The mortal remains of Matua matriarch Binapani Devi, popularly known as ‘Boroma’, were consigned to the flames with full state honours and gun salute at her hometown, Thakurnagar, on Thursday. Lakhs of followers and admirers attended the cremation of the powerful community leader who breathed her last late on Tuesday at the state-run SSKM Hospital in Kolkata after multi-organ failure.
Several political leaders, ministers, administrative and police officials and family members were present to bid the final adieu to the most popular centenarian leader of the influential Dalit community.
Wreaths were placed on her body on behalf of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and by several dignitaries, prominent devotees, members of the All India Matua Mahasangha and family members.
A ceremonial guard reversed arms as a mark of respect and a three-shot volley was fired in salute. Later, the pyre was lit by Boroma’s younger son, Manjul Krishna Thakur.
Before the cremation ceremony, the mortal remains placed in a decorated hearse was taken out from her house around 10 am and thousands of people lined the roads with teary eyes. Many more marched along chanting religious songs and ‘Hari Naam’.
With disagreements among the family members regarding the selection of appropriate time for cremation continuing all day, the last rites of Boroma was finally performed around 3.30 pm.
Since Wednesday morning, there had been a conflict among the community about when their beloved mother would be cremated. A section of devotees and followers had preferred to perform the last rites on Wednesday but the younger son of Boroma, Manjul Krishna Thakur, had wished that it should be performed on Thursday as hundreds of followers residing outside the state were on the way to Thakurnagar to see their mother for one last time.
A series of meeting led by members of the All India Matua Mahasangha, Gonsai, monks and devotees were held to resolve the dispute. Finally, it was decided that the last right of Boroma will be held on Thursday morning. The family members however remained torn between BJP and Trinamool Congress members who entered into an altercation over the timing of the funeral.
The family members belonging to the two rival political parties engaged in a war of words in front of the lakhs of devotees who had gathered for the funeral.
READ | Boroma’s last rites in Thakurnagar, to be given gun salute
Manjul Krishna Thakur and his son Santanu, who belong to the BJP, wished to perform the funeral within 4 pm, but Mamata Bala Thakur, the Trinamool MP from Bongao left her decision to her Matua followers who wished to perform the rites within noon.
State Food Supplies Minister Jyotipriyo Mullick admitted that there was a long standing dispute within the family. He said the family feud came out in the open when those aligned with the BJP wanted to delay Boroma’s funeral. “There are some internal problems within the family. We are trying to solve the issue. There should not be any politics over Boroma as she was like a goddess and above all political differences,” said Mullick, who was present at the funeral.
“Unfortunately, the BJP is trying to engulf the family with its dirty politics. We are strongly against this. They (the BJP aligned faction) wanted to deliberately delay the funeral. But we did not want that as her body might have started to decompose. Such incidents are uncalled for on a day like this,” Mullick said.
Boroma was the chief adviser of the Mahasangha. Considered to be Bengal’s second most influential Scheduled Caste community comprising primarily low-caste Hindu refugees from Bangladesh, it has over 1 crore members spread over various southern Bengal districts, especially North 24 Parganas.
Launched by the followers of Harichand Thakur, it began as a religious reformation movement that originated in what is now Bangladesh. The community was a key force behind the Trinamool Congress’s triumph over the 34-year-old Left Front government in the 2011 Assembly elections.
Boroma’s elder son Kapil Krishna Thakur contested and won on a Trinamool ticket from Bongaon in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. After his death, his wife Mamata Bala Thakur fought the election and won on a ruling party ticket.
The political rift within the family became evident after Boroma’s younger son Manjul Krishna Thakur, a former minister in the Mamata Banerjee government, joined the BJP along with his son Santanu Thakur, who was influential in arranging Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Thakurnagar last month.
Santanu Thakur on Wednesday demanded a central probe into the passing away of his grandmother to ascertain if the death was natural.