Installation of statues and naming of public utilities and establishments after politicians have a long and controversial history in India. Last month the naming of the Bandra-Worli Sea Link in Mumbai after Rajiv Gandhi became controversial after the BJP and Shiv Sena demanded the bridge to be named after Chhatrapati Shivaji. Then, the Congress did not agree, but with assembly elections a few months away, the state government has come up with an ambitious proposal to install a grand Shivaji statue, taller than the Statue of Liberty, on an island off Marine Drive.
The proposal to erect the 159-feet statue of Shivaji on horse back mounted on a 150 -feet-high Shivling-shaped pedestal is a fitting tribute to the great national hero of Hindu revival and all Indians will welcome the move. But it is hardly a compensation for the earlier faux pas.
There is no dearth of establishments and projects named after members of the Nehru-Gandhi family. A recent study showed that thousands of national and state-level welfare schemes, institutions and public sector undertakings, bridges, roads, hospitals, awards and even parks are named after the Congress first family members. This is ridiculous. One family cannot have a monopoly on public-funded initiatives. But the Congress has a penchant for such brazenness. A report last week said that since the opposition-ruled states are more successful in implementing the NREGS, the credit for the same is going to them and the Congress is now thinking of adding the name of Rajiv Gandhi along with NREGS. How cynical political opportunism can get! The Centre has now come out with a plan to set up a mini-secretariat named after Rajiv Gandhi at each gram panchayat to oversee the working of the NREGS. These will be known as Rajiv Gandhi Sewa Kendras for NREGS. The stress obviously is more on the political mileage than on seva. Yet another instance of the crude approach of the party to appropriate urgently needed humanitarian initiatives.
The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati’s statue politics has become equally reprehensible, if not shocking. No public good is achieved by such shameless misuse of public fund. The matter has now become an obnoxious symbol of corruption and consuming megalomania of a political upstart.
It is in this context that the Karnataka BJP government’s success in installing a statue of saint-poet Thiruvalluvar in Bengaluru ending an 18-year-old dispute becomes a commendable feat of patriotism and national integration. Reciprocating the Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa’s gesture, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi unveiled a statue of Kannada saint-poet Sarvajna in Chennai on August 13. They are our national icons. There is no need for making a dispute out of the consecration of a national hero anywhere in the country. Saints and poets like Thiruvalluvar and Sarvajna are the common heritage of every Indian and they are revered in the collective national psyche. Few misguided and outrageous outfits try to incite sectarian feelings in the name of these national icons as if they belong to a particular language or sect. If these people try to understand the philosophy or inspiration behind the works like Thirukkural, they will realise that it was the oneness of India and the harmonious culture of this land that they represented. In the first-ever act of its kind in contemporary politics, Yeddyurappa scripted a new chapter in the history of Karnataka-Tamil Nadu relations by highlighting this aspect. There are disputes galore on water, language and border between the two states. But they are not insurmountable provided they work on with the spirit of the great Tamil poet who sang for the security and dignity of the farmer, irrespective of his language or region. The BJP government not only overcame the parochial fringe resistance but also whipped up popular support by unveiling the Thiruvalluvar statue. Earlier many governments tried and failed. Because they lacked the moral authority and courage to convince the people of Karnataka of the cementing nature of India’s cultural canvas. Statues and names should go a long way in making a sense of history and as symbols of unity and pride. This is how they should be promoted.
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