Statue of Unity- How the Varna Media is Loving It!

Subhash Gatade..

The man who belonged to the whole country has now been abducted by Narendra Modi, a pracharak of RSS, the communal organization who the Sardar fought against throughout his life. ..The only purpose of the construction of the Sardar Patel statue which was declared by Narendra Modi after he was anointed as the BJP's Prime Ministerial Candidate is to collect votes for the 2014 elections in the name of this leader of India's freedom struggle. It is therefore a downright irony that the RSS pracharak is trying to build the facade of unity by erecting the statue of one of the staunchest opponents of RSS.

(http://www.truthofgujarat.com/facade-unity-rss-abducts-sardar-patel/ Facade of Unity–RSS Abducts Sardar Patel, Pratik Sinha October 31, 2013 |

Historybears witness the fact that the attitude to appear 'big' or 'tall' so that even posterity remembers you is very much visible in every megalomaniac. It is a different matter that due to a poor sense of history they cannot even comprehend that the way they subdued a population, cleanse the 'others' rather overwhelms the giant monuments they build or the memorials they erect to commemorate their bloody victories. TheHalakus, the Chengiz Khans, the Menanders or the Mussolinis of the world are remembered today not as noble representatives of humanity but as its other.

Not very many people can recollect today the famous scene in 'The Great Dictator' – a parody on theemergence of Hitler in Germany made by the legendary Charlie Chaplin - where the 'Dictator' makes all attempts to appear to be sitting on a higher pedestal vis-a-vis his guest/adversary. The special chair made by him for the stated purpose makes it possible for him to move up and down as desired. The hilarious scene ends up when the 'dictator' literally falls on the ground before his honourable guest.

One was reminded of this scene when news came in that a tallest statue in the memory of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel is being built in the Western state of Gujarat at the behest of Narendra Modi, the Prime Ministerial candidate of BJP. According to the plan it will be double the size of 'Statue of Liberty' in the US (the height of the Statue of liberty is 93 meters) and four times higher than the statue of 'Christ the Redeemer' located in Rio De Janeiro. It is going to be built by Turner Construction of US which is reputed for building many famous and giant structures such as Burj Dubai, the Yankee Stadium of New York etc. The project cost is estimated to be Rs. 2500 crore and the consultancy fees of Turner itself will be to the tune of Rs. 61 Crores. Only a few days back the main opposition Party BJP organised 'Run for Unity' at hundreds of places across India wherein its top leaders also participated as part of its efforts to give this pet project of Mr Modi a big push.

Weare being told that after this event, the members of the party as well as other volunteers of the 'Parivar' would reach out to people, communicating to them the 'importance of this project' and would collect iron from them which would supposedly be used in the construction of this upcoming monument. Looking at the fact that Sardar Patel happened to be a farmer, special emphasis would be paid towards them in this campaign and would be persuaded that they donate at least one iron tool for making the 25,000 tonne statue.

Perhaps all those who are conversant with the 'Parivar' trajectory would recollect that more than two decades back it had used a similar programme to reach out to people to popularise its other project of Ram Mandir to be built in Ayodhya aiming to replace a five hundred year old Babri Mosque and had collected millions of bricks for the purpose from different corners of the country.(As an aside it may be mentioned here that today all those bricks are lying in the godowns of the Hindutva organisations) and the said campaign to 'correct historical wrongs' had resulted in nationwide communal riots after the demolition of Babri Mosque.

According to the website (www.statueofunity.com ) the said statue '[w]ill be located at Sadhu Bet, an island situated 3 kilometres away from the Sardar Sarovar Dam in Gujarat. The Sardar Sarovar Dam is gravity dam built on the river Narmada and is a part of Narmada Valley Project. The height of the statue is 182 metres which makes it the tallest one in the world. It is also one of the largest projects of the country. Tourists have to embark in a boat to reach the statue." The project would be owned by Gujarat government's sponsored trust, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Rashtriya Ekta Trust (SVPRET).

This memorial will have a museum on the life of Sardar Patel and also a research centre which would"promote research on matters such as good governance, agriculture technology and development for the tribal population which were core matters of importance Sardar Patel. There will be the facility of lift for the visitors to go to the top of the constitution and able to enjoy eye catching sight of the Sardar Sarovar Dam."

Interestinglythe media – the supposed watchdog of democracy – or rather its majority has refused to put the grand project under scanner over its 'Social, Economic and Environmental Impacts' nor the manner in which it allegedly '[v]iolates the law of the land, constitution of India and concerns of poor, tribals and environment'

And the reasons for the same are not difficult to understand as it is becoming increasingly clear that with the Congress, loosing its legitimacy because of corruption and unbearable price rise and appearing to be dilly dallying on various issues of concern to the moneyed and the corporates, there is growing clamour for a 'decisive' leader at the top among the rich and the privileged. And Modi's pro-corporate image rather fits the bill. In fact it has been quite some time that the Corporates have unashamedly joined the chores of 'Modi for PM' .For them the carnage of 2002 in Gujarat when Modi happened to be Chief Minister of the state and has been castigated for his alleged connivance or eneptness in handling the situation is just a matter of detail and cannot put his supposed leadership qualities into question. They also do not want to remember that his own Party's senior most leader – namely Atal Bihari Vajpayee who happened to be Prime Minister then – had even questioned his sense of 'Rajdharma'.

Mainstreammedia's silence has not deterred activists concerned with people's welfare and a life of dignity to everyone to expose how '[b]oth Mr. Narendra Modi, the chief minister of Gujarat who laid the foundation stone for "Statue of Unity" and his office, the CM's Secretariat are either clueless or do not want to give a categorical reply when asked about the missing 'Environment Clearance' for the proposed "Statue of Unity Project".

This group of activists had written to the Principal Secretary, Ministry of Environment and Forests, copying the details to the Gujarat Chief Minister and Gujarat chief secretary, Gujarat Principal Secretary, Forest and Environment Department and member secretary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Rashtriya Ekta Trust on 7 November 2013 raising there concerns about 'Environment. Social and Safety' issues related to the "Statue of Unity Project".

According to a Press Release issued by them they ".[r]eceived a letter from the CM's secretariat which instead of being clear on its actions to seek 'Environmental Clearance' from the competent authority forwarded our representation to the Gujarat State's two departments. Incidentally, the chief minister also holds the ministerial portfolio amongst others, of the Narmada, Water Resources, Water supply and Kalpsar Department. It is one of the two departments to which the Chief Minister's Secretariat has forwarded the letter instructing them to look into our representation." They are of the opinion that "the Gujarat government authorities responsible for processing and/or granting 'Environment Clearances' are keeping silent, while the Chief Minister's Secretariat refuses to provide clear answer."

With their communique which was issued to the press few days before the grand programme called 'Run for Unity' – held on 15 th December 2013 – they had shared their concerns, questions, worries including the glaring issues and procedural anomalies and had appealed to the people who intended to participate in the programme about why they were raising the question about need for social and environment impact assessment, "Environment Clearance", democratic decision making process and why they should also know and discuss these worries. They had also requested all such people to 'ask Mr. Narendra Modi and his government to answer the valid legal and moral questions raised by us before joining the run with the euphoria created in Gujarat and across India by Mr. Narendra Modi and BJP to play electoral politics in the name of Shree Sardar Patel.'

The communique had concluded with a poser "Why should be citizens and students be made party to a government project which completely ignores and bluntly, openly violates the law of the land, constitution of India and concerns of poor, tribals and environment ?"

It would be opportune here to mention the main highlights of their letter written on 7 November 2013 to Dr. V. Rajagopalan, the Secretary, Ministry of Environment & Forests, Government of India, New Delhi – 110 003 seeking detailed environmental scrutiny of the project called 'Statue of Unity'

- World's largest statue in the form of 'Statue of Unity' is being built near Sardar Sarovar Dam in the river downstream from the dam, just 3.2 km from the Shoolpaneshwar Sanctuary, in eco-sensitive zone and involving massive infrastructure. It has started work without legally mandatory environment clearance, environment and social impact assessment or any public consultation process.

- It is clearly illegal, in violation of the Environment Protection Act, 1986 and EIA notification of September 2006 and a number of NGT and Court orders about such massive kind of construction on the riverbed. On 31 October 2013, the foundation stone was laid for the project amidst huge fanfare and media attention. Tenders have also been floated. Even the work for the Garudeshwar weir, proposed about 12 km downstream of the Sardar Sarovar Dam, began without any social or environmental impact assessment, public consultation and environmental clearance from the Environmental Sub Group (ESG) of Narmada Control Authority's (NCA).

- The estimated cost of the project is more than Rs. 2,500/- corers

The key issues that beg immediate scrutiny is as follows:

(1) The project clearly needs environment clearance under the EIA notification of September 2006, but has not applied for or obtained the clearance at any stage.

(2) The Shoolpaneshwar Sanctuary boundary is touching the Sardar Sarovar Reservoir (as a part of the Environmental Protection measures of the Sardar Sarovar Project, the earlier Dhumkal Sloth Bear Sanctuary was extended to meet the reservoir boundaries and is called Shoolpaneshwar Sanctuary.) Since the statute is only 3.2 kms from the Sardar Sarovar Dam, it is certainly nearby Shoolpaneshwar Sanctuary.

(3) The Project involves construction in the river bed and proposed reservoir, close to sanctuary in eco-sensitive zone, and hence will have serious impacts on the ecology and environment. Hence, and EIA and EC is crucial.

(4) The project will affect the downstream river, its biodiversity, people and livelihoods and other related aspects.

(5) A comprehensive assessment of the environmental and social impacts of the 'Statue of Unity' and its contribution to the cumulative impact of all the projects and activities in the area has not been done.

(6) The project also needs public consultation, but none has happened so far.

(7) During the construction of the Sardar Sarovar dam due to hard rock digging, the seismic area already carries the burden of artificial activity in the bed rock and added load in what is deemed geologically fault line area. Public reports on geotechnical and geological studies on the proposed site have raised issues of structural stability as well as safety. This cannot be taken casually by authorities. The seismic hazard analysis claimed to have been done by the Gujarat Government's in-house "Institute of Seismological Research" (http://www.statueofunity.in/execution.html#sthash.jEBrofSN.dpuf ) or the Geological and Geotechnical investigation commissioned to another government institute WAPCOS cannot be considered credible unless peer reviewed and put in public domain.

Signed by around fourty leading scholars, activists – mainly from Gujarat – the said letter put forward the following demands:

1. Direct the Government of Gujarat to submit application for environment clearance and till that is obtained, not to do any work related to the project.

2. Direct the Government of Gujarat to immediately stop planned project called 'Statue of Unity' and direct them to stop all other activities related to the 'Statue of Unity'.

3. Declare the action – of the foundation stone installation on 31 October 2013 for the project called 'Statue of Unity' – of the Chief Minister of Gujarat State as illegal, in violation of the EIA notification of September 2006 and the Environment Protection Act, 1986.

III

Anybodycan note the contrast how the same media had gone hammer and tongs against Ms Mayawati for her penchant for building statues of stalwarts of Dalit liberation when she happened to be Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. All the wise men sitting at the desk of the newspapers and the TV studios told/advised her time and again that the money could have been spent, on laying roads, building schools and hospitals, and generating power — all sectors where Uttar Pradesh lagged the national average. Apart from the fact that she was made a butt of joke for inaugurating her own statue, learned experts kept harping on the fact that it was just sheer wastage of money. For Mayawati's detractors, the parks, and the statues inside, were nothing but 'unproductive assets, the indulgence of a megalomaniac.' No such advice seems to be forthcoming from all these experts to Narendra Modi over his pet project despite the fact that the human development indicators of Gujarat are no less good than that of Subsaharan Africa.

All its concerns towards the dispriviledged and the marginalised simply vanished despite the open secret that the real agenda to have a grandiose memorial to Sardar Patel was a desperate attempt by Narendra Modi to project him as the 'real heir' of Patel's legacy using hard earned public money – which involves expenditure which are more than five times the monies which were spent what one journalist had then called 'Mayawati's Statues of Liberty' ( http://www.business-standard.com/article/beyond-business/mayawati-s-statues-of-liberty-111110500008_1.html ). Everybody knows that Narendra Modi happens to be the third claimant to Sardar's legacy within the wider Hindutva fraternity. If L. K. Advani, as home minister of India during the NDA regime tried to project him as the real 'heir apparent' of Patel, Keshubhai Patel, erstwhile chief minister of Gujarat whom Modi had replaced had also claimed for himself the honorific 'Chote Sardar'.

Couldit be interpreted as upper caste dominated media's inherent derision towards dalits and bahujans scripting an alternative view of history and their growing assertion and it's costing up to an essential Manuwadi agenda peddled by the Sangh Parivar and its lead mascot.

About The Author

Subhash gatade is a well known journalist, left-wing thinker and human rights activist. He has been writing for the popular media and a variety of journals and websites on issues of history and politics, human right violations and state repression, communalism and caste, violence against dalits and minorities, religious sectarianism and neo-liberalism, and a host of other issues that analyse and hold a mirror to South asian society in the past three decades. He is an important chronicler of our times, whose writings are as much a comment on the mainstream media in this region as on the issues he writes about. Subhash Gatade is very well known despite having been published very little in the mainstream media, and is highly respected by scholars and social activists. He writes in both English and Hindi, which makes his role as public intellectual very significant. He edits Sandhan, a Hindi journal, and is author of Pahad Se Uncha Admi, a book on Dasrath Majhi for children, and Nathuram Godse's Heirs: The Menace of Terrorism in India.