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Dress code debate: Statue of 1st Odisha CM redone 2 times
The sartorial choice immediately triggered a major controversy with his daughter Krishna Mohanty furious at the depiction.
Municipal authorities of a town in Odisha on Wednesday removed a statue of Odisha’s first-elected chief minister Nabakrushna Choudhuri, the second of the late politician they have removed in two days -- both on account of the clothes he is shown wearing.
On April 1, the statehood day of Odisha, Angul Municipality authorities installed a full-size statue of Choudhuri at the Gopabandhu Park in which he was shown as wearing a coat and a trouser, attire which the former Gandhian never wore in his life. The sartorial choice immediately triggered a major controversy with his daughter Krishna Mohanty furious at the depiction.
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“My father was a freedom fighter and a Gandhian known for his simplicity. He never worn a coat, trousers and shoes and wore dhoti and kurta like most Gandhians,” she said.
Soon after the controversy erupted, the officials on Tuesday removed that statue and installed another one in which Choudhuri was shown wearing a dhoti and kurta. However, the new statue triggered another controversy as his daughter took offence to the way the dhoti was draped. “The dhoti almost covers his feet which looks funny. People of Odisha never wear dhoti like this. I don’t know what is the point of installing a statue of my father if the authorities can’t depict him properly,” said a livid Mohanty.
Mohanty said she was personally against statues because they attract bird droppings. “The officials could have spoken to me,” she said.
Both statues are made of fibre glass.
Ranjan Patra, a lawyer from Angul, lodged an FIR at the local police station alleging that the statue (the second one) was an insult to the people of Odisha. “The dhoti looks like a lehenga. I have demanded an investigation into the matter and stringent action against the people involved in it. The statue needs to be replaced,” said Patra.
On Wednesday, Angul municipal authorities removed the second statue and apologised. “We apologise for the error. We will come up with a new statue,” the chairman of the municipality, Akshaya Kumar Samant. Chief advisor to chief minister, R Balakrishnan said henceforth statues of eminent personalities can be installed only after permission from the state’s culture Department.
Balakrishnan said the state government would build a statue of Choudhuri and install it at Angul. An official team will also visit Baji Rao hostel set up by Choudhuri and his wife Malati Devi on Thursday and draw up a plan for its development and conservation.
Choudhuri who was CM between 1950 and 1956, is a revered figure in Odisha politics and is considered the epitome of probity. After he quit as chief Minister, he joined the Bhoodan movement and left Congress party which he thought was becoming corrupt and selfish.
The massive Hirakud Dam was constructed during his tenure. He got the Odisha Official Language Bill passed in 1954 making the use of Odia compulsory in official work.
