Thousands of people poured out on the streets of Rameswaram on Thursday morning as the body of the People’s President, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, was taken through the Tamil Nadu town where he was born.
At about 11 am, Dr Kalam will be buried with full state honours at Pei Karambu, about two kilometres from Rameswaram town. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has arrived for the funeral. The PM left Delhi at 7.30 this morning.
Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi will also attend Dr Kalam’s funeral. Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and Parliamentary Affairs minister M Venkaiah Naidu are already in Rameswaram, where Dr Kalam’s body was taken on Wednesday.
Since then many people have been flocking to the town to pay their last respects. Many have been walking into Rameswaram through the national highway that leads into the town this morning, to attend the funeral. Posters of Dr Kalam line the roads from Madurai to Rameswaram.
“I am a big fan of Dr Kalam. He was a very real youth hero,” said a young student in Rameswaram to attend the funeral.
Students from a local engineering college volunteered yesterday to manage the crowds that turned up to pay tribute to the much loved former President. All rooms at all major hotels in Rameswaram are booked for two days.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa has sent word that she is unwell and cannot attend the funeral, but seven Tamil Nadu ministers will stand in for her today, the state government has said.
Dr Kalam died on Monday in Shillong after a massive cardiac arrest while delivering a lecture at the Indian Institute of Management. He was 83. Known as the Missile Man of India, Dr Kalam played a pivotal role in the Pokhran-II nuclear test in 1998. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan and India’s highest civilian honour – the Bharat Ratna.
