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India on Wednesday inaugurated the world's highest statue with fireworks, folk dances and floral tributes, deploying enhanced security while local groups offended the exorbitant cost of 182-meter (600-foot) sculpture of the hero of independence.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi officially inaugurated the statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, describing the completion of his animal project as "a day that will be remembered in the history of India".
Air Force jets flew over the giant figure and clouds of rose petals fell from helicopters over his head as Modi leaned in front of the statue on the ground.
Modi praised Sardar Patel's "strategic thinking" for bringing the disparate country together after independence in 1947 and described the Statue of Unity as "a symbol of our technical and technical prowess".
More than 5,000 armed police monitored the huge site in a remote corner of the state of Gujarat. Anand Mazgaonkar, leader of a community group in Narmada district, accused plainclothes policemen of arresting 12 people on Tuesday night. The police denied the charges.
But authorities have not taken any chances in case community groups hold demonstrations to condemn the decision to spend 29.9 billion rupees (US $ 400 million), largely on public funds, to build the statue. over a period of almost four years. Hundreds of Chinese were among the 3,500 workers involved in its construction.
According to the police, drones and helicopters were monitoring the area after chiefs from 22 villages signed a letter asking Modi to stay away from the inauguration.
Modi posters with Gujarat Prime Minister Vijay Rupani were torn or their faces blackened over the weekend. The police kept the new posters put in their place.
– "Iron Man" –
The local legislator, Chotu Vasava, said: "The tribal groups have been exploited by different governments, the BJP (ruling Bharatiya Janata party) is repeating it again."
"I am not against Sardar, but what good is the statue if the inhabitants of the country suffer and are displaced from their homes?"
More than 80% of the local population belongs to tribal groups enjoying special protection status.
The Gujarat government said the 185 families displaced to make room for the statue had been compensated and given 1,200 acres (475 hectares) of land.
Sardar Patel was deputy prime minister of the first Indian government after independence. He became known as "the Iron Man" by convincing the states in conflict – sometimes with a threat of force – to join the new united country.
His name had been largely overshadowed by the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty that had dominated Indian politics since 1947. But Modi-inspired nationalists sought to put it back on the scene, with critics accusing them of appropriating his legacy. .
The statue is more than twice the size of the New York Statue of Liberty and is also superior to the Temple of the Spring Buddha, 128 meters (400 feet) high in China, the next statue of the world. It is composed of nearly 100,000 tons of concrete and steel.
The online reservation to visit the Statue of Unity has been opened with an admission fee of 350 rupees (USD 4.75) for the observation deck of 153 meters high.
Indian officials hope the statue will attract 15,000 visitors a day in the remote corner of Gujarat, about 100 kilometers from the nearest town, Vadodara.
India is also working on a giant statue of the 17th-century warrior king, Chhatrapati Shivaji, riding a horse and wielding a sword, which is expected to dominate the Mumbai shoreline from 2021. The current design would make it 212 meters from above.
Indian officials feared that community groups could organize demonstrations to seek compensation for land taken to erect the Statue of Unity
Modi praised Sardar Patel's "strategic thinking" for reuniting the disparate country after independence in 1947
Modi's nationalist government has made the Statue of the Unit one of its flagship projects in anticipation of next year's national elections
Modi paid tribute as air force aircraft roared over troops and dance troupes performed.
