COCHIN, 21 December 2005 — Thousands of people of the Lakshadweep islands off the Kerala coast yesterday paid their last respects to the man who played a pivotal role in shaping their destiny for more than half a century.
P.M. Sayeed, who died in Seoul on Sunday, was buried near Mechery Hijra Masjid on the Androth Island in the evening. Sayeed represented this island cluster constituency in the Lok Sabha, India’s lower house of Parliament, for 10 terms in a row since 1967 and assumed important positions in New Delhi, including that of Lok Sabha speaker.
People from various islands gathered to have a last glimpse of him much before the helicopter that carried the body touched down at the Androth High School grounds at around 3 p.m. Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, state and federal ministers and political leaders accompanied the body to the island from the airport here, where he was paid homage by a large number of people when the body was flown in from New Delhi on a special defense aircraft.
The body was first taken to his wife’s residence and then to Jubilee Town Hall for the people to pay homage. Before the final rites were performed, the body was taken to his ancestral house for his immediate relatives to have a last glimpse.
Sayeed was a regular visitor to Cochin as his daughter works here and he had a brief stint as a lawyer at the Kerala High Court.
