I am proud of you my Son - Comrade Saketh Rajans Mother

It was a heart - rending scene when the mother exclaimed: "I am proud of you my son". Rajalakshmi Sounderrajan, mother of Saketh Rajan paid homage to her son in this manner but her voice choked, when she said: "... but I cannot look at your body."

It was only after top Police Officers called at her apartment in Vani Vilas Mohalla here during their investigation into the case and left, that media persons could meet her and talk to her. Tears welled up from her eyes as she was trying to gather strength of mind in order to listen to the enquires from the reporters and respond with great mental agony.

She managed to mumble these first words: "I am not in a mental state to look at my son's body. The press reports have given gruesome details about it, saying that the body is riddled with bullets causing holes on the forehead and exposing his skull - bone. How can I muster courage to see his body? No, it is just not possible."



"My son has not committed any crime. He was not given to any bad habit. He used to confide in me about his compassion for the poor. He was not wicked. He had not done even a single bad act. It was only after I read in the newspapers quite recently that I learnt about his taking to violence," Rajalakshmi managed to say.

Continuing in low voice and speaking slowly, often with pause, she explained:

"My son's life was full of ideals while he was young and growing. He had only two sets of clothes to wear. He used to wash his plate himself and store it away."

Rajalakshmi could be faintly heard saying that Saketh was affection personified. "He was truly a revolutionary. He did not bow his head before the Police even while facing death. But, the society did not approve of his ways and views. It is my fate (Karma). He met his end this way," she said wiping her tears.


Interesting facts about Comrade Saketh Rajan

Brother:
"Anandaraj, his brother, succumbed in 1983 to injuries sustained in an accident. Saketh left home a couple of months after that. It has been about 21 years since then. That was the last I saw of him," she recalled.
He did not come home when his father died, nor even to see if his mother was still alive. However, I feel proud about my son. He was not the one to commit any crime."

Journalism:
Saketh Rajan was 12 years old when his father Major Sounderrajan took retirement from Defence Services and returned to Mysore. After obtaining BA Degree in Journalism from Maharaja's College, Mysore, and Saketh Rajan obtained Post - Graduate degree from Indian Institute of Mass Communications, New Delhi. Later, he came to Mysore and was writing for local newspapers in English and Kannada. His close friends say that even while in the capital, he was thoroughly unhappy about the establishment.

First rank:
In the convocation held in the capital, having secured the first rank in the Post - Graduate degree, Saketh was to receive the award and certificate from the Minister Vidya Charan Shukla. He proceeded to the dais. But, without receiving the certificate from the Minister, nor even shaking hands with him, Saketh had walked off the dais, as a show of his anger against the establishment, recalled one of his friends who used to accompany him in Naxal camps.

Prem:
Saketh Rajan, after moving away from Mysore and arriving in Andhra Pradesh, took to the name Prem and developed close contacts with the People's War Group (PWG). He had married journalist Rajeshwari, sister of Jagannath, who had identified himself with PWG. She was also killed in an encounter. After becoming a full - fledged Naxalite, Prem used to be seen once in a way only by a few friends in Mysore, it is learnt.

http://www.ourkarnataka.com/Articles/starofmysore/mothershomage.htm



Since I live in Karnataka, I used to follow up on comrade
Saketh Rajan and the revolutionary situation in Karnataka.

When I heard he had been shot in an encounter - It broke my heart.
I instantly knew the revolutionary movement in Karnataka had suffered a
severe setback.

Great leaders never die they forever live on in our hearts.

-- Stalingam


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