Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Parakhna maat, parakhne se koi apna nahi rehta, kisi bhi aine mein chehra der tak nahin rehta -- this well-known line, once composed by eminent Urdu poet Bashir Badr, was reflected during his funeral.
Social media was flooded with tributes to the poet. People from different parts of the country are writing the bard's own lines to pay tribute to him, but only a few people participated in his funeral.
It was expected that many people would participate in his final journey, but only 500 people took part in Janaza Namaz (funeral prayers), and afterwards, the number of people reduced.
Not a single BJP leader was present to bid adieu to the former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's favourite poet.
In the state capital, neither Minister Vishvas Sarang nor his counterpart Krishna Gaur was present at his funeral.
To complete the formality, the district administration sent ADM Sumit Pandey, and an ACP was there to manage traffic.
Neither any minister nor any legislator met the family members of the poet whose compositions are heard from parliament to streets.
The previous governments of the BJP honoured Badr Sahib. The Vajpayee government conferred Padmashri on him in 1999.
During the BJP rule, the poet became the chairman of the Urdu Academy, and in 2020, the then governor Lalji Tandon visited the poet's residence to greet him on his birthday.
But he was deprived of the honour he deserved at the time of his departure. His family members did not complain about it, though.
A few journalists in the state capital raised the issue, saying the bard did not get the honour he deserved at the time of his final journey.
He was the poet of the masses because of his lucid style of writing, but it was not known why the ruling dispensation showed such a coldness, journalists wrote.
