An engraved Bhagavad Gita near the statue of late president APJ Abdul Kalam's memorial which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week has kicked up a controversy among a few political parties in Tamil Nadu.
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Kalam's family later intervened in order to end the row. They placed a copy of the Quran and the Bible near it, which was later removed and kept in a glass box in the vicinity of the statue.
The incident, with the recent row over reports that former President KR Narayanan had been converted to Christianity, has raised the question: Are our former Presidents and their legacies being appropriated for politics?
The Bhagavad Gita row
There is confusion over how it happened, but many were surprised when a book on a stand with the words "Bhagavad Gita" engraved on it mysteriously appeared near the statue just before the inauguration in Rameswaram.
A member of the Kalam family who chose to remain anonymous told NDTV that even they were taken aback by the sudden appearance of the inscripted book. "Only on the day of the dedication, it was quietly placed before the Prime Minister arrived. It was a surprise," he said.
However, he also asserted that Kalam was "above any religion".
Meanwhile, Kalam's relatives Sheik Dawood and Salim have criticised the controversy.
"An unnecessary controversy was raised by some people. DRDO officials worked tirelessly for the memorial construction and had not sculpted the Bhagavad Gita near the statue with any (ill) intention. Now we have left two books — Quran and Bible near the statue", said Kalam's kin.
KR Narayanan controversy
The incident comes just days after a Malayalam news channel tried to claim that Narayanan, the first Dalit president of India, had been converted to Christianity after his death, because his and his wife's graves existed in a burial ground in Delhi.
It later emerged that Usha, the president's wife, wanted to be buried alongside her husband, and so his ashes were buried with her when she died in 2008.
Issues politicised
DMK working president MK Stalin who, while during the inaugural program said that the presence of Bhagavad Gita was an act of imposing communalism. He objected that the Tirukkura, a classic Tamil sangam literature was not placed near the statue.
Apart from Stalin, other political leaders have also taken a dig at the placing of the sacred book near the memorial.
Vaiko-led MDMK has raised questions on the need to keep the Holy Hindu book near Kalam's statue. While a Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) leader condemned the incident and said that Kalam was common to all citizens of India, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) president Thol Thirumavalavan said that the presence of Gita along with the statue of Kalam has raised apprehension as to whether it was done with an ulterior motive to portray the late leader as a passionate lover of Hinduism.
Meanwhile, Dawood and Salim have said that they are also planning to place a copy of Tamil treatise Thirukkural near the memorial soon.
In case of KR Narayanan, the RSS claims that the former President was "converted" to Christianity "after his death". While Narayanan's daughters made it clear that his ashes were buried in the cemetery as it was their mother's wish to be buried alongside Narayanan, chairman of Delhi Cemeteries Committee J Rebello's statement asserted that Narayanan was a Christian. He said that the cemetery "does not bury non-Christians".
In fact, he said that he was not aware of Narayanan's religion.
"I do not know if K R Narayanan was a Christian or not. At the time of his wife's burial, someone had brought the ashes and claimed that he was a Christian, not a Catholic," said Rebello.
