Registered with the Registrar of Newspapers for India under R.N.I 53640/91
Vol. XXVI No. 19, January 16-31, 2017
That last day of an era
V. Pattabhi Ram writing in Industrial Economist says: Jayalalithaa – loved, hated, liked, adored, admired, feared, all in equal measure while she was alive – received the kind of farewell that not many in recent memory have got.
It was a massive turnout at the laying-at-state venue and at the funeral site. Men and women of all hue lined up there. Contrast it with the few thousands who turned out for the Mufti’s funeral a few months ago. Next the chief minister was buried, not cremated, in a stark departure from Brahmin custom. And then Sasikala Natarajan led Deepak Jaya-kumar in performing the final rites. In Hindu customs, women do not perform final rites.
But they were not what surprised me. What surprised me, and pleasantly so, was the remarkable efficiency of the government of Tamil Nadu and the extraordinary decorum with which the people of the state conducted themselves at the funeral. There was not a single untoward incident of any -consequence.
I think three things that they did went right. This should become police manned practice for future when a leader with mass appeal departs.
One, the decision to announce the death in the middle of the night. It came at a time when offices weren’t working and people weren’t on the roads. There could therefore be no disruptions. A couple of hours earlier the crowd in front of Apollo had been quietly dispersed.
Two, withdrawing the bus transport service across the State. This meant that every Rama, every Krishna and every Govinda wouldn’t turn up at the funeral. To that extent the crowd would be less and manageable.
Three, was the decision not to keep the body for multiple days and finish performing the last rites the same day.
The decorum with which the entire process went through, apart from being a tribute to the foresight and execution skill of the administration, also perhaps shows a certain maturity of mind on the part of the public. After all, whether you liked her or not, she was no ordinary leader. She was a mass leader in the MGR mould. And people south of the Vindhyas are known to be emotional when it comes to politics. I guess the 75 days long hiatus at the -corporate hospital had also -prepared the people for any eventuality.
Stalin’s glowing tribute to her was an indication that even in a politically hostile State were rival party men are considered enemies, there was scope to show dignity and grace in a moment of deep sorrow. I wish that this display of maturity and grace continues into day-to-day politics as well.
