Karunanidhi passes away: DMK workers protest after govt denies plot at Marina Beach for party chief's burial

Even as the Tamil Nadu government  announced a seven-day mourning  period after the death of former chief minister and DMK chief M Karunanidhi on Tuesday, party workers began a violent protest outside Kauvery Hospital in Chennai, where the patriarch was being treated, after the state government rejected DMK’s plea for land at the Marina Beach for Karunanidhi’s memorial. According to 101Reporters, police resorted to lathicharge outside the hospital to disperse the crowd. [caption id=“attachment_4913861” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] DMK supporters launched a violent protest at the Kauvery hospital. Image courtesy: Prasad/101Reporters[/caption] DMK had sought Karunanidhi’s burial next to the Anna memorial at Marina Beach in Chennai. However, Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary Girija Vaidhyanathan released a statement saying Karunanidhi would not be buried at Marina Beach, and that DMK had permission to bury him in a two-acre plot at Gandhi Mandapam. “Don’t provoke us. We want space at Marina Beach,” 101Reporters quoted DMK supporters as chanting outside Kauvery Hospital. With the threat of violent protests, security was tightened around the chief minister’s residence as well as at the hospital. DMK has also filed a petition at the Madras High Court on the matter, and the court has agreed to an urgent hearing at 10.30 pm. Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad reacted to the protests and said, “The Tamil Nadu government should not play politics. On such occasions, the government and parties should rise above politics. Kalaignar (as Karunanidhi was (popularly known) should be given his due. He deserves a rightful place after his demise.” Karunanidhi, one of the foremost Dravidian politicians in modern times, died in Chennai on Tuesday, after battling for life in the hospital for the past 11 days. The most enduring mascot of the Dravidian movement breathed his last at 6.10 pm. One of the most charismatic figures of Tamil Nadu politics, whose public life spanned over seven decades, he is survived by two wives and six children, including DMK working president and heir apparent MK Stalin and daughter Kanimozhi, a Rajya Sabha MP. With inputs from PTI Click here to follow news updates on Karunanidhi’s demise