FILE: Former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa (Associated Press photo)
Now at home after three weeks in a Bangalore prison, J Jayalalithaa, the former chief minister of Tamil Nadu, thanked her supporters today and said, "I am not going to be cowed down."
A statement by the 66-year-old politician, who was convicted of corruption on September 27, declared, "My public life amounts to swimming in a sea of inferno. As your dear sister, I have realised the perils of dedicating oneself for the cause of public welfare from the day I entered politics."
This is the second statement released by Ms Jayalalithaa in 72 hours. The first, on Friday evening, urged her adoring party workers to respect law and order in Tamil Nadu, a directive that the Supreme Court had asked for while granting her bail.
Hundreds of loyal fans lined up to cheer Ms Jayalalithaa's convoy as it sped yesterday to the Bangalore airport from the prison where she had spent 22 days in the women's detention wing.
She waved to crowds.
Ms Jayalalithaa was convicted of corruption during her first term as Chief Minister in the early 90s; the verdict, delivered on September 27, cut short her third term as leader of the state.
The Supreme Court has given her bail pending her appeal in the Karnataka High Court.
Ms Jayalalithaa was replaced in office by loyalist O Panneerselvam at a swearing-in ceremony where many cabinet members sobbed into handkerchiefs in a display of fidelity.
In 2001, her case was transferred from Tamil Nadu, where she has been a prominent and controversial figure, to neighbouring Karnataka state to ensure a fair hearing.
Her conviction and imprisonment triggered mass hysteria among the workers of her AIADMK, which is the third-largest party in Parliament. Some supporters shaved their heads in a sign of mourning; women were seen wailing and collapsing into each other's arms when court hearings went against her; male workers set public buses on fire as a sign of protest.