Statue time

Statues are regularly making news in the country. One state is receiving brickbats for erecting statues everywhere and some other statues are getting compliments for statues. Uttar Pradesh people are fed up with its Chief Minister Mayawati's obsession to erect her statues everywhere. The Chief Ministers of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have earned the goodwill of the people by dumping their bitterness and unveiling statues of their state celebrities.

The Times of India writes (11 August 2009)

All the bitterness that Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have heaped on each other was, for the moment, forgotten and a love fest prevailed. The statue of
Tamil saint-poet Thiruvalluvar was unveiled in Bangalore and within a week, a similar event will take place in Chennai with the inauguration of Kannada poet-philosopher Sarvagna's statue. The long and bitter battle, both in the courts and on the streets, which preceded the first event will hopefully be reduced to a footnote, testimony to the triumph of statesmanship over linguistic parochialism and partisan politics.

It is to the credit of Karnataka chief minister B S Yeddyurappa that he pressed ahead with the unveiling ceremony and brought to a logical end this protracted dispute. It is to the credit of the people of Karnataka that they largely ignored fringe groups' call for a Bangalore bandh to protest the event. It is to the credit, also, of Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi who lent his symbolic support to the event.

Such statue diplomacy has interesting indicators of not just what is, but, more importantly, what can be. Even as people heave a collective sigh of relief that they can now get on with their lives in these difficult economic times, it's time for politicians to recognise the opportunity to fix old problems with new solutions. The differences over Cauvery water sharing and Hogenakkal power plant need to be amicably, and quickly, settled. For Messrs Yeddyurappa and Karunanidhi, resolving these issues would be their chance to leave a mark on history.

Over centuries, people of both states have lived in such harmony, and enriched each other culturally and sociologically, that the conflict has always been a source of puzzlement to the ordinary citizen. Ugly expressions of mutual hatred and occasional blood-letting have left deep wounds. Hopefully, the healing touch of the written words and exemplary lives of poet-saints will act as a balm in enabling the two states to come together. Both states stand to gain from a spirit of cooperation. When Yeddyurappa said "we are Indians first, and Kannadigas and Tamils next'', it was a welcome break from the cynical emphasis on identity issues so often promoted by the political establishment for narrow gains. If that spirit can grow in the country at large, the benefits will be widely shared.