Plans for tallest statue draw ire in India
INDIA plans to build the world’s tallest statue, twice the height of the Statue of Liberty, honouring a revered mediaeval Hindu warrior king. King Shivaji fought India’s Muslim Mughal empire in the 17th century and carved out his own kingdom in the Maharashtra region near where modern day Mumbai is now located.
Many Hindus regard his rule as the “ideal Hindu kingdom” that revived many ancient Hindu traditions. He is particularly popular among the Hindu nationalists that now dominate India’s politics.
But the majestic 192 metre statue to be built on reclaimed land in the Arabian Sea off Mumbai, has left many Indians reaching for their calculators. They say the statue’s whopping budget of over $525 million could be used for better things.
Over the weekend, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the statue, which will be completed by 2019, it reminded Indians about another tall, bronze statue that he had promised just two years ago. Modi had called it the “Statue of Unity,” and it was to be the world’s tallest statue, for Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, one of the founding fathers of India in his home state of Gujarat.
But now the Shivaji statue in the Arabian Sea is set to be about 8 metres taller.
In an open letter published in the Indian Express newspaper, Canadian politician of Indian origin Ujjal Dosanjh wrote: “Dear Prime Minister: You are once again thrusting India into the dangerous politics of statues; the politics of pandering to regional and other identities; the politics of turning real heroes into the lifeless steel and stone kind – for any pigeons to freely relieve themselves on; the heinous politics of clever, but criminal distraction from the life and death issues of poverty, corruption, injustice and inequality in India.”
The Shivaji statue has been called “colossal and absurdly expensive,” and one that shows that “India has no room for its tired, huddled masses.”
The debate over the statue comes at a particularly difficult time for many Indians, who are struggling with the fallout of Modi’s sudden currency swap two months ago. The decision has led to severe cash shortages, bank limits on withdrawals, an industrial slump and layoffs.
The cost of the statue is more than Mumbai’s schools and healthcare budget, many pointed out. In fact, it is more than the city municipal corporation’s total annual budget.
Although Indian cities have come a long way in providing basic utilities, there are still severe shortcomings in clean water, power, healthcare and garbage disposal in many places.
An online petition against the Shivaji statue extravaganza said: “This is not what Shivaji would have wanted and I am sure we can find other ways to honor him.”
Critics have also said that the construction will affect fishing sites.
But the sculptor of the two statues, Ram Sutar, has presented a powerful counter argument:
“If people had worried about how much the Taj Mahal would cost, it would never have been built.”
This is not the first time Indians have been outraged over statue budgets. A few years ago, many Indians questioned why the lower caste politician and former chief minister of the state of Uttar Pradesh, Mayawati, had spent over $800 million to build memorials and parks to commemorate leaders who fought against India’s caste system.
Also, in Uttar Pradesh, the world’s tallest religious structure is now under construction – a 213 metre Hindu temple complex that will include a theme park, an auditorium, food court and a helipad.
Performing the prayer ceremony for the proposed Shivaji statue was “special” and “many aspects of his personality inspire us,” Modi tweeted on Saturday.
Tweets from other Indians, however, were less enamoured with the whole venture. One called the project an example of “the worst kind of ignorance, arrogance & disregard” for public funds “typical of our political parties.”