India unveils world’s biggest statue
▶ Locals slam cost of independence hero’s 182-meter-tall reproduction
India on Wednesday inaugurated the world’s biggest statue with pomp, fireworks and tight security amid an outcry among local groups over the cost of the 182-meter-tall reproduction of an Indian independence hero.
Activists said about a dozen of their leaders had been detained before Prime Minister Narendra Modi officially opened the tribute to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, with an air force jet flyover, helicopters showering flowers on the statue and fireworks in the green, orange and white national colors.
“Today is a day that will be remembered in the history of India,” said Modi who hailed Sardar Patel’s “strategic thinking” in bringing together the disparate country after independence in 1947 and the Statue of Unity as “a symbol of our engineering and technical prowess.”
But around the statue in a remote corner of Gujarat state, more than 5,000 police guarded the huge site where construction work has taken nearly four years to complete the megaproject.
Anand Mazgaonkar, a community group leader in Narmada district, said plain clothes police took away 12 people late Tuesday to the local police headquarters.
Police denied they had made any detentions. But authorities took no chances in case community groups staged protests to demand compensation for land taken to erect the statue of Unity, which cost 29.9 billion rupees ($400 million).
“Police patrolling has been intensified in the wake of protests by the local tribal community and leaders. Drones and helicopters will be keeping watch on the entire area,” said Narmada police inspector general Abhay Chudasama ahead of the ceremony.
The chiefs of 22 local villages signed a letter calling on Modi to stay away from the inauguration.
Posters of Modi with Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani were torn down or had their faces blackened at the weekend. Police kept watch on posters put in place of the torn ones.
Local legislator and community group leader Chotu Vasava said: “Tribal groups have been exploited by different governments, the ruling BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) is repeating it again.”