[xoxoxoBruce]

India, like the US, has some fabulously wealthy people, and some desperately poor.
It’s hard for me to get my head around building that humongous statue while Mother Teresa’s flock still suffers.
Who in hell do they think they are, Americans?

The controversial Statue of Unity dedicated to India’s first deputy prime minister, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, was unveiled today at a remote corner of India’s westernmost state of Gujarat. Standing 182 meters tall the gargantuan statue is now the tallest in the world surpassing the Spring Temple Buddha in China, which was until now the world's biggest statue at 128 meters. The base upon which the Statue of Unity stands itself is 58 meters tall, taking the total height of the statue to nearly a quarter of a kilometer.

To accommodate the structure, some 185 families, mostly tribal groups with special protected status, were removed from their homes, and those displaced by the project complain that they have not been adequately compensated. Others bemoan the colossal wastage of public money. The bronze-clad Statue of Unity will not even stay tallest for long. In two years time, an even taller statue depicting the 17th-century Marathi ruler Chhatrapati Shivaji will be completed off the coast of Mumbai. This statue will stand 212 meters tall.

What a waste.

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