Ashes of eminent US historian & wife to be immersed in river Ganga on June 26
Patna: Honouring the wishes of eminent American historian Walter Hauser, known for his path-breaking researches on Bihari farmers and their struggles, and his wife Rosemary Fleming, their ashes will be immersed in river Ganga at Digha ghat here on June 26, years after their death.
They had desired and willed for their cremation, not burial as per Christian rituals, reflecting their fond association with Bihar, its people and their culture, cultural activist Aneesh Ankur said. The ashes, collected and preserved after their cremation, will be taken to the middle of the river through a steamer of tourism department for immersion.
Hauser, who was a researcher at Virgnia University, died at his home town in the US on June 1, 2019, at the age of 92, over a decade after his wife succumbed to cancer in 2001.
They were cremated, and their ashes had been preserved for immersion in the river Ganga.
Born in 1927, Hauser, in 1957, started his research on the Bihari farmers and their anti-zamindar movement under the banner of Bihar Pradesh Kisan Sabha (BPKS), led by Sahajanand Saraswati from Sitaram Ashram in Bihta (Patna). The BPKS was formed in 1929. The PhD thesis he submitted in 1961 to Virgnia University remained a reference point for the scholars world over who liked to do research on Bihar.
President and secretary of the Sitaram Ashram, Kailash Chandra Jha (a disciple of Hauser) and Satyajit Kumar Singh, respectively said that the ashes of Hauser and his wife have already been brought to Patna by their daughter Sheila Hauser, son Michael, his wife Eliabeth and granddaughter Rosemary Hauser Jos.
They are accompanied by disciples of Walter Hauser — William Pinch and Wendy Singer — who have also done research on the cultural and political aspects of the state, they added.
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