May the discrimination against women in tier 1, tier 2 cities will stop now where we dont allow womens to enter in… https://t.co/bYKwLbKste — shubham jain (@shubhamjain1108) 1534516293000

NEW DELHI: It was foster daughter Namita Bhattacharya who performed the last rites of former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee , giving fire to the pyre after the traditional ‘parikrama’ (circumambulation) with other family members.Soon after moving scenes at Vajpayee’s cremation, comments on social media hailed Namita’s role as an empowering act for gender equality with visuals of the last rites of public figures more commonly associated with male relatives such as sons and brothers carrying out the ‘fire-giving’ ritual.Before the cremation, Vajpayee’s foster granddaughter Niharika was handed over the Indian Tricolour used to drape the funerary box carrying the former PM’s mortal remains.Though it is no longer uncommon for daughters to lead rituals associated with death, the televised visuals of the Bhattacharya family caught popular attention. “A country where people desire to have a son who will provide them ‘Moksha’ performing their last rites. Daughter Namita Bhattacharya performed last rites of #AtalBihariVajpayee. How is the love of a daughter different from the son?” a tweet by Megha Bist said. There were several others reflecting the same thought.Another tweet from Shubham Jain said, “Maybe the discrimination against women in tier 1, tier 2 cities will stop now where we don’t allow women to enter in graveyards and cemetry. #NamitaBhattacharya ma’am started a new trend by performing last rites of our beloved #atalbiharivajpayee sir”.Vajpayee was known to be close to Namita who is married to Ranjan Bhattacharya. Niharika is their only child.