A young Muslim schoolboy’s video has gone viral, and even the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu tweeted about the "hate none and love all" speech on February 25.
A private internet TV channel, Asiavile Tamil Vox Pop, asked students and the public their opinion on two questions, “Who do you hate?” and “Do you like Rowdies?”
The young school student, Abdul Kalam’s response gathered over 189,930 views on YouTube.
In a video interview, Abdul Kalam replied, "Why should I hate others? The world is a place where everyone is equal and we can't judge anyone here. Many people will keep their miseries in their minds, but they will not express them publicly. ”
“My friends tease me by calling me “Pallan” (insulting based on the appearance of his teeth), but they are all my friends. So I cannot hate them. Unity and diversity are part of the Indian identity. We should follow this in our lives to achieve humanity,” said Abdul Kalam, a student of St. Lazarus Middle School in Tamil Nadu.
“If we do not follow humanity, we will become like the villain in Spiderman movie,” the boy added.
The other questioned, “Do you like Rowdies?” the boy replied with “hate none and love all” advice.
“We do not know what bitter experiences the so-called ‘rowdies’ had in their lives. We often fail to understand their inner feelings, leading to rowdy behaviour. We should not name or conclude them as rowdy and let us ‘hate none and love all,’” Abdul Kalam said.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin was touched by Abdul Kalam's "hate none and love all" speech. He tweeted after meeting Abdul’s parents on February 25.
"I was touched seeing his video. The parents and teachers at St. Lazarus middle school have raised him without regard to caste and religion."
Sister Nesa Sondaram, from St. Lazarus Middle School, shared with RVA News that most of our students were impressed by Abdul's speech.
Sister Maria Philomi, Bonsecours Congregation Mother General, offered INR 25,000 (USD 338.94) to Abdul Kalam in the presence of Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozh, the Education Minister from Tamil Nadu.
Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozh was the chief guest during 125-year celebration of St. Antony’s Girls Higher Secondary School in Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu.
“Abdul Kalam is very calm in his behaviours, and though we teach morals and catechism he learned from his parents who are from very poor background,” said Sister Emelda Mary, the headmistress of St. Lazarus school, told RVA News.
Amingta Fernando, Abdul's class teacher, says Abdul is very simple in appearance and that his love for his parents, sister, and friends is extraordinary. “He shows his human attitude through his lifestyle.”
“He will not show any partiality towards his friends at any reason,” said teacher Amingata Fernando.
Abdul Kalam told RVA News that “I have expressed in the video what I have learned from my school sisters, teachers, students, especially from my parents who taught me everything by their experiences.”
“The goal of my career is to eradicate all crimes against humanity by becoming an IPS officer (Indian Police Service),” the boy confessed his dream.
On September 24, 2009, Abdul Kalam was born to Asmathulla and Dilshad Beghum. Abdul Kalam has three younger siblings: Asdiya Banu, Allauddeen, and Azaruddeen.
St. Lazarus Middle School was founded on January 15, 1894, for the poor and needy by Father Brango, the parish priest of Mylapore, from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Madras and Mylapore. The archdiocese handed over the school to Bonsecours congregation sisters in 1895. The school had around 680 students from low-income families.
Radio Veritas Asia (RVA), a media platform of the Catholic Church, aims to share Christ. RVA started in 1969 as a continental Catholic radio station to serve Asian countries in their respective local language, thus earning the tag “the Voice of Asian Christianity.” Responding to the emerging context, RVA embraced media platforms to connect with the global Asian audience via its 21 language websites and various social media platforms.
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