Death bears a certain dignity in its wake, a peacable closure, even when a person’s life has been buffeted by the crests and troughs of public life lived under a polarising glare. But not if the person in question is Jayalalitha, with claimants vying for her throne, and after a close aide is sent to jail for amassing wealth and still wants to control the party from prison. And certainly not when a roving inquiry is ordered into the exact cause of her death and is used to settle political scores.
If Jayalalitha’s 75-day hospital stay before her death on December 5, 2016, was marked by lies and misdirection about her medical condition, the aftermath is suffused with stunning revelations. The Arumugaswamy Inquiry Commission probing the treatment given to the former Tamil Nadu CM is proving to be the occasion for a public washing of dirty linen. Though held behind closed doors, regular briefings by the deponents, their lawyers or strategic leaks keep headlines boiling.
The latest fusillade has seen the...
