69th Anniversary of the Republic Day Celebrated in Sahyadri
26-Jan-2018
The 69th anniversary of the Republic Day was celebrated in the Campus with hoisting the national flag by the Chief Guest - Colonel M A Rajmannar, Director, Army Recruitment Office, Kulur, Mangaluru. Captain M J Augustine, Group Captain, Indian Airforce and Retired Colonel Mahendra Babu were also present to grace the occasion.
Colonel M A Rajmannar is serving in the Indian Army since 1995. He has been trained at the Military Academy, Dehradun. He is B.Sc (Chemistry), M.Sc (Weapon Technology), MBA Certification in Fire Safety & Airport Security. He has served with the United Nations in West Africa and was part of the operations against the rebels in Africa. He was part of the Kargil War and was awarded Sena Medal for the gallant actions. He is keen in sports and represented the Indian Military Academy in Cricket in England.
Colonel M A Rajmannar was humbly delighted to be a part of the auspicious day. In his speech, he referred back to the history of the year 1930 on Jan 26th when Indian Congress decided to declare Poorna Swaraj and it took 17 years of all the freedom struggles we went through to remove the British from our country. He also clarified that Democratic republic is what we have today – Freedom of speech, Freedom of expression. Whereas, Democracy is where the government can change the rules to their own. He remembered the contributions of great freedom fighters. He quoted the contribution of someone close to us in Mangaluru. He referred to Rani Abbakka, a very staunch lady who was the chief of Kulur during 16th century. Portuguese at that time had captured the province of Gujarat, Bombay and made Goa their headquarters. They then turned their attention to the very lucrative port trust of Mangaluru. It was then that Rani Abbakka came into place as she was a big stumbling block. Portuguese sent small boats to capture Mangaluru through sea route, however Rani Abbakka though had 200-300 soldiers only defeated them. Portuguese Admiral was injured and they returned with casualties. Again, Portuguese decided to invade through land; however she attacked them from all directions, took 17 Portuguese as prisoners. With this story of the brave women, he conveyed that when we decide something, we should work towards it and we can definitely achieve it. We have a great nation, great history and great leaders who can motivate us. He urged students to make small changes and these small changes put together will then become a large change for the nation and make it a better place to live in. Post his speech; students recited Bankim Chandra’s, “Vande Mataram”, the National Song. This was followed by Staff Sports Day organized by the Department of Physical Education.
