By – Vidya Bhushan Rawat
There will be time when India will only have stones and statues. Is it not ironical that stones occupy more space than human being. How long will we compete in wasting people’s money for these stones. Dont our leaders feel ashamed of their work. When people die of hunger and malnutrition, when farmers are crying to get justice, when Adivasis and Dalits live bonded on their own land, when people suffer in superstition, our leaders shamelessly promote more superstition to strengthen their power and possessions.
After Modi’s Patel statue of 181 meters height, followed by Shivaaji’s in Mumbai, Yogi Adityanath also have a lot to offer to the contractors. The brahmanical nationalists will not do anything free of cost. Each event of nationalism has a hidden agenda of helping their corporate cronies. So 150 meter height statue of Lord Rama to be erected at Ayodhya and the estimated cost is Rs 350 crore. Though as a Sanatani Hindu, Yogi should have spent more money and visualised a much bigger statue than Sardar Patel because in terms of grander all Hindus want a Ram Statue much bigger than the Sardar. Is Sardar bigger than Ram ?
Sadly, it happened with thousands of primary school teachers aspirants were protesting democratically in Lucknow for their demand but the state police brutally beat them. Photographs of young boys and girls, aspiring teachers, future of tomorrow, in blood could be seen on social media as the mainstream paid media just did not have time to report about their grievances.
BJP has dubious distinction of speaking in multiple tongues. A trick they learn from the Congress. Gandhi is our leader, Ambedkar is our leader, Subhash is our leader but the amount of money was spent on Sardar and his promotion shows Modi’s Gujarat Phobia. Is Sardar bigger than Ambedkar, Subhash, and Gandhi ? I am leaving Nehru out because all the Sanghis cant digest him but let us really discuss Saradar’s contribution for our society. When was Sardar last speaking about the marginalised, Dalits, adivasis and minorities.
What we are witnessing today is a dangerous attempt to colonise India in the hands of the Gujarati cronies. So the poor in Gujarat might feel their people walking with plump positions everywhere, getting contract on all parts of India and becoming the leaders of India’s nationalist movement. Today, BJP and Narendra Modi’s Indian nationalism nothing but Gujarati cronyism.
While people of India have known this, political parties are not prepared to challenge the Hindutva ideologically. Most of them are still sitting and doing their crooked calculations. A majority of them are not keen to raise the issue of Muslims and their isolation. Most of them dont even want to talk about them. Janeue, Shiv Bhakt, Vishnu Bhakts, Krishna Bhakts are now narratives the parties. They dont have a clear agenda as how they will clean the mess. What will be their policies including education, health, housing, Land, agriculture, forest, water, defence, foreign and home. None of them can promise to reform our police, media, judiciary, political system, civil society.
It is sad but then we have to continue with our discussions, debates and sharing of ideas. BJP and Hindutva is not alone in magnifying their leaders. All the political parties who came to power are responsible for this statue culture. Behind this statue nationalism is actually huge money. Every nationalism paid to capitalists and cronies as there is a huge budget for everything which need to be changed.
Statues are equally important to kill a person. When you worship a person, you forget his ideas. Every individual become God who bless and ‘heal’ you. His ideas are kept aside and forgotten. The value of a God is in his ‘healing’ and not in ideas. Political people have ideas but if you convert them into God then they become like tourist spaces good for lovebirds to hide and put their names on them.
I dont deny the importance of history and statues but isnt it time to think beyond them. We have more then trillion Gods and goddesses. Then we have politicians and activists. This is a country which has statues of Dogs, horses,bulls, and what not. Statues might look political but they depoliticise people, they distort history and are just meant to ‘glorify’ the past and the individual. Statues also mean that you cant actually critique them. It means, statue culture is basically silencing the political criticism of the individual. The bhakts of statues dont want to hear any negative things about their leader or hero. But behind every statue is the story of state oppression of the poor. Every statue today is becoming like big mall or huge factory that displace thousands of poor. Who are these poor who are being displaced because of these statues and ‘developmental’ projects.
It is the Dalits, Adivasis and the farmers but then our focus is on these picnic spots and not on those who lost their livelihood and culture. Will our political parties take a stand that they will not do it again ? If any one need to make it, let them use these spaces only for it. We know the political thugs will shout and make it a story but India need to come out of these jargons, sloganeering and pathetic mentality at a time when more than 70% of our people are still suffering in absolute poverty and all other institutions that are important for our democratic polity are crumbling. Will our parties focus on the real issues of the people and come of the dirt they have in their mind and heart ?
