Video editor: Purnendu Preetaam
L-E-N-I-N LENIN STATUE! Gira do.
P-E-R-I-Y-A-R PERIYAR STATUE! Down with it.
Ambedkar, Gandhi – sab kar vandalise, gira de statues, that’s what’s wise.
Instigate hooligans, provoke some tod phod.
Tweet – delete – repeat
Baad mein bol, “I didn’t write that post!”
Welcome to India 2018. Our politicians have a lot of time. Time to celebrate vandalism. Time to delete celebration of vandalism. Time to argue over whose vandalism was worse.
Stop. Here’s what we need.
Dear statue breakers, I have a question.
Say there are two ideologies in the world – Ideology A and Ideology B.
If the supporters of Ideology A start breaking statues of Ideology B, and Ideology B starts vandalising Ideology A’s statues, we won’t have any statues left – you still won’t have a job, and India won’t magically become a better place.
You’ve got a problem with a statue? Don’t raze it down. It’s not going to help you, see?
Started with Lenin, then Periyar, Ambedkar’s always had it bad, and now Gandhi too?
When Ghana Removed a Gandhi Statue
Look, you may have legitimate reasons to criticise the presence of a statue. But there are legitimate ways to demand their removal too.
For example, professors in Ghana signed a petition to remove a statue of Gandhi from their university campus. They quoted passages written by Gandhi which say Indians are “infinitely superior” to black Africans.
The government in Ghana eventually relocated the statue.
A Statue for a Man Named Manu
But coming back to India, we’ve got problems with statues here too.
There’s a statue of Manu outside the Rajasthan High Court. Manu is the man who taught people this –
A woman is not supposed to work independently, even at her place of residence. In no circumstances is she allowed to assert herself independently.
Sexist? Damn right.
He also said “One should not marry women from a low caste. A Brahmin who marries a Shudra woman, degrades himself and his whole family.”
Casteist? Damn right.
His statue is on the premises of a HIGH COURT of the Indian judiciary – a judiciary that stands for exactly the opposite of what Manu said on these matters.
But hey, you know what people opposed to the statue did?
They protested – peacefully. They met the government and raised their demand to have the statue removed – peacefully.
That’s what a democracy is about.
Is the statue still there? Yes.
Again, that’s what a democracy is about.
It’s what we should be proud of. Of achieving solutions and forging the way ahead through dialogue – not vandalism, thuggery and rioting.
Dear Governor of Tripura
But you know the problem? Many of those who are supposed to be upholding the law – the governors, the lawmakers, the politicians – are the ones who seem to be celebrating lawlessness.
This is Tripura Governor Tathagata Roy’s tweet.
Except Governor, I have a question. Are you saying that the Lenin statue was razed by the democratically elected government in Tripura? But wait, you haven’t even sworn-in the new BJP government yet!
What are we missing, dear Governor?
Are you saying that vandalism is okay? Or did someone else magically take control of your Twitter too?
And hey, a democratically elected government can surely ask for the relocation or removal of a statue – but Governor, they must do it DEMOCRATICALLY.
But you know what, if you want, let the statueyapa continue. But remember, you’re not just allowing a statue to be broken – you’re allowing the rule of law to be broken too.
And anyway, it’s not like we have real problems like unemployment, hunger and farmer distress to cater to. Let’s keep playing STATUE!
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)