New Delhi: Earlier this month, three officials from the National Archives of India arrived in the sleepy coastal town of Rameshwaram in Tamil Nadu with a mission — to sift through the personal papers of former President APJ Abdul Kalam and bring them into India’s official historical record. The NAI will now safeguard the papers and make them available for study and reflection.
On 28 April, Kalam’s family officially handed over his documents and signed an agreement with the NAI in Delhi. Among the family members present were Kalam’s niece APJM Nazema Maraikayar and his grand-nephews Sheikh Saleem and Sheikh Dawood. The collection will join the Private Archives Section, where the NAI preserves the papers of eminent personalities.
“It is quite an honour and achievement for the NAI to be getting papers of President Kalam,” said Arun Singhal, director general of the National Archives of India. “Whenever we get private papers of any individual, we associate their name with papers. It will always be called Dr Kalam’s collection and we will maintain these original papers as long as we can.”
The documents donated by the family include letters, speeches, and diaries. Singhal said they would soon be scanned, digitised, and made available to the public on the NAI’s Abhilekh Patal portal.
He added that the documents are kept in a temperature- and humidity-controlled environment.
“We laminate them and take all care of them so that these papers survive,” he said, adding that the papers of widely revered figures like Kalam are a source of inspiration to all citizens.
Last year, the NAI acquired the private paper collection of former Union minister Rafi Ahmad Kidwai, which included his interactions with leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel, Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, and PD Tandon. In 2023, it acquired the collection of Ram Bux Singh, an internationally acclaimed scientist who revolutionised the field of biogas technology.
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‘Country first for Kalam’
The former President’s grand-nephew Sheikh Saleem recalled how, even at family gatherings, Kalam would steer conversations toward contributing to national development.
“That’s what he always taught us as a family. He put forward the country as the first thing — more than anything else,” Saleem said.
Kalam, who died in 2015, was India’s President from 2002 to 2007 and became known as the “People’s President” for his contributions to science, especially the missile programme, and youth outreach.
For Kalam, Saleem added, any knowledge one possessed should be shared with others.
“That is the reason why we are sharing whatever papers we have. Today it’s all about the digital world. Anywhere in the digital world this knowledge is being shared across the globe,” he said.
During their Rameshwaram visit, the NAI team collected four big boxes full of Kalam’s documents. It reflected a life spent in constant action.
Saleem recalled an incident from 2007, when Kalam, then 75, attended eight programmes in a single day — a schedule that left even his family amazed.
For Kalam, he added, the motivators were that the nation needed to be given a constructive direction and students needed a role model.
“No President ever would have done that at this age. He was in all school programmes,” said Saleem.
(Edited by Asavari Singh)
Rameshwaram in TAMIL NADU NOT Andhra Pradesh