Sridevi’s untimely death depressed everyone and left whole nation in a state of shock. Her fans and loved ones were numb and they took quite some time to get out of the shock.
Sridevi who was an honour of the nation was given a state funeral. She was dressed in bridal Kanjeevaram saree, bindi, mangalsutra and was further wrapped in the tricolour. The cremation ceremony was done with full state honours.
While the whole country was saddened to see Sridevi’s mortal remains, some people raised questions on her state funeral. MNS chief Raj Thackeray also blamed state government for giving state honour cremation to Sridevi.
The suggested reason behind this earlier was Sridevi being a Padma Shri awardee. However, Padma Shri awardees are not entitled to the state honour cremation. Only current and former Prime Minister, union ministers and state ministers are eligible for the same. Apart from them, who will get this kind of cremation is the decision of state government. The government takes this decision keeping in mind the dead person’s contribution to the society.
A reply to an RTI that was filed by social activist Anil Galgali gives an answer to the big question. It says-
“With regards to the full state honours for the late Amma Yangar Ayyappan, known as the famed actress Sridevi, verbal ordered were received from the CMO on February 25, 2018 and conveyed to the Mumbai Suburban District Collector and Mumbai Police Commissioner the following day to do the needful.”
Anil Galgali said-
“Among the speculation was that state funeral can be accorded to a person who is conferred with a National award or a Padma honour, but now a new information has come to light that it actually falls within the CM’s discretion.”
What are your thoughts on it?