Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday unveiled the world’s tallest ‘Statue of Unity’ calling it India’s reply to those who questioned its unity amid a silent protest by thousands of tribals who term the project a harbinger of their devastation.
Unveiling the 182m (600ft) Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel statue, Modi hit out at his critics for politicising the mission for erecting the tallest monument and asked all citizens to remain united in countering efforts made by divisive forces.
“The Statue of Unity is to remind all those who question India’s existence and its integrity. This country was, is and will always be eternal,” Modi said.
He said the height of the statue is to remind the youth that the future of the country is in their aspirations and is as huge as the statue.
“The only mantra to fulfil these aspirations are ‘Ek Bharat-Shresth Bharat’ (One India, Best India). The Statue of Unity is also symbolic of our engineering and technological affordability,” he added.
Indian Air Force jets flew over the giant figure and clouds of rose petals were dropped from helicopters onto its head as Modi bent in front of the statue on the ground.
Modi hailed Patel’s “strategic thinking” in bringing together the disparate country after independence in 1947.
More than 5,000 armed police guarded the huge site with Anand Mazgaonkar, a community group leader in Narmada district, accusing plain clothes officers of detaining 12 people late Tuesday.
Police denied the claims.
But the authorities took no chances in case community groups staged noisy protests to condemn the decision to spend Rs30bn ($400mn) – much of it public funds – to build the statue over a nearly four-year period.
Hundreds of Chinese have been among the 3,500 workers involved in its construction.
However, when Modi was unveiling the statue, twice as tall as the Statue of Liberty, thousands of tribals across the eastern tribal belt of Gujarat, including the Narmada district where the massive structure is located, were observing a pin-drop protest.
Kitchen fires in the homes of an estimated 75,000 tribals in 72 villages were not lit, in keeping with the convention of not cooking when mourning the dead.
The protest was in protest against acquisition of their land without adequate compensation for the project.
Tribal leader Praful Vasava, who has been leading the protest ever since the project was declared by Modi as chief minister in 2013, said, “We are all for giving honour to Sardar Patel, but this is something which is at the cost of our very existence.” 
Patel would never have agreed to this, he said.
Local legislator Chotu Vasava said: “Tribal groups have been exploited by different governments, the ruling BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) is repeating it again.”