Jayalalitha earned the respect of overseas Tamils including Guyanese

Dear Editor,

Popular Indian actress, Jayalalitha, Chief Minister of the state of Tamil Nadu, whence many Guyanese trace their ancestry, died on Monday night from cardiac arrest; she was hospitalized for over two months having won re-election by a landslide earlier this year. Ms Jayalalitha had a huge (Bollywood/Tollywood) cadre of cinema fans abroad and was well known among cinema goers in Guyana during the late 1960s and 1970s for her roles in religious films. The older generation of Guyanese Americans also remember her and spoke well of her acting; they remember her films and serials very fondly. They say she was gorgeous and displayed some of the finest acting talent in Indian cinema. She was an iconic figure in India as well as among Tamils overseas including Guyanese in the diaspora as well as in Guyana. Guyanese crowded to see her films when she ruled the Indian film industry. Hundreds of thousands of Tamils took to the streets to mourn the passing of their political leader beating their chests and screaming. Bollywood and Tollywood stars also came out to pay tribute to her acting and her role in making Indian cinema popular abroad.

Jayalalitha co-starred in several films opposite the great actor MG Ramachandran who also was made famous in films depicting Hindu Gods in epics like the Ramayana. He was described as extremely handsome in his youth. MG Ramachandran left acting and took up active politics defeating the popular Congress Party of Indira Gandhi and becoming Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. Jayalalitha joined him. And when he passed away two decades ago, she succeeded him as Chief Minister. She was in and out of the Chief Minister’s position. She defeated the Congress led Alliance over five years ago and won reelection three months ago, defeating the same alliance. She was supportive of Modi though her party is not part of the central government.

Politicians from across the political aisle showered praises on the popular politician. Prime Minister Narendra Modi (from BJP) as well as his cabinet colleagues and Pranab Mukherjee (Congress Party) and the Congress President Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul all showered accolades on Jayalalitha. Government institutions will be closed for three days as a mark of respect for her, and there will be seven days of mourning. Schools and colleges will also be closed for the rest of the week.

I had the occasion to see her once when I visited Madras some fifteen years ago when she was Chief Minister. She was a huge magnet for Tamils. They stormed her public appearances to see her. During her rule, she courted Tamils abroad to visit TN and to invest in their ancestral state. She had set up a diaspora office in her administration. Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo (of Tamil descent) recently visited Chennai, the state capital, but he said he regretted he did not meet the popular CM. However, Mr Nagamootoo told me the CM’s office treated him like a head of state according him all protocols for such an office. Jayalalthia made her home state more friendly to visiting overseas-based Indians.

Jayalalitha contributed enormously to the transformation of TN and helped to reduce the poverty level in the state. It was the second best governed state (the first being Modi’s Gujerat under her watch. In TN, she introduced a number of safety net schemes to help the poor, providing them with free or close to free basic rations like rice, flour, oil, grain, etc. She also offered free education to all and free safe drinking water in the state and protection and rights to girl children. She will long be remembered for the progress and development of TN, earning the pride and respect of Tamils overseas including Guyanese of Tamil descent.

Yours faithfully,

Vishnu Bisram