Chennai: DMK working president MK Stalin with family members during DMK chief M Karunanidhi’s funeral ceremony at Anna Memorial, in Chennai on Wednesday, Aug 8, 2018. (PTI Photo)
Karunanidhi burial at Marina Beach: DMK supremo and former Tamil Nadu chief minister Muthuvel Karunanidhi was laid to rest on the Marina beachfront as thousands of supporters bid him a tearful farewell after an unsavoury courtroom battle his party won to secure for him the final resting place at the Chennai landmark.
The 94-year-old Dravidian stalwart, who was affectionately called as Thalaivar and Kalaignar, had breathed his last at Kauvery hospital after fighting for life for 11 days. He had been battling age-related ailments for a long time. He was buried with full state honours next to his mentor and former chief minister C N Annadurai at the Marina beach.
A host of dignitaries including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress president Rahul Gandhi, Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, and his Kerala, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh counterparts Pinarayi Vijayan, K Chandrasekhar Rao and N Chandrababu Naidu were in attendance.
Karunanidhi’s son and heir apparent M K Stalin received the national flag wrapped around his father’s body. Other family members including the leader’s wife Rajathi Ammal, other sons and daughters showered flower petals at his feet. No Hindu rituals were performed as Karunanidhi was a self-proclaimed atheist and rationalist, Also read | M Karunanidhi (1924-2018): A Titan Departs | Follow LIVE Updates
DMK Patriarch M Karunanidhi passed away after battling illness in Kauvery hospital. (Express photo)
Gun shots are being fired in respect to the late leader as the coffin is being lowered. The mortal remains of Karunanidhi are being lowered into the burial pit behind the samadhi of his mentor and DMK founder C N Annadurai at Marina beach with full state honours.
The casket has been closed as family members are seen weeping inconsolably.
MK Stalin and the family are inconsolably in tears near the coffin. The mortal remains of Karunanidhi will be lowered into the burial pit behind the samadhi of his mentor and DMK founder C N Annadurai at Marina beach with full state honours.
The mortal remains of Karunanidhi are being transferred to the coffin. He will be laid to rest alongside his mentor C N Annadurai on the Marina beach.
Anbazhagan, one of the longest political companions of Karunanidhi, pays final respects to the Dravidian stalwart.
Azhagiri, Rajathi Ammal and other family members pay their final respects to the DMK chief, who will be laid to rest alongside his mentor C N Annadurai on the Marina beach.
M K Stalin was the first to pay floral tributes. He is followed by Selvi, Durga Stalin, and Tamizharasu. Kanimozhi and her husband pay their respects.
Mallika Maran, wife of the late Murasoli Maran, pays respects. She is followed by the Maran brothers.
The national flag was removed from Karunanidhi's body and was handed over to the family members by armed forces personnel. The personnel of the Army, Navy and Air Force pay their last respects.
Rahul Gandhi, Chandrababu Naidu, Veerappa Moily and Narayanaswamy pay their last respects to DMK patriarch Karunanidhi. Devagowda, Pon Radhakrishnan, Governor Purohit, Ghulam Nabi Azad also paid their homage.
Karunanidhi's mortal remains have reached the Anna Square in a gun carriage, reports The Hindu. DMK patriarch's daughter and Rajya Sabha member Kanimozhi has arrived at Anna Memorial.
Prominent leaders have reached the Anna Memorial. Media baron and Karunanidhi's grandnephew Kalanithi Maran is also seen seated beside MK Alagiri
The cortège with the mortal remains of five-time chief minister Karunanidhi has entered Wallajah Road, crossing the statue of his mentor C. N. Annadurai, reports The Hindu.
According to the Hindu, Karunanidhi has been wrapped with the tricolor. The DMK flag is also placed beside his head. Supporters wave party flags amid slogans praising the Dravidian stalwart.
DMK patriarch and five-time chief minister M Karunanidhi's final journey has begun. His mortal remains are now being carried from Rajaji Hall to Anna memorial on the Marina beach, where he will be laid to rest alongside his mentor C N Annadurai.
Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Governor P Sathasivam, and Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala paid their homage to the Dravidian stalwart at Rajaji Hall.
The funeral procession of Karunanidhi will start at 4 p.m and he will be laid to rest at the Marina beach near the Anna memorial in Chennai, the party said. According to a party statement, the procession would begin from Rajaji Hall, where his mortal remains are kept for public homage, by 4 p.m, and proceed through Sivananda Road and Thanthai Periyar Road to reach Anna Square.
He would be buried adjacent to mausoleum of former Chief Minister and his mentor C N Annadurai on the sands of Marina, it said. 'Party supporters and public are requested to stay calm during the procession and pay their respects to the unparallelled leader,' it said.
The golden casket in which the mortal remains of Karunanidhi would be laid to rest will have the engraving in Tamil, 'Oivu edukamal uzhaithavan, idho oivu eduthu kondu irukiran, meaning 'one who worked hard without taking rest, is resting in peace here'.
Two people were killed and several injured in a stampede outside Rajaji Hall where thousands of DMK supporters had gathered to get a glimpse of M Karunanidhi. The police resorted to lathicharge after failing to control the crowd. Minor scuffles broke out between police personnel and supporters who thronged Rajaji Hall to pay their last respects.
Read More
Two people died in the stampede outside Rajaji Hall, where thousands are still thronging to get a glimpse of their 94-year-old leader.
Late DMK chief Karunanidhi's coffin reads, 'Oyamal uzhaithavan, idho ingu oiveduthukondirukiran' which translate to 'The man who slogged ceaselessly is now taking rest here.'
MK Stalin addresses the crowd outside the Rajaji Hall and asks them to maintain calm. "Those who are in power are trying to create chaos, but you have all shown the strength of the cadres."
As the news of the death of DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi trickled in, a pall of gloom descended on his native village Thirukkuvalai in Tamil Nadu. For a village whose identity is synonymous with the name ‘Karunanidhi,’ its residents turned up in large numbers at the DMK chief’s ancestral house to pay tribute. Read More
Police resort to lathi charge at the huge crowd present at Rajaji Hall.
Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena, his predecessor Mahinda Rajapaksa and several other political leaders in the country express sorrow at the demise of Karunanidhi. "The death of M Karunanidhi, former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and senior politician, deeply disturbed me. I express my deepest sympathy for everyone, including his family and supporters who have been saddened by the loss of Anna," Sirisena tweeted.
Congress chairperson Sonia Gandhi wrote to MK Stalin, expressing her condolences over the death of his father and DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi. "I am deeply saddened at the passing away of your revered and beloved father, Thiru M Karunanidhi," she wrote.
Calling the DMK stalwart, 'a towering figure in the world of politics and public service', she hailed him as a leader who stood for social justice and equality.
She further said, "For me, Kalaignar's loss is very personal. He always showed me great kindness and consideration, which I can never forget. He was like a father figure to me."
The AIADMK government decided against challenging the Madras High Court order, which allowed the burial of the late veteran leader M Karunanidhi on the Marina beach.
Following the Madras HC order allowing burial of DMK leader's body on the Marina beach, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said, "I was unhappy yesterday, as the govt did not allow the Marina beach burial. I had called the CM but he was unavailable. I also personally called the PM in this regard."
She further said, "Yesterday, I had gone to their residence to pay tributes to Karunanidhi ji. He was the senior most leader and politician, legendary figure So, it is a great loss."
Calling it a conspiracy to deny the late DMK chief land for burial on the Marina beach, Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewal said, "Huge setback for proxy callers of Delhi Durbar conspiring to deny Kalaignar his rightful Burial place. Rahulji strongly supported the idea of a memorial for Karunanidhi at Marina. Why are Central/State Govts silent? Huge victory of justice for DMK. Long live Kalaignar."
The emergence of M Karunanidhi as a top leader of the DMK, after C N Annadurai’s death in 1969, was also a time of emergence of Chennai as a metropolitan city. Within a year of Annadurai’s death, the population of Madras touched 25 lakh, with over 10 lakh people living in what the authorities called “slums”.
It was the political and social challenge of doing justice to this huge population that led to the formation of Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board (TNSCB), a body tasked to provide quality living conditions for the city’s daily wage labourers, domestic help and working class population. And the goodwill behind constituting such a body was vividly described in the ‘motto’ drafted by the then rationalist CM Karunanidhi — “Ezhayin Sirippil Iraivane Kanbom” (We shall see God in the smile of the poor).
Read More
M Karunanidhi, who passed away in Chennai on Tuesday, titled his autobiography, Nenjukku Neethi (justice in heart). The phrase taken from a popular song of the iconic poet, Subramania Bharati, is an apt summation of the DMK patriarch’s long and rich public life that spanned nearly eight decades. And foreshadowed the enduring faultlines of politics.
Karunanidhi’s politics engaged with a slew of ideas — secularism, caste, affirmative action, federalism, regional identity — and their role in public affairs. His demise comes when these issues are returning to the political centre stage as the nation moves towards another general election.
Read More
This is where the late DMK chief M Karunanidhi will be laid to rest after Madras High Court granted the permission to bury the mortal remains of the leader on Marina beach.
Here's a list of dignitaries who will fly to Chennai to pay their respects to the DMK stalwart
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Congress President Rahul Gandhi, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Governor Justice (Retd) Sadhasivam, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy, Chief Minister of Telangana Chandrashekhar Rao, Former Kerala CM Oommen Chandy, former Karnataka CM Veerappa Moily, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Chandrababu Naidu
Prime Minister Modi reached Rajaji Hall to pay tribute to DMK stalwart Karunanidhi. He also met the family members and expressed his condolences. Earlier on Tuesday, Modi shared multiple pictures of him and Karunanidhi and said, "We have lost a deep-rooted mass leader, prolific thinker, accomplished writer and a stalwart whose life was devoted to the welfare of the poor and the marginalised. India and particularly Tamil Nadu will miss him immensely. May his soul rest in peace."
Both Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha have been adjourned for the day as a mark for the five-time chief minister of Tamil Nadu, M Karunanidhi. A slew of politicians including Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi, Arvind Kejriwal are expected to pay their tribute to the DMK chief.
Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, a Dravidian Tamil Nationalist political party in Tamil Nadu has called for Bharat Ratna to be conferred upon Karunanidhi. "We also demand that his memorial be made near Anna Samadhi," VCK chief Thol Thirumavalavan said, reported ANI
As the news of his death reached Karunanidhi's village Thirukkuvalai in Tamil Nadu, a pall of gloom descended on the district. Villagers paid floral tributes at a portrait of the DMK patriarch at his house. Karunanidhi was born on June 3, 1924 in the village and spent his childhood here. Situated in the heart of the village, his ancestral house -- a modest blue and white structure -- now houses a statue of his mother and two libraries named after his parents -- 'Muthuvelar Noolagam' and 'Anjugam Padippagam'.
Madras High Court's order allowing M Karunanidhi's burial on Marina beach led to emotional scenes at Rajaji Hall, as his son MK Stalin and senior leaders broke into tears.
Meanwhile, DMK cadres could be heard raising anti-AIADMK and anti-RSS slogans ahead of PM Modi's arrival at Rajaji Hall.
On the eve of his 86th birthday, Karunanidhi had donated his residence at posh Gopalapuram locality here in 2010 for setting up a hospital for the poor. The house named after his mother was donated to Annai Anjugam Trust ater his and his wife's lifetime. The hospital to come up at the place would be named Kalaignar Karunanidhi Hospital, it was announced.
Madras High Court granted the permission to bury DMK chief M Karunanidhi's mortal remains behind Anna Samadhi on Marina beach.
Karunanidhi, who was at the helm of power in Tamil Nadu for 19 years, leaves behind a legacy unparalleled in Indian politics. His death brings an era to a close in Tamil Nadu. The imprint of the five-time chief minister and legislator for over six decades is visible on almost every aspect of Tamil public life — politics, public administration, cinema, literature. Though MGR and Jayalalithaa could outsmart him in electoral politics, the ideological dynamic of their politics, too, was shaped by Karunanidhi. Read more
DMK acting president and Karunanidhi's son MK Stalin paid an emotional tribute to his father. In a poem addressed to him, Stalin recounted how he addressed his father as ‘Thalaivare’ (leader) more than father. “This one time, can I call you Appa?” he asked.
“Thirty three years ago you decided the words to be written upon your headstone, ‘Here lies he who worked without any rest’. Did you leave with the satisfaction of having worked for this Tamil community?” Stalin asked, adding that Karunanidhi ran non-stop for 80 years to serve the public. “I beg for that strength and for the heart you borrowed from Aringar Anna. Will you give it to me, Thalaivare? With that charity, we will win over your unfulfilled wishes and dreams,” he wrote. Read more
Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived at Chennai airport, where he was received by Chief Minister E Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam.