Courtesies, human values, considerations and respects to a departed soul on death should never be found missing, if not wilfully denied. One’s last and final journey must have glimpses of due courtesies and showing of due respects. Agreed, this time we are passing through extremely difficult period when death and wailing and losses of various hues are projecting the gory and dreadful face of the COVID -19 pandemic which among many things snatched, has denied the due respects and a reasonably suitable bidding adieu to corona caused deaths. Former Union Minister Prof. Chaman Lal Gupta, the son of the soil, who breathed his last recently, deserved a state funeral, though in a low profile due to the prevailing situation, as mentioned in the Rule Book. We, unfortunately, witnessed the due state funeral denied to him not knowing due to which specific reasons notwithstanding the fact that the Prime Minister, the UT Lieutenant Governor and other leaders condoling the departing of Prof Gupta who had an illustrious political career. The last rites were performed by his family members and supporters sans any representation from the UT Government. We recall his contribution in respect of establishing Village Defence Committees in erstwhile Doda district and other hilly areas of Jammu region to counter cross border terror acts. Any logic put forth by the UT administration in this respect can be construed only as an alibi.
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