Just after Bjp winning the state elections of Tripura, a news captured media for a couple of days. The news was about taking down the statue of Lenin. There were lots of claims-counterclaims about the event. Many tried to defend the action and many were against it. On the other hand, while I was reading about this news, some past incidences were revolving in my head. Taliban blowing up Bamiyan Buddha statues, Stalin’s statue taken down in Budapest. Also, some very local incidences as removal of Dadoji Konddev statue from Lal Mahal and vandalization of play writer Ram Ganesh Gadkari in Pune (India).
I am a bit confused. Because, in all these incidences the reason is hatred. It is logical according to sociology that, some people or ideologies of the past are hated in present society. It is evident that, they were much appreciated at that point of time.
But, here comes the most confusing part.
When Taliban terrorists blew up Buddha’s statues many called it Islamic Terrorism and Fascism. Taliban claimed that, Buddha statue is a but (statue for prayer which is not allowed in Islam). Buddha is still hero of many in the world today. But, what about Talibani’s? Buddha is definitely not hero of Talibani’s. So technically, Taliban blew up statue of a person whom they did not like at all. Stalin became very popular after WWII. Communists built his statue in Budapest (Hungary) but, in 50’s the popular sentiment changed and the statue was taken down. Hungarian people had so much hatred towards Stalin that they did not want to even his statue. Same logic, where people took down statue of a person they did not like.
For those who don’t know about incidences in Pune, Dadoji Konddev was one of teachers of Shivaji Maharaj. Due to pressure from neo-ultra casteist organizations, govt removed his statue from Lal Mahal which is the place where Shivaji Maharaj spent his childhood time. Members of same organization vandalized play writer Ram Ganesh Gadkari’s statue because of a false propaganda.
My theory is that, Heroes of past become today’s villains. Often sentiments/faiths overshadow facts. The easiest victims of hatred based on sentiments are mute symbols of past.
I want to ask the readers some question. Can we accept the logic given by Taliban? Can this logic be applied in other incidences? Should we allow people/organizations to remove statues just because they hate a person? Where will this end?