The political controversy surrounding the death of former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh continues unabated, with debates over a memorial, seating arrangements at his funeral, and the absence of Congress leaders at his asthi visarjan ceremony.

I T IS FITTING that Manmohan Singh, who unshackled Indian trade and industry as the country’s finance minister in 1991, was the son of an importer. His father’s firm in Peshawar brought dry fruit and spices to India from Afghanistan.

The body of Manmohan Singh, the former Indian prime minister whose death has sparked outpourings of grief at home and accolades from abroad, was cremated on Sunday on the banks of the Yamuna River in New Delhi with full state honours.