As American President Abraham Lincoln, the very centre of the ideology of democracy, passed away following the bullet wound he had received at the playhouse, the then Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton, had uttered the immortal line: “Now, he belongs to the ages.”

Now that Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray is cremated, which according to some, was the largest public funeral in the state since Bal Gangadhar Tilak’s, we can safely say, for better or for worse — “Now, he belongs to the ages.”

Following that immortal line, Stanton had also said, “There lies the most perfect ruler of men the world has ever seen.” Now, I’m not sure we can repeat the words here. His is a complicated legacy; only time will tell — the ages to come...