[caption id="attachment_104045" align="alignleft" width="194"] Jayalalithaa[/caption] Syeda Amtul JEDDAH — As India grieves over the death of a popular south Indian leader, the expatriates in the Kingdom, particularly from southern India, joined the mourning. M. Siraj, an expat from the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu who resides in Jeddah, said, "Jayalalithaa was one of India's most influential and colorful politicians who conquered the hearts of millions of Tamils. She kept the people of Tamil Nadu mesmerized with her powerful oratory and welfare activities till her last breath, a fact even opposition parties cannot dispute." Siraj, who works as business development manager at a cargo service company, added: "Today even the opposition parties are also equally worried over the loss of "iron lady" who singlehandedly challenged male-dominated politics. He said the expatriates in Jeddah, who hail from Tamil Nadu, are planning to arrange a condolence meeting here over the sad demise of their popular female politician. M. Mallappan, an expat from Jeddah, also condoled her demise and said: "She was a strong and able administrator. Despite many controversies surrounding her, she was lauded for her decisive actions whether in her own party or in governing the state. I pray for her soul to rest in peace." Dr. Karimuddin, a famous pediatrician of Jeddah said, "It is actually very sad, I feel it's a very premature death. I mean she was at the top of her popularity and was doing great work. She achieved unprecedented success in the recently concluded elections all because of her outstanding work as a chief minister. Last time when I visited India many of my friends, who are very well qualified — lawyers, doctors and businessmen — were talking very high of her that means for the past four or five years she had been being doing a wonderful job as a chief minister. "To me it is really very sad and untimely demise,'' he said. John Rose Nesamony, an electronic draftsman from Jeddah, called her "queen of Tamil Nadu." She was a powerful chief minister of Tamil Nadu while Rose said while paying his last respect to the leader. Meanwhile, the neighboring state of Kerala declared a state holiday on Tuesday to mourn the demise of Tamil Nadu's chief minister. All government offices and educational institutions remained closed. Syed Nasir Khursheed, senior engineer working in Binladin from Gulbarga, Karnataka, said: "Jayalalita's death has created vacuum in the Indian politics as she played an important role not only for Tamil Nadu but also for the whole country. Roshan Rodriguez from Mangalore, Karnataka, who works as a chemical engineer in Jeddah, expressed his deep sorrow over the demise of Jayalalita, she was born and brought up in Karnataka.
