When he was alive and was a scientist in Vikaram Sarabhai Space Centre at Thiruvananthapuram, APJ Abdul Kalam, former president of India, was more popular by the name Kalam Iyer. This was because of his passion for Veena and Bhagavad Gita. He spent his leisure time playing Veena and reading Gita. Colleagues remember those days when Kalam recited verses from Gita while interacting with them to boost their morale and spirits.

But after his death, the same Veena and Gita are being used by Tamil Nadu politicians to create a division in the society. The Abdul Kalam National Memorial which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 27, the second death anniversary of the late President, has become the epicentre of a controversy.

While an Islamic extremist organisation by name Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) has questioned the logic behind the decision of the DRDO (which built the memorial) behind using the Veena and Gita along with the statue of Kalam, the Dravidian parties, especially the DMK, the MDMK  and VCK are questioning the use of Gita, which they claim is alien to Tamil culture.

M K Stalin, the DMK working president , demanded that the Gita should be removed at the earliest and Thirukkural should be inscribed in its place. “Gita represents communalism and we will not tolerate anything associated with Aryans here in Tamil Nadu,” said Stalin. Vaiko, the eternal rebel and  leader of the MDMK blamed the Sangh Parivar for “conspiring to portray Kalam as a lover of Hinduism”.  The Veena and Bhagawat Gita are part of the hidden agenda behind the RSS,” blamed Vaiko.

Interestingly, members of the Kalam family, who are devout Muslims, have not reacted to the controversy. All members of the family had actively participated in the  second anniversary of the late President which saw Prime Minister Modi flying down to Rameswaram to dedicate the Kalam Memorial built by the DRDO.

But by Sunday evening, copies of Holy Quran and the Bible too were placed near the statue of the late President by the family members.

“He was above all petty politics. How can we forget the image of Kalam, the then President of India, flying down from New Delhi to Chennai to grieve the passing away of Carnatic musician M S SubbulakshmiIJ He was not associated with any religion and was a true Indian,” said Dr G Madhavan Nair, former chairman of ISRO and the late President’s colleague for years.