I still remember the smell of flowers thrown in the Kanchipuram Hospital……
A final appeal is expected on Tuesday, August 30, 2011, with Perarivalan, Murugan and Santhan being dated for their deaths.
Lawyers Kayal, Vadivambal and Sujatha have fasted till death in Koyambedu. Protests are taking place here and there in various parts of Tamil Nadu.
All the political leaders are saying that Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalitha can stop it only if she wants to. Jayalalitha declares in the congress that she has no power to cancel the hanging. That was the time when everyone was shocked thinking that everything was over. We have lost in Eelam and if we sacrifice these three people then we have no right to call ourselves Tamil anymore.
Then on Saturday 27th August Thirumurugan came to Koyambedu where the hunger strike ound place and demands that when the case comes to the High Court on the morning of 30th August, Tamil philanthropists from all over Tamil Nadu should gather at the gates of the High Court. He called on them to break up and go door to door knocking on the door to tell them the need to meet in court on Tuesday morning. At that time, I was not very involved in the May Seventeen movement. Thirumurugan’s call with extreme anger at the place set him apart from the others. We left in several groups.
The shocking news that no one expected came on Sunday evening. The news that a woman from Kanchipuram wrote a letter demanding cancellation of three hangings and set herself on fire.
“I am going with the hope that my body will be used to save the lives of these 3 Tamilians just as Muthukumar’s body woke up Tamil Nadu,” she wrote.
As I had started studying politics after reading Muthukumar’s last letter, the news of his death hit me like a thunderbolt. Many comrades were sitting in the corners of the Koyambedu stadium and crying. When I asked the comrades who the woman who sacrificed her life was, they said that the 21-year-old woman was in the People’s Forum in Sengodi, Kanchipuram. And she was along with us in this struggle. I could not get over the shock of how a woman of my age could take this decision. I left for Kanchipuram. I reached the hospital in Kanchipuram where Sengodi’s body was kept. Members of the People’s Council, members of the public and members of various movements were gathered there.
Many comrades were also prepared to bear gunfire. We have not seen such a rise since 2009. An 80-year-old man was shouting in a hoarse voice at the hospital gate, “Our daughter is gone, and you are still watching for the police. Come on, we will carry our daughter to Chennai until we are hanged, no matter what they do, whether we are beaten or shot.” Little by little, the crowd started flocking towards Kanchipuram.
Sengodi´s body was brought out from the Kanchipuram hospital on Monday afternoon. A large part of the community gathered there in anger and tears. The entire event is still stamped in the mind like a video footage. The body of Sengodi was carried through the streets of Kanchipuram among a crowd of tens of thousands of people. Congress flags were also burnt on the way. Throwing away all the talk of not antagonizing Jayalalitha, anti-Jayalalitha slogans split the sky along the route. These slogans started spreading all over Tamil Nadu.
The disruption that followed Sengodi´s sacrifice threatened Jayalalitha. As a result, she convened the congress and passed a resolution to cancel the three hangings.
The next day, thousands of Tamils gathered at the court gate and a temporary delay on the death sentence was announced. For the first time, the Tamil nation, which had only met with death and defeat, stopped the death sentence.
Sengodi´s body was buried with honors. Sengodi´s sacrifice is unforgettable in history.
Perhaps if that Tuesday had turned out to be something else, the history of Tamil Nadu today might have turned out to be different.
Muthukumar and Sengodi became an important part of my life. I have never seen Sengodi alive. When thinking about what dreams Sengodi had in her life, I remember the garlands wrapped around Sengodi’s body and the smell of flowers scattered in the Kanchipuram hospital.
Shared by:
Naveen (28.08.2007)
Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu.
(Correction by Tamilpriya)
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