A monument to vainglory | P2,3
MODI INAUGURATES PROJECT FLAYED FOR ITS EXTRAVAGANT COST
India yesterday inaugurated the world’s tallest statue, a Rs30 billion ($400 million, Dh1.47 billion) effigy of independence hero Vallabhbhai Patel that towers nearly twice the height of New York’s Statue of Liberty.
The 182-metre steel and bronze ‘Statue of Unity’ in Gujarat is part of Bharatiya Janata Party’s efforts to re-brand what it calls “forgotten” leaders.
“Patel wanted India to be a forceful, strong, sensitive, vigilant and accommodative nation, and we’re working towards that,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at yesterday’s ceremony.
Modi said last year there had been efforts to “belittle” or “remove from history” the contributions of Patel, who helped unite India’s 562 princely states as the first interior minister.
Funds for the statue came from the federal government, state-run companies and other institutions, and it was built in 33 months by construction and engineering company Larsen & Toubro Ltd. But around the statue in a remote corner of Gujarat state, the run-up to the inauguration sparked protests from local communities who say they were not compensated for the land used to erect the statue.
More than 5,000 police guarded the huge site of the megaproject and hundreds of Chinese have been among the 3,500 workers.
Modi said the structure was “an answer to all those who question the existence of India”.
The BJP says Congress has deliberately ignored leaders such as Patel, B.R. Ambedkar, who led the drafting of the constitution, and freedom fighter Subhas Chandra Bose.
The accusations are a distortion of history, says Congress, which is led by Rahul Gandhi. “Ironic that a statue of Sardar Patel is being inaugurated, but every institution he helped build is being smashed,” Gandhi said on Twitter. “The systematic destruction of India’s institutions is nothing short of treason.”
Indian authorities hope the statue will attract 15,000 visitors a day. Online bookings to visit the Statue of Unity have opened with a Rs350 ($4.75, Dh17.37) admission fee for the 153-metre-high observation deck.
However, even if the statue becomes as famous as the Taj Mahal, experts estimated that it will need at least 120 years to break even for the statue.
The Statue of Unity is to remind all those who question India’s existence and its integrity. This country was, is and will always be eternal … We will have to remain vigilant and united as a society.” Narendra Modi | Indian Prime Minister
Sardar Patel was a patriot, who fought for an independent, united and secular India … Ironic that a statue of Sardar Patel is being inaugurated, but every institution he helped build is being smashed. The systematic destruction of India’s institutions is nothing short of treason.”
Rahul Gandhi | Congress party president