Tamil Nadu govt refuses burial space at Marina for Karunanidhi, DMK moves court

CHENNAI: The Edappadi Palaniswami-led Tamil Nadu government has denied permission to lay to rest former chief minister and Dravidian icon M Karunanidhi near Anna Memorial on the Marina beach, following which the DMK has moved the Madras High Court

The High Court heard the matter from 10:30 pm to 1 am before adjourning it to Wednesday 8 am. The state government while refusing permission has cited legal trouble and pending cases against burying political leaders by the beach.

Angry DMK cadre waiting outside the Kauvery Hospital raised slogans against the state government for disallowing the DMK's wish to bury him in the Marina.


According to sources in the DMK, there was a wrangle last week with the state government about the place of burial for Karunanidhi. Even though he didn't die as chief minister, Karunanidhi deserved a treatment meted out to former chief ministers and AIADMK leaders MG Ramachandran and J Jayalalithaa, they felt.

"Look at other leaders such as Rajaji ( C Rajagopalachari, former chief minister) and others, they weren't laid at the Marina" said an AIADMK letter.

A senior DMK leader said the government has been "dilly-dallying" for a while about giving permission for a Marina burial.

Earlier, DMK working president M K Stalin, recalling the long public life of Karunanidhi, had written to Chief Minister K Palaniswami seeking space inside the mausoleum complex of the departed leader's mentor C N Annadurai at the Marina.

A government statement said it was "unable to allot space at Marina beach owing to several pending cases in the Madras High Court and legal complications."

Hence, the government is prepared to allot a two-acre site on Sardar Patel Road near the memorials to Rajaji and Kamaraj, it said.

The mood outside the Kauvery Hospital turned hostile minutes after the government said in the statement that it was not possible to accommodate the wishes of the DMK.

It is also significant that the DMK had opposed the opening of a portrait of Jayalalithaa inside the state Assembly, in view that she was convicted in as assets case. Political analysts view that litigation as one of the reasons why the AIADMK does not wish to have Karunanidhi buried alongside other Dravidian stalwarts.