Chennai - Sandesh

CHENNAI SANDESH
AUGUST 2, 2017

Tamilnadu kids send rakhis to Jawans guarding border

“Anna, can I tie this rakhi on the wrist of our brave Jawan in person?”, was the question posed by Kamala, a 9th standard student of Karur, a district place in Tamilnadu. Last week she was offering her hand-made rakhi intended for our defence personnel on border security duty in Sikkim and Siachen in the Himalayas. There were 15,000 such patriotic children from Karur and Coimbatore who sent rakhis through former MP of the BJP Shri Tarun Vijay, to the Minister of State in the Defence Ministry Dr. Subhash Bhamre, informs Shri Ram Subramanian of Karur. Two associations, the Students for Soldiers and Sisters for Jawans organised the collection and despatching of the rakhis and Raksha Bandhan greeting cards from Tamilnadu students. School students from Jammu & Kashmir, Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan Assam, and Sikkim are sending thousands of Rakhis to the soldiers in Siachen, Jaisalmer and Sikkim, it is learnt.

When Vande Mataram resounded across Tamilnadu

A Madras High Court judge on July 25 ordered ‘Vande Mataram’ to be played and sung in all schools, colleges, universities and other educational institutions in Tamil Nadu at least once a week - preferably on Monday or Friday. Justice M.V. Muralidharan also directed that the song be played and sung in all government offices and institutions, private companies, factories and industries at least once a month. Following are the telling portions of the verdict: “Patriotism is an essential ingredient for every citizen.... The fact that this country is our motherland should always be remembered by every citizen... Several people have sacrificed their lives and families to the independence struggle... In these tough times, it was songs like our national song ‘Vande Mataram’ which created a sense of belief and confidence in the people. If any person/organisation has difficulty in singing or playing the national song, he or she should not be compelled or forced to sing it, provided there are valid reasons for not doing so,” said Justice Muralidaran. But all hell broke loose on TV channel debates during the ensuing week. Anti Vande Mataram voices raised by Jihadi and Tamil separatist elements were ably countered by nationalist panelists.

Attempts to kick up a Kurukshetra over Gita thwarted

The Last week of July witnessed an unnecessary furore over the Bhagavad Gita etched near the statue of Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, the patriotic former President of India inside the memorial in Rameswaram, inaugurated by prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 27. Kalam statue featured him as playing on the Veena. Kalam’s biography reveals that it was the Bhagavad Gita that formed the foundation of his life, as narrated by Kalam himself later. In his youth Kalam was heart-broken after he failed to clear the test to join IAF as a pilot. Swami Sivananda of Rishikesh consoled him with a reading from the 11th chapter of the Gita (Vishvarupa Darshan). That an energised Kalam grew up to become the ‘Missile man’ is history. That was the unique place for Gita in Kalam’s life. But Jihadist outfits like the Towheet Jamat did propaganda to the effect that Kalam was not a Muslim at all! Atheist speakers tried to run down Gita as is their routine. The meanest job was done by vested interests in some sections of the media: Saleem, the grand nephew of Kalam, showed to the media that in addition to Gita a copy of Koran as well as a copy of the Bible were kept in a glass case near the statue. But a section of the media twisted the tale. They went to the town saying that Kalam’s family was unhappy with the Gita and they placed Koran and Bible also as a protest! The bubble was neatly pricked by K.T.Raghavan of BJP who spoke to Saleem, gathered the facts and blasted the falsehood in a TV debate. He added that Kalam’s family members felt happy about the memorial built by DRDO near Rameswaram.