Is there a need for a statue to show respect to a great person? Does a grand statue equate to a lot of respect? Is erecting a statue the only way to show our loyalty, faith, respect for that great person? Not at all. How respect is expressed by erecting a statue is beyond comprehension. Basically, most of these statues are remembered only on birth anniversary, death anniversary. Sometimes they are orphans. The garlands worn by them on these two days dry up and fade away. These statues are covered with dust. The surroundings are often unsanitary. No one takes responsibility for maintenance. Most of the statues stand helpless like poor orphans.

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Basically, the real question is what is the logic behind these magnificent statues. One argument is that statues are energizing. But after seeing any statue, it was not heard that someone got inspired, got up from the body, changed their life, started to go in the right direction! Some magnificent statues are developed as tourist attractions. A recent example is the spectacular statue of Sardar Patel in Gujarat. Vivekananda’s memorial at Kanyakumari, erected without the need for statues, is noteworthy. Apart from these and few such exceptions, the question arises why and for whom the statues should be erected by spending crores of rupees.

Statues on many roads are a hindrance to traffic. The situation would have been different when it was erected. Now the cities grew. The number of vehicles increased many times. But again, no one dares to remove these statues (and some religious places too) which are causing problems on the road to respect the sentiments of the people. Many places are occupied without proper permits. The government system conveniently ignores it so as not to create a rift in the society!

It is no longer hidden that there is politics of caste, religion, class and party even in erecting statues. Statues, their height, the place of construction, the huge cost incurred for the same have now become a question of identity. New politics is done by attaching religion and caste to statues. No one has anything to do with the morals, principles, ideals created by those noble persons. A certain class, a party wants to burn its nest of existence. This is the dirty type. This is now known to the general public. But the people have also become helpless in front of these political gangsters and tyranny. We are all flowing in this stream. The situation has now gone out of control.

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If we want to remember the so-called noble persons, leaders, their morals, principles in the true sense, if we want to preserve their individual monuments, then we should create ideal schools and colleges in their name. In the libraries there should be created a nice gallery of biographies, autobiographies and other books that preserve the thoughts of such persons. A hospital with better facilities for the poor should be built in their name. Ashrams should be built for the elderly. Playgrounds for youth, parks for walking should be established. A museum should be created to spread the life, thoughts, principles and preserve the memory of a great person. Create exhibits that promote science. This is all creative work. It will preserve that person’s memory in a better way. Not because of statues!

Now even public and social welfare programs like Dahihandi, Marathi literature meeting have become completely political. This is a democracy where money, donations can buy anything! Remember the purpose for which Lokmanya Tilak and other social men of that time started celebrations like Ganesh Utsav. And remember the appearance of that program today, the noise pollution, the traffic jams, the intrusion of party politics, the waste of money due to it. It is time to think about how much of this transition in society is good, how much is bad, how much is creative, how much is destructive. It is natural to change with time. They should be accepted. But the social and cultural utility behind each of those actions should also be checked anew, with conscience. What is wrong must be corrected by social movements.

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In fact, due to the technological improvements in the last few decades, our social and economic life has improved many times due to the rapidly advanced communication, telecommunication and computer revolution. Humankind is experiencing an unprecedented and pleasant revolution in all aspects such as education, health, entertainment, telecommunication. Still there is no peace in the society. There is conflict. Atrocities, rapes, religion-caste discrimination, all these have increased to an undesired extent all over the world. The contrast is staggering. These problems cannot be solved by any theorem, equation, AI. They will be saved only by an ideological revolution built on the foundation of conscience.