Lyricist Javed Akhtar took to his Twitter handle and reacted to the idea of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s statue which will be installed near India Gate in Delhi. While Prime Minister Narendra Modi had unveiled a hologram statue of Netaji for the time being on the occasion of his birth anniversary, Akhtar believes that although the statue is fine, ‘the choice of the statue is not right (sic)’.
He wrote in his recent tweet, “The idea of Neta ji statue is fine but the choice of the statue is not right. All day the the traffic will be moving around it and the Statue will be standing in the pose of a salute. It is below his dignity It should be either sitting or raising his fist as if raising a slogan.”
After the post went live, it attracted mixed reactions from the netizens. One user replied to Akhtar in the comment section, “Uncle since you are not aware, let me help you here. The canopy where Netaji's statue will be installed is marked in red. Only pedestrian movement is allowed within India Gate premises. You can thank me later." “Sir, if you have any other suggestion, please tell now, so that before taking any further decision, Modi ji should consider your advice once” added another one.
On Sunday PM Narendra Modi announced the decision of installing Netaji’s statute on the occasion of his 125th birth anniversary. While the work on the statue is underway, a hologram statue has been presented at the same place for the time being. Unveiling the hologram statue which is being powered by a 30,000 lumens 4K projector, Modi said, “It was unfortunate that after independence, efforts were made to erase the contribution of several great personalities, along with the culture and heritage of the country. The freedom struggle involved the penance of lakhs of people but there was an attempt to limit their history. But today, after decades of independence, the country is correcting those mistakes with boldness.”
“Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose gave India the confidence to achieve an independent and prosperous country. With great pride, self-confidence and courage, he told the British that I will not take independence as alms, I will achieve it. He was the person who established the first independent government on Indian soil. Our Netaji’s splendid statue, in a digital form, is being established near India Gate. Very soon, in place of this digital statue, there will be a huge granite statue” he added.
