The final journey of DMK chief M. Karunanidhi ended at Anna Memorial on the Marina Beach, where he was laid to rest alongside his mentor and DMK founder C.N. Annadurai. The day-long drama that began with serious doubts over whether the funeral would be possible, ended smoothly as the Dravidian stalwart was given a fitting farewell with full State honours.
Apart from Karunanidhi’s family members who were present to pay their last respects, political leaders from across India including Congress President Rahul Gandhi, Andhra Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, Janata Dal leader Deve Gowda and others paid their respects to the departed leader.
Fisheries Minister D. Jayakumar attended the funeral on behalf of the State Government. After Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit paid his last respects with a salute, the Indian tricolour flag which was laid on M. Karunanidhi’s body was folded and handed over to his son, M.K. Stalin.
Family members – M.K. Stalin, Alagiri, Tamilarasu, Kanimozhi, Rajathi Ammal, the Maran brothers and others – paid their tributes to the leader. Finally, 97-year-old K. Anbazhagan, was led by Stalin and Kanimozhi’s son Adithya, to bid his final goodbye to his best friend.
Members of the family bid a tearful farewell when the coffin was lowered into the pit.
Hours before the final procession began from Rajaji Hall where the leader’s body was kept for public viewing, a fairly young crowd began to swell and grew bigger and bigger, packing themselves into the area in front of the Anna Memorial opposite Madras University.
This led to a few tense moments before the VVIPs made their way to the memorial for the funeral. The young crowd was seen waving flags that said 'End of an Era' and the 'leader of the Tamil race'. Even though the police had barricaded the entrance of the memorial to preventthe crowd from coming onto the platform in front of it, the young boisterous crowd could not be contained.
A sizeable crowd also somehow found its way inside the memorial through the sidewalk and the other side of the beach. Fortunately, the funeral was incident-free. While the threat of police having to resort to use force was a possibility, the crowd ultimately maintained order giving a fitting farewell to the departed leader.
