Poet's statue lying abandoned causing outrage: Jayalalithaa to Narendra Modi

Chief Minister Jayalalithaa sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention for installation of a statue of Tamil saint poet Tiruvalluvar in Haridwar.

Chennai: Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Wednesday sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention for installation of a statue of Tamil saint poet Tiruvalluvar in Haridwar, saying reports about it lying unattended there due to local protests has caused outrage in Tamil Nadu.

She requested him to take up the issue with Uttarakhand government to ensure that the statue is treated with due respect and installed at an appropriate location.

"It is learnt that the Thiruvalluvar statue is now lying in the Dam Kothi Guest House, Haridwar, in an abandoned condition. The visuals of the statue in this condition beamed on television screens is causing outrage in Tamil Nadu," she wrote to Modi in a letter.

"I request you to kindly take up this matter with the Government of Uttarakhand urgently and to ensure that the statue of Thiruvalluvar is treated with due respect and is installed at an appropriate location at the earliest," she said.

Failure to do so would defeat the objective of getting the statue installed in a pilgrim centre in North India, she pointed out.

"I request you to kindly accord this issue the highest priority and prevail upon the Government of Uttarakhand to resolve the matter at the earliest."

Tracing the faltered attempts to get the statue unveiled, she said how local protests had prevented its installation at Har ki Pauri.

Later, the statue was taken to Shankaracharya Chowk, Haridwar and it was scheduled to be unveiled on June 29 by the Governor and Chief Minister of Uttarakhand.

"However, continued protests by local elements prevented the unveiling and the statue was temporarily installed in the Dam Kothi Guest House, Haridwar."

She recalled the initiative of BJP Rajya Sabha MP Tarun Vijay, known for his penchant for the Tamil language, in this regard and said how cutting across party lines, leaders participated in the "Thiruvalluvar Ganga Payanam," (Journey of the statue of Thiruvalluvar to River Ganga for installation of the statue).

"The object of the Thiruvalluvar Ganga Payanam is to show solidarity of the North with the Tamil saint poet Thiruvalluvar's message of equality and ending social discrimination in society," she said.

Her letter comes a day after political parties in Tamil Nadu including MDMK, PMK and TMC(M) urged the Uttarakhand government to take steps for the expeditious installation of the statue.

After efforts by Tarun Vijay to put up the statue on the banks of River Ganga got paused due to protests from local Sadhus, the news alongside visuals and pictures of the poet's statue lying wrapped unattended got due media space in Tamil Nadu.