Recently a post had surfaced on 'X', that raised questions on the patriotism of Former Indian President and Bharat's Missile Man - APJ Abdul kalam. The post had made several claims to prove its point. However, it was countered point-by-point to expose the alleged biased narrative that it propagated. The thread posted by 'Tamil Labs 2.0' has countered the post of 'Sagas of Bharat', that the former claaimed to have lacked credible research, before questioning the patriotism of someone as great as Abdul Kalam.
It is very easy to paint everyone by the same brush, cherry-pick news articles to build one's prejudiced narrative. But intellectual honesty is in letting facts leading to a conclusion, not the other way around.
1. Mercy petitions
2002-07, Abdul Kalam decided only 2 mercy petitions out of the 28 petitions that came before him. While the handle (@SagasofBharat) talks about Dhananjoy Chatterjee's petition being rejected, Kalam also commuted death penalty to life sentence for Kheraj Ram. He had no bias.
He took no action on petitions of Afzal Guru and 25 other petitions - simply cuz he did not believe in capital punishment. The one he rejected - Dhananjoy - he did reluctantly, as the petition was indecisive over many decades. Dhananojoy did a greusome act - it is indefensible.
He was convicted of raping and killing a 14 year old girl. Citing it was only circumstantial evidence etc. is speaking like a human rights activists who give similar excuses for Afzal Guru's pardon or commuting. Would such logic be agreeable? There is no need to defend the indefensible.
Pranab Mukherjee's style was opposite - he rejected 42 petitions. "If we are imputing motives to Kalam without rationale, would it be right to impute that handle has a bias for Bongs? Defending a Chatterjee & wanting Kalam to be more like Pranab?" questioned the 'X' handle. Further it affirmed that it is easy to impute motives.
2) Kalam suggested Nambi to give up the legal battle cuz he wanted to use his expertise more productively, not cuz he had ulterior motives
Long legal battles take a toll. On seeing a friend neglecting their children, with no time to family, a concerned person would say so. The handle (@SagasofBharat) calls it as if "Kalam persuaded him to take the blame" which is absolute balderdash, claims 'X' handle 'Tamil Labs 2.0.' Asking to focus on science over a taxing legal battle is not the same as "asking to take the blame."
Kalam consolingly said that the ultimate judge is god, not these human courts. Nambi till date speaks highly of Mr. Kalam. He said "Kalam is a very good person, and absolutely inch by inch he is a gentleman. He was very futuristic and a great person." Tamil Labs 2.0 further questioned, "Why should Nambi say so if Kalam didn't have his best interests at heart?"
3) Kalam was a simple man of science, he was not cunning
He donated to organizations he thinks are doing good work. The handle (@SagasofBharat) kept asking - has he donated to any Hindu causes? Yes he has. He contributed 5 lakhs to Mata Amritanandamayi's trust.
4) Her point about Tipu was added as an afterthought - after a commenter suggested it to her.
Nevertheless, he is not eulogizing Tipu but his dark skinned army that used rocketry against Brits. 'Wings of Fire' was published in 1999, before the advent of important Indic historians. All of us used to naively believe Marxist "historians" version of Tipu, believing he was some freedom fighter & rocket scientist as said in textbooks and documentaries.
Are we going to hold this against him? Kalam's interest was in rocketry as a space scientist, nothing more. Tamil Labs 2.0 further mentioned, "When I wrote a thread where Kalam's family arranges boats with a special platform for carrying idols of the Lord from the temple to the Rama Tirtha pond for the annual Thirukalyanam ceremony, she responded with a google search of his father's profession. This is her defense?"
Reality was that Ramanathaswamy temple had made a proclamation that his great great grandfather would be given Mudhal Mariyadhai (1st respects) as he leapt into the tank to retrieve the vigraha which accidentally fell into the tank. This respect was extended to Kalam's father too.
"Sure, call out an ideology & minds captured by the ideology. But do not paint everyone by the same brush. Not everyone is intolerant. The opponent is an ideology and minds captured by it, not any particular individual. This prejudice simply based off one's birth isn't right," the account stated.
It requires nuance to understand great personalities. Honorable Men are found everywhere. Use Viveka - discernment to separate milk from water. It matters not what someone is born but what they grow to be.
"Abdul Kalam is OUR hero. Have some gratitude, show some respect", it said.
--
