Swiss authorities Friday gave a controversial Indian politician the ashes of an independence leader who died in exile after years of trying to free his country from British rule.
A Hindu priest chanted verses in Sanskrit as cemetery officials removed a memorial plaque dedicated to Shyamaji Krishnavarma and his wife, Bhanumati, and handed their black marble urns to Narendra Modi.
"This is a glorious moment for us,'' Modi said. "After half a century of independence, we have the opportunity to carry home the mortal remains of one of the greatest fighters for freedom.''
Indian campaigners began pressing for the return of the ashes 14 years ago, but Geneva officials said they needed assurance that the couple had no surviving relatives before they could agree.
Modi is chief minister of Gujarat, the western Indian state where Krishnavarma was born in 1857. Authorities plan a seven-day procession to carry the ashes to his birthplace.
Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party have faced criticism for allegedly exploiting Krishnavarma's memory before federal elections in India next year.
However, Modi told The Associated Press he was "just doing my duty, and I feel honored.''
A Hindu hard-liner, Modi was accused of doing little to stop three months of Hindu-Muslim riots last year, which killed more than 1,000 people, mostly Muslims. Members of the BJP -- which also runs India's federal government -- were accused of leading attacks on Muslims.
Modi traveled to Switzerland after a private visit to London, where he sought foreign investment in Gujarat. His trip was marked by demonstrations and a failed attempt to have him arrested.
Krishnavarma studied and taught at Oxford University. He later moved to London, where he founded a pro-independence monthly and set up India House, a hub for British-based Indian nationalists.
In 1907, he moved to Paris. He fled to Switzerland in 1914, fearing British authorities would demand his extradition from France because of his opposition to World War I and his links with Ireland's independence movement.
He died in Geneva in 1930, 17 years
before the end of British rule in India. His wife died in 1933.