Hindustan Times
Why desecrate statues?
At the very onset, I agree with the majority opinion that there is no reason to demonise or iconize politicians of today. But it goes on, sometimes in the name of state pride, sometimes in the name of caste or community.
I don’t understand why Mulayam Singh Yadav should suspend Shahid Siddiqui only because he took interview of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and embrace people like Maulana Syed Ahmed Bukhari, Shahi Imam of Delhi’s Jama Masjid who bargains for tickets in elections to transfers of officers when in governance.
The fact is that Mulayam’s support base amongst the Muslims will neither increase nor decrease because of these superficial actions.
Somehow intolerance plagues politics as never before. A cartoon of a politician, more so if he or she is an icon, the sharing of dais with opposition, especially if he is someone like Narendra Modi, and building or desecration of statues, if the leader is of the stature of someone like Mayawati, can only create controversy, an unnecessary furore in the public. It can’t shift popular base if built on ideology and firm beliefs.
Why should Mulayam feel so insecure today? Modi is despised by the Muslims across the country, including Uttar Pradesh, but he is also a duly elected leader in his own state, which is certainly more developed than Yadav’s own home state. Perhaps, there is no harm in picking up some lessons in development from there. There has to be some reason why the corporate sector prefers Gujarat and Bihar over other states, including Maharashtra.
And one reason is the law and order. Communal tensions have partially eased in Gujarat though there is no denying of the fact that scars are too deep to heal. But with time people are moving ahead for their families and for their own state.
For a change, both Akhilesh and Mayawati have displayed some maturity in handling the law and order situation after some little known organisation had desecrated a statue of Mayawati.
She did not issue any provocative statement. The reason could be Akhilesh did not leave any room for that. The prompt action by his government in replacing her statue doused the fire that some BSP leaders tried to ignite. Finding a statue must have been easy for the government as there are piles of them lying in the stock.
It’s time UP moves ahead of caste and communities and leave Gujarat behind in development of the state. That’s what people are expecting from Akhilesh.
(8 votes, average: 4.13 out of 5)
Loading ...
