As the state faces a drought and farmers committ suicide, the Maharashtra government is busy planning a huge statue of the Maratha warrior king Shivaji in the middle of the Arabian Sea (off Marine Drive in the city of Mumbai). What is alarming about this is the cost of this statue (350 crores of rupees) which is probably enough to save the lives of lakhs of farmers in this drought year.
This is what the Maharashtra CM Ashok Chavan remarked about his government’s plan for this statue:-
“The statue of Shivaji will be a great landmark for the city. It will be in the Arabian sea halfway between Chowpatty and Marine Drive. The platform will span 8 acres. And it will be taller than the Statue of Liberty. People can travel to it from nearby jetties.”
This could be yet another election stunt to get the Maharashtrian vote, but the question I think we should all be asking - is this what is required of the government to do now, especially when two-thirds of Maharashtra is facing a terrible drought and farmers are committing suicide?
Vishal Dadlani (a musician) who started an online signature campaign and finally filed a PIL against TV news channels covering the 26/11 attacks on Mumbai live on TV, is planning another one against the erection of this statue.
Also, take a look at an interesting opinion on this issue, from Chinmaye Bhave.
September 3rd, 2009 at 3:48 PM
i am very very much sorry about u zealous people .he has given free air
to live . he is not just our hero but also our god. you have so much care about
farmers then y don”t u protest 31st december celeberation where crore’s are
wasted in the name of human celeberation. and i want to ask u a question
wht are u doing to help farmers………………
September 3rd, 2009 at 7:37 PM
@ sandeep- 31st december-my money, i spend it. statue in the middle of the sea-my money, government spends it. instead, why don’t they, as suggested by a friend in his blog,spend all that money in restoring the forts that our hero,our god has made! that will be showing more respect to him I think,by preserving what he has already built rather than letting those lovely forts crumble while a brand new statue is being built.
September 3rd, 2009 at 8:02 PM
sandeep, if you have been to sinhagadh or lohagadh in recent times, you will possibly understand the point made by chinmaye bhave in his post (and cited here by pavi in the previous comment) better.
if you wish to pay homage and show respect to shivaji maharaj, why don’t you spend money in ensuring the forts he built are kept clean?