Chennai: The Chennai Police continued to earn praise from people of all walks of life. Union ministers to actors to multimedia journalists, all were uniformly in praise of its management of the crowds and the law and order situation during J Jayalalithaa's funeral. Twitter was filled with photographs and praise for the police for handling the emotionally charged atmosphere with utmost care.
'Kudos to the people, cadres and the police of TN for showing restrain n giving a very fitting goodbye to our late honourable CM. She would have loved this and smiled," says actor turned politician Khushbu in her twitter account.
Union minister Venkaiah Naidu, who was in Chennai since Monday evening, acknowledged the fact that the police maintained peace. "Commendable job done by Tamil Nadu Police. Handled lakhs of people in an emotionally charged atmosphere. My compliments to them," he said in his handle.
With the history of violence in the past in TN whenever a senior leader passed away, media persons were expecting a series of violence incidents in the state following the demises of Jayalalithaa. But the police managed the state without any untoward incidents from Monday night to Tuesday night till the last rites of Jayalalithaa were over. The state started functioning normally from
Wednesday morning with people queuing up the banks and ATMs again for change.
“Salute to TN police for organising final journey of Jayalalithaa with such efficiency, to people of TNfor their discipline,” says well-known TV journalist Rajdeep Sardesai in his twitter account.
Actor Suriya and family members had to walk nearly 1 km on Tuesday while attending the funeral of former CM. “The crowd was cordial and excellent arrangements by TN police,” the actor noted in his twitter handle. Actor GV Prakash conveyed his immense respect for TN police for their sincere selfless efforts and hard work during these hard times, on his post.
The warning by the US consulate to its citizens in Tamil Nadu was way off the mark. The US Consulate General in Chennai, the only extra-territorial on Mount Road, had sent out a forewarning to its citizens touring the State suspending routine services, soon after the news of the deceased Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa's health condition deteriorating trickled out, on Sunday.
The forewarning asked US citizens to take appropriate steps to enhance their personal security. “U.S. citizens are reminded that even gatherings intended to be peaceful can turn confrontational and escalate into violence. You should avoid areas of demonstrations, and exercise caution if in the vicinity of any large gatherings, protests, or demonstrations,” it read.
Like the predictions of many journalists and pundits went wrong, the US consulate warning too was way wide of the mark.
