There is a bill drafted for proposal in the Indian parliament about providing river Ganga 'protection' with an armed force which has powers to arrest those polluting the river! I really could not believe what I was reading. My first impulse was to laugh. The second thought was, why not? It's a good move, if aimed at preserving the ecology of the river and its surroundings. However it then struck me, why only Ganga? Why not all rivers and forests?
So we now have civil and legal protection for rivers, cows, temples (also places where temples were once believed to be!) ... Wonder when will people, especially women, poor, disadvantaged, activists, journalists, get protection?
Then there is the tallest statue in the world under construction in Gujarat, that of Sardar Patel. The cost of which is 30 bn rupees. Wonder what would that statue stand for? Sardar Vallabhai Patel was a freedom fighter who has to his credit the feat of uniting India, as the first deputy prime minister, after we won freedom from the British. This 'statue of unity' will certainly be a tourist spot but to reach it the tourists will have to pass through the poverty and misery of the living people! This obsession with investing in buildings and structures seems to be a common disease found among all those in authority, be it in politics or religious life.
So we now have civil and legal protection for rivers, cows, temples (also places where temples were once believed to be!) ... Wonder when will people, especially women, poor, disadvantaged, activists, journalists, get protection?
Then there is the tallest statue in the world under construction in Gujarat, that of Sardar Patel. The cost of which is 30 bn rupees. Wonder what would that statue stand for? Sardar Vallabhai Patel was a freedom fighter who has to his credit the feat of uniting India, as the first deputy prime minister, after we won freedom from the British. This 'statue of unity' will certainly be a tourist spot but to reach it the tourists will have to pass through the poverty and misery of the living people! This obsession with investing in buildings and structures seems to be a common disease found among all those in authority, be it in politics or religious life.
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