By RANJAN ROY
Associated Press Writer
ALLAHABAD, India (AP) -- Helped by Hindu priests smeared with
vermilion paste, a great-grandson of Mohandas Gandhi today
scattered the last handful of the independence leader's ashes into
the holy Ganges River.
Hundreds of people, their hands folded and heads bowed, crowded
the river bank and stood in waist-deep water to watch the ceremony,
conducted on a barge. Gandhi was assassinated 49 years ago today.
Tushar Gandhi, Gandhi's great-grandson, emptied the gray ash
from a copper urn into the Ganges where it meets the Yamuna River,
a confluence revered as especially holy by Hindus.
Worshipers chanted Hindu prayers and ``Long Live Mahatma
Gandhi.''
A Hindu militant killed Gandhi on Jan. 30, 1948, because of
Gandhi's support for the partition of India and the creation of
Pakistan.
Gandhi's ashes were divided and sent to all the states of India
to be scattered in rivers, according to Hindu ritual. For reasons
no one knows, a portion of the ashes was placed in a safe deposit
box at a bank in Cuttack, 1,100 miles southeast of New Delhi.
Tushar Gandhi went to court to gain custody of the ashes after
newspapers reported in 1995 that they were at the bank.
He claimed the ashes Wednesday night as they arrived in
Allahabad, an important Hindu pilgrimage site, in a special railway
car after a 560-mile journey north from Cuttack.
Today, a box containing the ashes was placed aboard a barge
draped in the Indian national colors of green, white and saffron.
The barge was towed 500 yards from the bank to the confluence of
the rivers.
Tushar Gandhi cut the seal on the box and took out the copper
urn. It was wrapped in a white cloth that had yellowed over the
years.
Dozens of people on the barge touched the urn and folded their
hands in respect to slain leader, known as the Mahatma, or Great
Soul.
One spectator, Gopalji Balmiki, took the day off work to watch
the ceremony, and helped put flowers on the white police truck that
carried the ashes to the barge. ``I don't want to miss this
chance,'' he said.
Allahabad, a dusty city of 800,000, was already crowded
Wednesday with another 150,000 pilgrims camping here for an annual
Hindu festival. Millions of people come here to bathe every year,
believing that the waters of the Ganges will wash away their sins.
