{"id":52400,"date":"2014-09-30T12:30:43","date_gmt":"2014-09-30T12:30:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=52400"},"modified":"2014-09-30T13:02:38","modified_gmt":"2014-09-30T13:02:38","slug":"film-workers-fast-for-jailed-indian-leader","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=52400","title":{"rendered":"Film workers fast for jailed Indian leader"},"content":{"rendered":"

The film industry in India’s Tamil Nadu state is on a day-long fast to protest against the jailing of former chief minister Jayaram Jayalalitha.<\/p>\n

Jayalalitha has been jailed for four years for corruption and is in a Bangalore prison.<\/p>\n

She has challenged her conviction and applied for bail. The Bangalore high court will hear her plea on Monday.<\/p>\n

In a case lasting 18 years, she was found guilty of amassing unaccounted wealth of more than $10m (\u00a36.1m).<\/p>\n

In its ruling on Saturday, the special court in Bangalore also ordered her to pay a 1bn rupee ($16m; \u00a310m) fine and resign as chief minister.<\/p>\n

A former film actress, Jayalalitha is one of India’s most colourful and controversial politicians and has a huge following in Tamil Nadu.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, actors, directors and other members of the Tamil film industry began a day-long silent fast in the state capital, Chennai, to express “support and solidarity” for Jayalalitha.<\/p>\n

All the cinemas are shut in the city until the evening and all film shoots have been cancelled for the day.<\/p>\n

Her imprisonment has dismayed her supporters who have held protests and wept openly.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/div>\n
Ms Jayalalitha’s imprisonment has dismayed her supporters who have held protests<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\"AIADMK<\/div>\n
Some of her supporters have wept openly<\/div>\n

One report said\u00a0at least 16 people were believed to have killed themselves\u00a0<\/a>“either by setting themselves ablaze or by hanging” since her sentencing on Saturday. The BBC has not been able to independently confirm the suicide reports.<\/p>\n

On Monday, her successor O Paneerselvam was sworn in as chief minister – he too wept during his inauguration, with colleagues saying they were in mourning.<\/p>\n

Jayalalitha has denied charges of amassing wealth as false and says that she acquired property through legal means.<\/p>\n

Her life has been marked by a series of high and lows.<\/p>\n

Known by her followers as Amma or Mother, the flamboyant former film star inspires intense loyalty, even adoration.<\/p>\n

The case was heard in the neighbouring state of Karnataka to ensure it remained free from influence or pressure.<\/p>\n

\"line\"<\/div>\n

Jayalalitha: Mercurial personality<\/p>\n

\"Supporters<\/div>\n
    \n
  • Former actress who appeared in more than 100 films<\/li>\n
  • Chief minister of Tamil Nadu on four occasions – from 1991-96, briefly in 2011, 2002-06 and 2011-14<\/li>\n
  • Has alternated in power with her great rival, 90-year-old DMK leader M Karunanidhi<\/li>\n
  • Feted by various Indian prime ministers over the last 20 years trying to win her support<\/li>\n
  • Critics accuse her of establishing a personality cult, but supporters praise her poverty relief efforts<\/li>\n
  • Known for her extravagant lifestyle – police once discovered more than 10,000 saris and 750 pairs of shoes in a raid on her premises<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The film industry in India’s Tamil Nadu state is on a day-long fast to protest against the jailing of former chief minister Jayaram Jayalalitha. Jayalalitha has been jailed for four years for corruption and is in a Bangalore prison. She has challenged her conviction and applied for bail. The Bangalore high court will hear her […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":52403,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[14],"class_list":["post-52400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-papa-owusu-ankomah"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=52400"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52400\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/52403"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=52400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=52400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=52400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}