CHENNAI: Hundreds of thousands of mourners paid an emotional final farewell Tuesday to Indian politician Jayalalithaaa Jayaram as the former movie star was buried alongside her screen lover.
A day after the 68-year-old died following a massive weekend cardiac arrest, huge crowds lined the street of Chennai as Jayalalithaaa’s coffin was taken to its final resting place in India’s main southern city.
Mourners clambered onto statues, trees and soft drinks stalls that lined the city’s Marinna beach, eager to view the cortege. Television put the number of mourners at around one million.
Despite being twice jailed over allegations of corruption, the woman known simply as Amma, or mother, was a revered figure in her fiefdom of Tamil Nadu state and one of India’s most popular and successful politicians as a populist champion of the poor.
As Prime Minister Narendra Modi flew to Chennai to pay his own respects, streams of her supporters lined up outside a hall in the city center where her casket was on display.
While the coffin was wrapped in an Indian flag, many of the mourners were wearing scarves with the red, white and black colors of Jayalalithaa’s party.
Many of the women mourners screamed hysterically and wept, although there were no reports of serious unrest amid a large security presence.
“It is a very sad day. She was an essential part of the state. She was meant for greatness,” said Christina Paun, a 34-year-old university professor who was among those queueing to pay their respects.
“She had a very difficult life in a male-dominated society but she was always different. She was always great. She had perfect control over her emotions.
“She has left a big void and we will have to see if someone can fill her shoes.”
Famed for a vast sari collection that won her comparisons with Imelda Marcos, Jayalalithaa was also one of India’s most polarizing politicians, seen by some as an autocratic and secretive leader.
But nothing could dent her popularity in Tamil Nadu, where she was elected chief minister on four occasions in a period when it became one of India’s most prosperous states.
Jayalalithaa first made her name starring in movies alongside M. G. Ramachandran, who later became her political mentor before his death nearly 30 years ago.
Although most Hindus are cremated, Jayalalithaa had requested in her will that she be buried alongside her former co-star in his memorial building.
As her coffin was lowered into the ground inside the mausoleum, thousands of petals were scattered on top.
Mass grief as India political star Jayalalithaa buried
Mass grief as India political star Jayalalithaa buried
Justice Department sees no basis for civil rights probe in Minnesota ICE shooting, official says
- And on Tuesday, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement that “there is currently no basis for a criminal civil rights investigation”
WASHINGTON: The Justice Department does not believe there is currently any basis to open a criminal civil rights investigation into the killing of a woman by a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis, a top department official said Tuesday.
The decision to keep the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division out of the investigation into the fatal shooting of Renee Good marks a sharp departure from past administrations, which have moved quickly to probe shootings of civilians by law enforcement officials for potential civil rights offenses.
While an FBI probe is ongoing, lawyers in the Civil Rights Division were informed last week that they would not play a role in the investigation at this time, according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal department deliberations.
And on Tuesday, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement that “there is currently no basis for a criminal civil rights investigation.” The statement, first reported by CNN, did not elaborate on how the department had reached a conclusion that no investigation was warranted.
Federal officials have said that the officer acted in self-defense and that the driver of the Honda was engaging in “an act of domestic terrorism” when she pulled forward toward him.
The quick pronouncement by administration officials before any meaningful investigation could be completed has raised concerns about the federal government’s determination to conduct a thorough review of the chain of events precipitating the shooting. Minnesota officials have also raised alarm after federal officials blocked state investigators from accessing evidence and declared that Minnesota has no jurisdiction to investigate the killing.
Also this week, roughly half a dozen federal prosecutors in Minnesota resigned and several supervisors in the criminal section of the Civil Rights Division in Washington gave notice of their departures amid turmoil over the federal probe, according to people familiar with the matter.
Among the departures in Minnesota is First Assistant US Attorney Joseph Thompson, who had been leading the sprawling investigation and prosecution of fraud schemes in the state, two other people said. At least four other prosecutors in the Minnesota US attorney’s office joined Thompson in resigning amid a period of tension in the office, the people said. The people spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters.
They are the latest in an exodus of career Justice Department attorneys who have resigned or been forced out over concerns over political pressure or shifting priorities under the Trump administration. Hundreds of Justice Department lawyers have been fired or have left voluntarily over the last year.
Minnesota Democratic lawmakers criticized the departures, with Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, calling the resignations “a loss for our state and for public safety” and warning that prosecutions should not be driven by politics. Gov. Tim Walz said the departures raised concerns about political pressure on career Justice Department officials.
The resignations of the lawyers in the Civil Rights Division’s criminal section, including its chief, were announced to staff on Monday, days after lawyers were told the section would not be involved in the probe. The Justice Department on Tuesday said those prosecutors had requested to participate in an early retirement program “well before the events in Minnesota,” and added that “any suggestion to the contrary is false.”
Founded nearly 70 years ago, the Civil Rights Division has a long history of investigating shootings by law enforcement even though prosecutors typically need to clear a high bar to mount a criminal prosecution.
In prior administrations, the division has moved quickly to open and publicly announce such investigations, not only to reflect federal jurisdiction over potential civil rights violations but also in hopes of soothing community angst that sometimes accompanies shootings involving law enforcement.
“The level of grief, tension and anxiety on the ground in Minnesota is not surprising,” said Kristen Clarke, who led the Civil Rights Division under the Biden administration. “And historically the federal government has played an important role by being a neutral and impartial agency committing its resources to conducting a full and fair investigation, and the public loses out when that doesn’t happen,” she said.
In Minneapolis, for instance, the Justice Department during the first Trump administration opened a civil rights investigation into the 2020 death of George Floyd at the hands of city police officers that resulted in criminal charges. The Minneapolis Police Department was separately scrutinized by the Biden administration for potential systemic civil rights violations through what’s known as a “pattern or practice” investigation, a type of police reform inquiry that is out of favor in the current Trump administration Justice Department.
