Author: Rajesh Sisodia
Publication: NDTV.com
Date: February 3, 2004
URL: http://www.ndtv.com/morenews/showmorestory.asp?slug=Storm+over+Jyoti+Basus%27+statue+in+Kolkata&id=48365
A storm has erupted at the Kolkata
book fair, not because of any literary transgression, but over three statues
made of wax that have been put on display in a mobile museum.
One is of Nobel Laureate Rabindra
Nath Tagore, another, of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. It is the third --
of West Bengal's former Chief Minister Jyoti Basu -- that has stirred up
a hornet's nest.
Freedom fighter?
The Marxists insist it was fitting
that Basu's statue should stand shoulder to shoulder with Tagore and Netaji
at the exhibition of Bengal's greatest sons.
"Basu is also a freedom fighter.
He started his fight for India's freedom when he was a student in England,"
said Biman Bose
chairman, Left Front.
But the freedom fighter tag has
caused uproar, with the former chief minister's political opponents threatening
to turn the book fair into a political battlefield unless his statue is
removed.
Attempt at flattery
"Basu never fought for freedom,
he never went to jail. Also, according to Bengali culture, you don't build
statues of living people. This statue is nothing but a blatant attempt
at flattery," said Saugata Roy, MLA, Trinamool.
The sculptor says there was nothing
political about his choice of subjects. But the fact that the mobile museum
is the brainchild of a minister of the Left Front, has not escaped attention.
And sadly, lost in the political
storm is the artistic merit of the creations in wax.
