Sighs of relief, tears of joy

CHENNAI: The announcement of an interim injunction on the execution of Perarivalan, Murugan and Santhan in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case on Tuesday sent the huge crowd of supporters on the premises of the Madras High Court into raptures.Emotional scenes were witnessed as Perarivalan’s mother, Arputham Ammal, and several other staunch opponents of the death penalty cried with joy, while several political leaders and film personalities expressed solidarity with the trio.Perarivalan’s father, Kuyildhasan, thanked all the supporters. “This was possible only because of the mass uprising of Tamils. I convey my gratitude to all who expressed their solidarity with us,” he said. “Every mother bears her child only for 10 months, while Perarivalan’s mother is still carrying him, even after 21 years. This stay order is a great relief to her,” he added, striking an emotional note as he called the verdict a rebirth.Arputham Ammal and Pe­r­arivalan’s sisters, Arul Selvi and Anbumani, expressed their gratitude to Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa for the Assembly resolution. “I do not know how to thank everyone for standing united with us. Advocates, students and the media helped us a lot. Our family will be grateful to everyone,” said Arulselvi.Supporters swarmed into Chennai even from districts as far as Coimbatore and Kanyakumari. A group of 22 people came from Udumalpet. After the stay was announced, they distributed sweets and celebrated in ecstasy. “We all came to Chennai to participate in the fast organised by the women advocates and to be in court during the argument on the writ petition. We reached early Tuesday morning and were very tired. But there is no end to our joy after hearing the good news from the court and the Assembly,” said Tamil from Udumalpet.