AMRITSAR – Renowned Kirtaniye Bhai Nirmal Singh Khalsa, 67, who died of Covid-19 Thursday could not be cremated for hours, as the crematorium authorities denied to allow cremation because they believed it would spread the virus.
As word of his death spread, residents of Verka gathered around the main cremation ground and locked the gates.
By the time the ambulance reached the cremation ground, there were a lot of people waiting there to stop the administration from bringing in the body.
“After several hours of negotiations with the residents, a solution was found that his body may be cremated a few kilometres away from the cremation ground, on a secluded piece of land that is the common property of the council,” Verka municipal councillor Navdeep Singh Hundal said.
Finally, Bhai Nirmal Singh Khalsa was cremated in a private field at Fatehgarh Shukar Chak village, 2km away.
Akal Takht Head Granthi Giani Malkeet Singh performed the last rites around 8:30pm. Bhai Nirmal Singh Khalsa’s son Amiteshwar Singh was also present to perform the last rites.
Sources in the Amritsar administration said the standoff over the funeral wasn’t the only reason the body was handed over late.
“Another reason for the delay… is that all relatives of the deceased were immediately sent into isolation and only when some of them were declared Covid-19-negative were they allowed to come out and handle the situation,” said a senior official.
The conduct of Verka residents was widely panned on social media, with some users from Punjab even offering their own houses for the cremation.
The conduct of Verka residents came in for intense criticism on social media, with Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Sukhbir Singh Badal seeking Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh’s intervention.
The residents of Verka had declared that they would build a memorial for Khalsa at the site of the cremation.
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee also offered a local gurdwara for his cremation but by then the alternative site had already been arranged.
Former Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal said the act had insulted “the mortal remains of the renowned Gurmat Sangeet exponent”.
He asked the chief minister to intervene and ensure Covid-19 patients are not discriminated against.
“Such acts are against the spirit of humanity and communal brotherhood and have the capacity to spiral out of control and result in serious consequences for society,” Badal said in a statement.
“Those responsible for locking the Verka cremation ground must be taken to task and proceeded against.”
Health officials baffled
Given that Khalsa had no recent travel history, his case has baffled the medical fraternity. Sources in the health department said his last trip abroad was to the US in November 2019. However, in the first week of March, his aged uncle and aunt arrived from the US and went into self-quarantine for 14 days.
“The only link we have been able to establish is that the flight on which his uncle and aunt arrived had also brought into Punjab the state’s first Covid-19-positive patient,” said a senior health official. “He has now been discharged.”
According to the official, the uncle and aunt had shown no symptoms of Covid-19. “We are trying to find the source of Khalsa’s infection, and it might take a few days,” he added.
However, Khalsa’s close aides have accused Amritsar health officials of negligence, saying he had visited the medical college last month with symptoms but was not tested.
According to the aides, Khalsa was given some medicines and told to rest at home. He is also said to have consulted doctors at the Guru Ramdas Medical College and Hospital of the SGPC, but no one suspected coronavirus on account of his travel history.
It was during his last visit to Guru Ramdas Hospital over the weekend that doctors advised Khalsa be shifted to the medical college.
A source at the Amritsar government medical college admitted they had slipped up, but said their hands were tied by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) guidelines on testing.
The source, a senior doctor, said Khalsa had been visiting hospitals for the past 10 days but nobody suspected him to be a coronavirus suspect because he had no travel history and hadn’t come in contact with a patient either. “The ICMR testing guidelines in this regard are very strict,” he said.
Khalsa had roamed freely in the days before he began to show symptoms. On 13 March, he met environmentalist Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal, another Padma Shri awardee. On 19 March, Khalsa also performed a kirtan at Sector 27 in Chandigarh that was attended by several people.
Seechewal issued a statement on his Facebook page Thursday night saying he was fine and had no symptoms.