It looked as if the entire world had turned to say good bye to cooperative giant Surender Jakhar whose mortal remains were consigned to flames at his native village on Tuesday afternoon.
Readers may be aware that IFFCO chairman Surinder Jakhar died of gunshot wounds at his farmhouse in Abohar (Ferozepur) on Monday in an accidental fire.
Family members, relatives, friends, political leaders and admirers bid a tearful adieu to Surinder Jakhar, son of Congress veteran and former Madhya Pradesh Governor Balram Jakhar.
IFFCO team was led by Dr US Awasthi and included Dr G N Saxena and many Directors. Cooperative leaders of all hues were present with moist eyes. NCUI President Mr Chandra Pal Singh Yadav, NAFED Chairman Bijender Singh and other cooperative leaders were also present to say good bye to the man who has not a bone of jealousy in his system.
The funeral was held at village Panjkosi in Abohar, the native place of the Jakhar family, in Punjab”s Ferozpur district.
The last rites were performed by Surinder Jakhar’s son Sandeep, a youth Congress leader.
Shops, commercial establishments and educational institutions were closed in Abohar as a mark of respect to the departed soul.
Earlier, a number of political leaders from Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan, bureaucrats and people from all walks of life paid their last respects to the IFFCO chairman at his ancestral house.
They included Union Minister Mahadev Singh Khandela, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Punjab Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal.
Fiftysix-year-old Surinder Jakhar, the second of the three sons of Balarm Jakhar, was killed yesterday when his pistol went off accidentally while he was cleaning it at his farmhouse in Abohar.
Police said the pistol went off accidentally and there was no foul play.
The family, in a statement to the police, said he was killed in an accidental fire from his pistol at his farmhouse in Maujgarh village.