Modi, who graduated in Politics from the RSS School, which claims to uphold Hindu and Sanatan traditions, took sadistic pleasure in demeaning and humiliating the late prime minister. In Hindu tradition it is taboo to denigrate the dead. Even ruffians and leeches are treated better after they have departed the world. Modi ought to know that the conscience of the people of India, barring the saffron-sort, are severely hurt. They did not imagine that a Prime Minister would stoop so low.

But then, it is known to everybody that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a perverse dislike for both Jawaharlal Nehru and Dr. Manmohan Singh. He always felt dwarfed before the towering stature of Nehru, and in the case of Dr Singh, the threat to his political credibility was real. Being the successor, Modi had to prove that he was Dr. Singh's equal in political acumen and administrative skill.

Modi's speeches in Parliament devoted time and energy in debasing Nehru and Manmohan. Once, he mocked economists: "Hard work is more powerful than Harvard. The latest GDP data shows demonetisation did not affect growth rate, rather the figures improved. On the one hand are those (critics of the note ban) who talked of what people at Harvard say and on the other hand is a poor man's son who through his hard work is trying to improve the economy."

Then, the second time, he said: “Despite so many incidents of corruption no taint had stuck to him. He (Manmohan) had perfected the art of bathing under a shower with raincoat on, so there was no blot on him despite all the scams that occurred during his tenure. It is worth recalling that Singh had called demonetisation "organised loot" and "legalised plunder".

Modi, despite using sharp intelligence brains to evolve a mechanism to malign Singh, could not succeed in his mission. Modi had repeatedly said he cannot be exempted from blame for the swindles over the allocation of coal blocks, spectrum and telecom licenses, among others. But ultimately he had egg on his face after promising to unmask and show Singh his rightful place. It is worth recalling that in 2017 P Chidambaram had said on the floor of the house: "Such harsh and ugly comments are not acceptable. No PM has ever used such comments about a former PM". In protest against this insinuation, the Congress had walked out of the Rajya Sabha.

An insight into the political graph of Prime Minister Narendra Modi would unravel that he has been a victim of an inferiority complex. Modi believed in the philosophy of attacking and humiliating the person who poses a problem for him. This is the basic tenet of an autocrat. He treats each and every person as his serf. The BJP rank and file suffers with this malaise. No BJP leader worth his salt can muster the courage to question Modi’s decisions.

Notwithstanding his habit of attacking and denigrating Pandit Nehru to show him in poor light, it was Manmohan’s wide global cognizance and respect for his achievements, in turning India into a major economic power during his 10-year rule, and empowering the Dalit and poor through his numerous policies, that made Modi to treat Singh as his No.1 enemy. Modi was suffering from insecurity and the spectre of dwarfism was always haunting Modi, who thought of himself as superior to all and everybody.

Truth is Modi’s action has not come as a shock. Yes, his “inferiority complex” received a severe jolt with the world leaders reminiscing about Dr Manmohan Singh’s contribution to the world economy, saving it from disaster and hailing him as a “Statesman”.

Former US President Barack Obama had said at Toronto G20 Summit, "When Dr Manmohan Singh speaks the world listens to him with rapt attention”, a remark which reverberated after his death, which was too much for Modi’s inflated ego. In a single stroke, the efforts of the saffron ecosystem to project Modi as the Vishwaguru crumbled.

Obviously, this was unacceptable to Modi. The saffron ecosystem, the RSS, had spent thousands of crores rupees in projecting Modi as ‘Vishwaguru.’ A couple of years back Union Home Minister Amit Shah had said that India was on the way to become “Vishwaguru” (guide of world) under Prime Minister Modi. “Whenever the country’s history is written, the (history of the) Modi period would be written in golden letters because of the steps taken by him for people’s welfare,” Shah said, but the condolence messages pouring in after the demise of Manmohan shows who was the real ‘Vishwaguru’.

The land which was to be earmarked for cremation and subsequently for building the memorial was certainly not the personal property of Modi or Shah. Modi had allotted a huge tract of land for Atal Behari Vajpayee. Like Manmohan he too had retired long back. The land was allotted even without the constitution of a trust. But in case of Dr Singh, Modi and Shah argued that a trust was a must for allocation of land. Vajpayee's memorial was named "Sadbhav Atal" and is spread over seven acres, "where memories related to Atalji are present"

Did both these Gujarati men intend to tell that death should have warned the family members of Dr Singh that Yamraj had despatched its ‘Yamdoots’. A trust could have been formed only after the cremation. The argument of Modi proves that he and Shah are truly xenophobic. Did they want to say that for getting the designated land, the cremation should have waited? Just after Dr. Singh's death, the Congress leadership had written to Modi, and to the Union Home Minister, to allot a designated place for Singh's last rites, where a memorial could also be built. The Congress President had even called them and requested land. It is a shame that they did not agree. For Modi accepting Congress demand would have been perceived as kneeling to the wish of the Congress. Now, with Rahul Gandhi going around and condemning this devious act of Modi and Shah, the BJP is criticising Rahul and accusing him of playing politics.

The Gujarat twosome deliberately denied the honour and respect Dr Singh deserved. Rahul is right in saying, "The great son of Mother India and the first Prime Minister of the Sikh community, Dr Manmohan Singhji, has been totally insulted by the present government by performing his last rites at the Nigambodh Ghat, a public memorial site." Significantly Priyanka Gandhi had even offered a portion of Indira’s and Rajiv’s cremation places for Dr Singh’s memorial. The site of Indira Gandhi is called Shakti Sthal, which translates to "Place of Strength". It is located in Raj Ghat. The crematorium site for Rajiv Gandhi is Veer Bhumi, which translates to "Land of Brave".

With people despising the two Gujaratis for their inhumane act, it was said that a memorial for Dr. Singh will be built in Delhi, and the decision has been communicated to his family. Gujarati contempt towards Dr Singh was also manifest in not providing proper seating places to Dr. Singh’s family members, prompting Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to comment: "This morning, I felt this when I saw Dr Manmohan Singhji's family members struggling for a place at the funeral site, trying to find a place in the crowd, and the general public getting troubled due to the lack of space and paying tributes from the road outside."

Only three chairs were kept in the front row for Dr. Singh’s family, and Congress leaders had to intervene to make room for the rest of the Singh family. Modi even tried to hog public attention. He and his ministers did not stand up when the Tricolour was handed to the widow of the late Prime Minister, or during the gun salute. The BJP leaders resorted to their old deflated style by blaming the Congress for undermining Dr Singh by foisting then party president Sonia Gandhi on him as an extra-constitutional authority. This manifests a complete lack of humane sensibility and moral ethics. (IPA Service)