Floral tributes paid to Abdul Kalam on fourth death anniversary

People from all walks of life, students and representatives of political parties since this morning made a beeline to Kalam National Memorial, where his burial site was located at Pei Karumbu here and paid their homage by placing wreaths and lighting candles.

Ramanathapuram District Collector K Veera Raghava Rao, senior revenue officials, and scientists from DRDO also paid their homage at the memorial. 

A P J Mohammed Muthu Meeran Maraikayar, elder brother of Dr Kalam, and his family members offered ‘dua’ (prayers) at the burial site.

To mark the fourth death anniversary, the ‘Dr APJ Abdul Kalam International Foundation’ (AKIF) launched a massive one-crore tree plantation programme today under the ‘Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Social Forest Plantation Drive 2.0’.  APJMJ Sheik Saleem, grand nephew of Dr Kalam and Managing Trustee of AKIF, told media here that the foundation would plant one crore saplings in all the districts in the State by December 2020 by involving school and college students and the youth who believed in Kalam’s clean and green India ideals.

To mark the death anniversary of the peoples’ President, a ‘Support AKIF Students Rally’ was taken out by students from the Mandapam Panchayat Union Elementary School here where Kalam did his primary education, to promote clean and green environment and water preservation. The rally culminated at Kalam’s memorial. Born on October 15, 1931 in Rameswaram, the eminent scientist, educationist, author and visionary served as the 11th President of India between 2002 and 2007. Kalam was instrumental in India’s missile programmes and played a crucial role in the 1998 Pokhran-II nuclear tests. He was also associated with country’s space programmes.

Kalam died due to a cardiac arrest while delivering a lecture at the Indian Institute of Management in Shillong on July 27, 2015.