Kalam laid to rest in Rameswaram

Ramanathapuram

 Thousands gathered to bid farewell to the People's President, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, who was buried with full state honours at a public ground in Tamil Nadu's Rameswaram town, yesterday afternoon.

The mortal remains of Kalam were buried in the middle of a 1.5 acre piece of land at Thankachi Madam on Madurai-Rameswaram national highway after being brought from his family mosque in a gun carrier accompanied by members of three forces.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi saluted Dr Kalam's body, which was wrapped in the Indian Tricolour, before the last rites.

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and a host of other dignitaries, including chief ministers of some states, attended the last rites held around 11 am after the 'Namaaz-e-Janaaza'.

Slogans like "Bharat Mata Ki jai" rent the air as the body was taken in flower-bedecked carriage to the burial site, about 3.5 km from the mosque.

More than one lakh people assembled at the burial ground. To control the milling crowd, the police had to close the Pambhan Bridge, the only road connecting the island, also a temple town.

 Many were holding the national tri-colour as they waited in the jam-packed streets around Kalam's house to have a last glimpse of the 'People's President'.

 Dr Kalam died on Monday in Shillong after a massive cardiac arrest while delivering a lecture at the Indian Institute of Management. He was 83.