While Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel and Leader of Opposition Amarsinh Chaudhari stuck to protocol and refrained from making speeches, local BJP leaders virtually converted the cremation of Lance Havaldar Kantibhai into a public meeting.

It was supposed to be a ``shraddhanjali'', but there was nothing solemn about the utterances of the speakers. Instead, there were shrill speeches, replete with RSS rhetoric. Of course, all prefaced with the customary praise of Kantibhai's bravery and his family's courage.

Damorkaka of Sabarkantha, who recently joined the BJP, shrieked into the public address system: ``Muslims had burnt Hindu temples...Nehru and Gandhi divided the country...''. Bhiloda MLA Upendra Trivedi and Sabarkantha BJP leader Suresh Gandhi also made fiery speeches, the latter asking youths to start wearing saffron head-bands. All this went on in the presence of ministers Kanjibhai Patel and Ramanbhai Vora.

Outside the pandal, Kantibhai's brother, family members, relatives and friends stood near the burning pyre, surrounded by a small crowd of silent villagers.