Gandhi sincerely," he said.
