Immutable shall fall; dynamic shall survive
The politics of statue that's happening in India isn't limited to this country alone, but has spread to some other nations as well. The proof of this lies in the fact that the incidents around Mahatma Gandhi's statue in Ghana are getting complex with every passing day. Giving in to pressure by a few professors, the statue of M K Gandhi was ripped out from the University campus. This is almost the same politics that's getting a lot of attention in India as well.
The whole country knows why Patel statue was erected in Gujarat. BJP wants to fight the memories of Nehru with Patel as a combat strategy. Their idea that they can erase the memories and contribution of Nehru by way of erecting a statue of another leader itself is a very narrow thinking. Patel is a leader within India. But Nehru grew up to be an international leader. His non-alignment movement gave rise to third front in the world. Having slipped up big time in ushering development, the BJP is trying to dissuade people by building statues of Patel, Shivaji, Lord Ram and others.
Even in destroying the statue of Gandhi in Ghana there are populist and appeasement politics. The statue was removed to please a section of people in Ghana telling them that Gandhi was a racist and racism supporting individual. As per the general public of Ghana, Gandhi's stances on issues are not any different from those who are imperialistic racists. Just the way as there are people who like him and dislike him in our country, the same kind of people exist elsewhere too. While one finds that RSS hates Gandhi, there are Ambedkarites who dislike him vehemently too. Because Gandhi had supported casteism and defended something as inhuman as carrying human waste. At the same time, one cannot reject the values of truth, non-violence and simplicity that he reintroduced to the country through his life. Gandhi statue was opposed in the past too in Africa. In 2015, Gandhi statue was smeared with white paint in South Africa, and this has continued till recently by way of aborting the bid to erect Gandhi statue in Malawi.
The political leaders of Ghana succumbed to people's demand and tore off the statue of Gandhi in Ghana. But there is a sensitive issue here. This statue was erected as a mark of good diplomatic relations between the dual countries. This was to commemorate the three nation tour that the president of India undertook in 2016. The statue was just a metaphor for two nations to express their good diplomatic relationship. India and South Africa often take the softer route to express their diplomatic relations. When situation gets out of control, the same statues turn into pawns of diplomatic rigmarole and solutions at the hands of people. The same thing has now transpired in Ghana. With Gandhi statue being razed to the ground, it also made way to a complicated dimension being added to the relationship between the two countries.
If people of that nation feel Gandhi indeed was a racist, they have all the rights to bring down his statue. But then when forging diplomatic relations, the impact of erecting any statue, on the people of the country has to be taken into consideration by the nations involved. A statue is not merely a token between two diplomats and the nations they represent; but an indicator of how the impact would roll out should things go on an undesirable plane anytime later. Statues are not pertinent for any bilateral relations. There are more ways of achieving this goal than erecting statues. When people choose immobile metaphors like statues, the future naturally will have more challenges than the past.
Another example for this would be of the statue of Manu before the Rajasthan High Court. The Dalits and Shudras of this country have been fighting against the ideology and prejudices proposed by Manu that have been dominating the discourse since ages. Freedom for this country was not just about chasing out the British but also to disregard the Manu ideologies wholly so as to achieve some dignity. Constitution took the place of Manu's ideologies. Unfortunately, right infront of the High Court in Rajasthan, his statue has been erected. The dalits and shudras have been expressing their displeasure regarding this since quite some time now. When the high of Hindutva sobers down, the statue may even be gone. If a Dalit headed government ever comes to power in Rajasthan, they may pull this statue down just to please their own people. This statue is a challenge to those who trust the Constitution.
To solidify the thoughts of leaders in the form of statues is a bad precedence. A hero today may be a villain tomorrow. Then a statue does not take long to be torn down. We can take the example of Lenin statue that was torn down in Tripura in the recent times. We can even guess the statues that would be destroyed if a left government assumes power in Tripura again. The lifeless statues can never create a feeling of solidarity. They can be detrimental to unity sometimes. Hence any government should stop using resources to erect statues. That money should be spent on creating public facilities to be used by general public. The words of sharanas that the immobile shall fall and the dynamic shall survive, should be remembered at this stage.
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Kerala court sentences man to life imprisonment for murder of doctor at taluk hospital
Kollam (Kerala) (PTI): A teacher convicted in the sensational murder of Dr Vandana Das inside a hospital here was sentenced to life term on Saturday, and the prosecution said it will move an appeal seeking death penalty for the accused. The victim's family also batted for "maximum punishment".
Dr Das was brutally killed inside a taluk hospital in May 2023 by G Sandeep.
The Kollam Additional District and Sessions Court sentenced Sandeep to a total of 30 years for various offences under the then Indian Penal Code (IPC) and said that after he serves that period, his life imprisonment for Das' murder will commence, SPP Prathap G Padickal told reporters.
The detailed judgement is awaited.
The special public prosecutor said that he will recommend to the prosecution to file an appeal seeking enhancement of the life imprisonment to death penalty.
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He said that the prosecution had sought the maximum punishment for Sandeep, "but the court probably felt it was not a rarest-of-rare case" and that is why death penalty was not given.
The victim's father said that the verdict has come as a relief for the family, but he cannot authoritatively say whether his daughter has got justice.
He indicated his dissatisfaction with the punishment, saying that steps will be taken to seek its enhancement after discussions with the public prosecutor.
Dr Das' mother said that the family can only wish for the maximum punishment and it was up to the court to decide what sentence should be given.
She said that the family will go in appeal, but declined to comment on whether her daughter got justice.
She tearfully said that she wants the convict to suffer the same pain that her daughter underwent "as he stabbed her 27 times".
The court on March 17 had convicted Sandeep for various offences under the IPC, including murder, destruction of evidence and wrongful restraint.
It had also held him guilty under the provisions of the Kerala Healthcare Service Persons and Healthcare Service Institutions (Prevention of violence and damage to property) Act 2012.
Sandeep was brought to the taluk hospital by the police for medical treatment during the small hours of May 10, 2023 and he went on a sudden attacking spree using a pair of surgical scissors kept in the room where his leg injury was being dressed.
A school teacher by profession, he had initially attacked the police officers and a private person who had accompanied him to the hospital and then turned on the young Dr Das, who could not escape to safety.
She was stabbed several times and later succumbed to her injuries in a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram where she was rushed following the attack.
Dr Das was a native of the Kaduthuruthy area of Kottayam district and the only child of her parents.
She was a house surgeon at Azeezia Medical College Hospital and was working at the Kottarakkara taluk hospital as part of her training.
Sandeep had called the emergency number 112, claiming that his life was in danger. When local police located him, he was standing close by his home, surrounded by local residents and his relatives, and had a wound on his leg following an alleged quarrel.
He was then taken to the hospital for dressing the wound.
