Students belonging to various schools in Delhi and Tamil Nadu handed over self-made rakhis to Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, ahead of Raksha Bandhan on August 6, Saturday. The rakhis were made for the army personnel at the borders.
The Defence Minister promised the school students that he would send the rakhis to the soldiers guarding the borders. It was reported by ANI that a total of 21 students from Delhi were present along with their teachers. Poet and lyricist Manoj Muntashir and Dr Ramasubramanian, Senior Principal, Bharani Park Group of Institutions, Karur, Tamil Nadu, were also present during the occasion.
Dr Ramasubramanian said that a total of 1.5 lakh handmade rakhis were handed over to Rajnath Singh. "With lots of love and gratitude, we have brought 1.5 lakh handmade rakhis for brave soldiers of our country. 75,000 rakhis have Tirukkural printed on them and another 75,000 rakhis are handmade," he said.
Speaking on the occasion, Rajnath Singh said, "As the Defence Minister of the country, I assure you that I myself will provide these rakhis to the three service chiefs so that these can reach the jawans of all the three services. I will provide these rakhis to the three Chiefs of the Services, these will reach to the wrists of all the jawans," as per ANI.
At the request of the Defence Minister, Muntashir sang the song Teri Mitti Mein Mil Jawa written by him. Meanwhile, Chahat Khanna, a Sai Public School student, said, "Soldiers are our real heroes. The school has taken a very good initiative, soldiers are our real heroes. Soldiers who can not go home, we all consider them as our brothers, they should be the first ones to tie rakhi."
Aishwarya, a student of Modern Convent School, said, "Soldiers protect our country, they contribute to the country, they protect us, so we should also contribute by sending them rakhis made with our own hands." Tarun Vijay, a BJP leader, was also present on the occassion.
He informed that the messages on the rakhis were written in 18 languages and about 25,000 of those were in the Santhali language. "These rakhis are all handmade, prepared in Tamil Nadu and about 25,000 prepared in the Santhali language, which we understand is the language of our tribal brothers and sisters and the President comes from the Santhali community," Vijay said.
The festival of Raksha Bandhan marks the bond of love between siblings. This year, it will be celebrated on August 11.
