"The controversial and extra-legal activities of his department provoked the ire of parties both to the right and to the left of Dashnaktsutiun. Aram's impatience with the fetters of parliamentary government was evident, and, under the conditions then existing in Armenia, it was not difficult to find ample justification for strong centralized control or even a dictatorial regime." Ronald Grigor Suny wrote that Aram was supported by those who "insisted that the times required dictatorial rule", while "the champions of democracy in the legislature frequently criticized the highhanded methods of the interior ministry under Aram Manukian's direction." Aram advocated for total disarmament of the Armenian population "as a necessary step toward establishing law and order. Others, however, contended that a people who had experienced turmoil and treachery for years would not comply with orders to surrender their arms, and insisted instead on allowing the armed population to contribute to the defense of the nation." Between November 15 and December 13, 1918, Manukian acted as minister of labor after Minister Khatchatur Karchikian was killed. Death and funeral With a large number of Armenian refugees settled in Yerevan, a typhus epidemic spread in the city during the winter of 1918–1919. Around two thousand orphans and refugees perished. Aram Manukian contracted the typhus in December 1918 when he was visiting the camps of refugees from the genocide. He died on 26 January 1919. He was living in extreme poverty and "refused to take medicine and gave it away to the poor, he wore old shoes and clothes." His death came as a shock and his funeral became a national day of mourning with thousands of Yerevan residents attending it. His biographer, Arshaluys Astvatzatrian, has left the following description of his burial: According to Richard Hovannisian the death of Aram—the "invincible leader"—"deepened the gloom" in Yerevan. Manukian was initially buried at the Mler cemetery (now Komitas Pantheon). In the 1930s, during the large-scale reconstructions in Yerevan (including the destruction of religious and historic buildings), his remains were moved to Kozern cemetery, which was soon turned into a park, and was eventually reburied at the Yerevan City Cemetery (popularly known as Tokhmakh). In 1979 a group of Armenian patriots found Aram's tombstone and in August 1982 put a khachkar made by Garnik Amirjanyan on it. Personal life Manukian married Katarine Zalyan in Yerevan in 1917. They met at an orphanage, where she worked as a