Late Ustad Ali Akbar Khan’s daughter and son-in-law insist that the maestro wanted to be buried besides his parents’ graves at MP.
Iconic Sarod player Ustad Ali Akbar Khan’s burial became a bone of contention between his wife Mary and the daughter from his previous wife, Rajdulari Devi Aneesa Chaudhari. Mary intends to perform the last rites of the genius in San Francisco, but Aneesa has accused her of denying Khan’s last wish to be buried beside the grave of his parents in Madhya Pradesh. Khan died of renal failure at his San Anselmo home, California, on Friday. He was 87 and is survived by 11 children from three marriages.
Aneesa and her husband, Rajeev, tried their best to get Khan’s body to Mumbai first so they could take him to Madhya Pradesh. They requested the officials here to contact the Indian embassy in United States to stop the performance of last rites there and allow the body to be brought to India. “We even mailed Shashi Tharoor, in the hope that Khan will not be denied his last wish,” says Rajeev.
However, they did not get the permissions and Mary will hold the burial at San Fransisco on Monday there. Aneesa and Rajeev have given up all hope, they admit, and will hold a prayer ceremony here in Mumbai on Monday morning to “coincide with his last rites back in the US.” A condolence meeting will be held on Tuesday.
“We will not go to the US since we cannot organise the visa and tickets at such short notice,” said the couple.
Aneesa has other grouses, too. She accuses Mary of not hospitalising Khan well in time. “My father regularly called me over a couple of days before his death and was quite healthy. However, he needed immediate hospitalisation due to his kidney illness.” Rajeev, Aneesa’s husband, believes that accusing Mary of not hospitalising Khan is futile. “Nothing can be done about that anymore. All we wanted now was to get his body to Mumbai and then take him to Maihar.”
Aneesa is almost in tears as she remembers how she and Rajeev pleaded Mary and her children to admit Khan in a hospital. “However, they didn’t so he passed away at home. And now, they even refused to get his body back to India.”
“Khan’s dying wish is being denied,” says Rajeev. “He wanted to be buried beside his parents at the burial ground, Maihar, near Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh. Everybody close to, like Asha Bhosle and Hariprasad Chaurasia, knew about his dying wish. We think we should have give him what he wanted,” he added. Rajeev believes Mary is denying the rights Khan’s disciples and fans have over him. “They all wanted him in India.”
Asha Bhosle’s son Anand told DNA that when he had gone to the US and visited Akbar, he had mentioned that he would like to be buried in India.
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