A day after a controversy broke out over the placing of the Koran and the Bible next to the statue of former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam at his memorial at Pei Karumbu, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has banned the media and visitors from taking photographs.
When photo and television journalists visited the memorial on Monday for a follow-up, they were denied entry by the policemen posted at the memorial. The policemen apparently had been instructed not to allow photo journalists and television crew to take pictures inside the memorial.
The DRDO, which has built the memorial and is in charge of maintaining it, has also banned photographs by visitors, including pilgrims and tourists.
The DRDO has taken the decision a day after the Hindu Makkal Katchi (HMK) objected to the placing of the Koran and the Bible next to a model of Bhagavad Gita, carved out as part of the small podium on which the statue of Kalam has been erected.
The holy books were placed by Kalam’s family to convey the message that the former president was above religion, but they were removed by DRDO officials after the HMK raised objections.
On Sunday, party district president S. Prabakaran had lodged a complaint against A.P.J.M. Shiek Saleem, grand nephew of Kalam, for placing the holy books near Bhagavat Gita and “meddling” with the statue.
A DRDO official, who is in-charge of the memorial, said the clamp down on photographs was temporary in view of the ongoing partition work. After a week when the work was expected to be completed, people would be allowed to take pictures, he told The Hindu.