DMK working president MK Stalin had met Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami with a request for land on the Marina Beach in Chennai for a memorial of Karunanidhi.
A controversy erupted in Tamil Nadu today as the state government denied land on Chennai's Marina beach for the burial of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) patriarch M Karunanidhi who passed away at a Chennai hospital.
DMK working president MK Stalin had met Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami with a request for land on the Marina Beach in Chennai for a memorial of Karunanidhi. The party wanted to build a memorial for Karunanidhi next to his political mentor and DMK founder CN Annadurai.
Soon after 20-minute meeting of senior DMK leaders including Karunanidhi's children - Stalin, MK Alagiri and Kanimozhi - Palaniswami held a meeting with his senior officials.
As the death of the former Chief Minister was announced, there was still confusion over the land for Karunanidhi memorial on the Marina beach. While a senior DMK leader said the Tamil Nadu government was yet to respond to the party's request for giving space near Anna memorial, the state government said it was willing to give land for his burial near Gandhi Mandapam.
"We had met CM and submitted a request for a 'Samadhi' near Anna memorial, he had accepted our request then, but has not communicated anything in this regard till now: Durai Murugan, DMK principal secretary, said.
Later, Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary Girija Vaidyanathan issued a press release saying the state government was willing to give two-acre land for Karunanidhi's burial near Gandhi Mandapam.
Hearing the news that land has been denied for their leader's burial at Marina, DMK workers went on a rampage near Kauvery Hospital and damaged some vehicle. The police resorted to mild lathicharge to disperse the crowd.
Stalin appealed to his party workers to maintain peace. "DMK working president MK Stalin asks the party cadres to maintain peace and adhere to party discipline," the party said in a statement.
Karunanidhi was admitted to Chennai’s Kauvery Hospital on July 28 following a dip in his blood pressure. His health condition continued to fluctuate. On July 31, doctors had advised a longer stay “due to age-related overall decline in his general health, altered liver function and haematological parameters”.
On July 31, the hospital said the leader would require an extended period of hospitalisation due to a "decline" in his general health, although his vital parameters had normalised.
Beginning his political career as a 14-year-old activist in the anti-Hindi agitation of the late 1930s, he quickly became the voice of the surging Dravidian movement led by 'Periyar' EV Ramasami, CN Annadurai 'Anna', and others.
PIL against burials at Marina beach withdrawn
A PIL filed in the Madras High Court seeking to restrain the Corporation of Greater Chennai from permitting any burial of bodies on the famous Marina Beach here was dismissed as withdrawn today.
When the first bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Huluvadi G Ramesh and Justice S S Sundar began the day's hearings, petitioner V Gandhimathi made an urgent mention and requested permission to withdraw her plea.
Recording her submission, the bench dismissed the petition as withdrawn.
The petitioner had submitted that the coastal area of Marina was being turned into a burial ground, which not only spoiled the aesthetics but also endangered the ecosystem in and around the beach.
She had sought a direction to the corporation not to permit burials in the area.
Despite such consequences, permission was given by the authorities for the burial of former chief ministers like C N Annadurai, M G Ramachandran and J Jayalalithaa on the Marina, the petitioner said.
If any further burials and resultant construction were allowed at the Marina, it would damage the environment, she had claimed.
Several other PILs against the proposed memorial for Jayalalithaa at the Marina is pending before the court.
(With PTI inputs)
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 "DMK supporters gather near the Kauvery Hospital where DMK President M Karunanidhi was undergoing treatment, PTI")
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