[Assam] From Tehelka---Manu's Memorial

[Mohan R. Palleti]

C' da:
The same way I guess as they made statue's of Ram, Krishna or Siva....
Hindu's identify the God's with the garb and paraphernelia of the idol.

Same goes with Lady Liberty....


Mohan


>
>>  >I believe he is not one person, but many. There has
>>been many manu's who contributed to the manu shastra.
>
>
> I can believe that. But what I get more curious about, is how they
> decided what this Manu looked like to make a statue of his?
>
> Perhaps it was an abstraction?  Like a body without a face ? Or a
> piece of stone with a nameplate at the bottom identifying it as Manu
> :-)?
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> At 8:41 AM -0400 7/6/07, Mohan R. Palleti wrote:
>>You are right! A government office should not be putting up a idol
>>pertaining to a particular religion.
>>
>>As regards to Manu. I believe he is not one person, but many. There has
>>been many manu's who contributed to the manu shastra.
>>
>>A manu is a person who is supposed to be casteless. He is supposed to be
>> a
>>offspring of a manov and danov. In today's parlance he is the product of
>> a
>>intercaste or inter-state/community marriage. He was vested with the job
>>of writing the hindu laws, because he was thought to be impartial, not
>>belonging to any particular caste or creed.
>>
>>But like any humane person, he too was falible. If a Manu was to rewrite
>>the manu smriti, he would definitely have written it differently..... -:)
>>
>>Mohan R. Palleti
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>>  Is there not a separation of State and Religion in the seculiar Indian
>>>  Constitution which prohibits such display of Hindu religeous figures
>>> in
>>>  public place? How can the symbol of Manu harmless?
>>>  I think he is the cause of the overall deteriation of the Indian
>>>  civilization.
>>>  RB
>>>
>>>  ----- Original Message -----
>>>  From: "Chan Mahanta" <cmahanta at charter.net>
>>>  To: <assam at assamnet.org>
>>>  Sent: Thursday, July 05, 2007 2:01 PM
>>>  Subject: [Assam] From Tehelka---Manu's Memorial
>>>
>>>
>>>>  **** Is it a simple, harmless symbol of  cultural heritage? Or is
>>>>  there a whole lot more to it?
>>>>
>>>>  cm
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>  THE WORSHIP OF FALSE GODS
>>>>
>>>>  http://www.tehelka.com/story_main31.asp?filename=Cr070707shadow_lines.asp
>>>>
>>>>  When a new building was constructed in Jaipur for the state High
>>>>  Court, the local Bar Association put forward a proposal for the
>>>>  installation of a statue of Manu to beautify the premises. From
>>>>  proposal to completion, the entire plan was kept a close secret,
>>>>  never made public until the statue was in place. Manu was the creator
>>>>  of the varna system under which Hindu society for centuries denied
>>>>  all basic human rights and dignity to Dalits. For us, a statue of
>>>>  Manu can only symbolise the unjust social structure imposed on us
>>>>  from time immemorial. All the oppression we continue to suffer is
>>>>  because of Manu and his treatise, the Manudharma Sastra.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>  We turn to the courts when we are in trouble. Can we ever expect
>>>>  justice from a court which we enter looking at Manu's idol?
>>>>  The Constitution has attempted to improve the condition of Dalits
>>>>  through law, but Manu's words have been an unwritten stricture the
>>>>  law cannot touch. Had Manu's statue been installed anywhere else,
>>>>  perhaps we would not have cared to react. But to see such homage paid
>>>>  to a figure who represents all that is unjust in this society, and
>>>>  that too standing proud in the premises of the Rajasthan High Court,
>>>>  is shocking. It is beyond acceptance. We turn to the courts when we
>>>>  are in trouble, which for us is almost perennial. What worse message
>>>>  could we receive? Can we ever expect justice from a court which we
>>>>  enter looking at Manu's idol? It only tells us that even the High
>>>>  Court subscribes to Manu's ideology. On the other hand, the statue of
>>>>  Dr BR Ambedkar, the father of our Constitution, has been shunted to
>>>>  an invisible corner. It says a lot about the mentality of the
>>>>  judiciary and the government in Rajasthan. How is such a system to
>>>>  contribute to the constitutional ideal of a casteless society?
>>>>
>>>>  The statue was installed on June 28, 1989, and we have been fighting
>>>>  it ever since. There were huge protests all over the state soon after
>>  >> it was put up, and a full bench of the High Court ordered that it be
>>>>  removed within 48 hours. We were all happy, but soon after that the
>>>>  Vishwa Hindu Parishad's Acharya Dharmendra filed a writ petition in
>>>>  the court of Justice Mahender Bhushan, who passed a stay order on
>>>>  July 27, 1989 - as a result the statue is there till date. There are
>>>>  many cases dating back to 1989 that have seen their final hearings,
>>>>  but not this one. Each time this case comes to a final hearing, the
>>>>  bench postpones it on the grounds that it is a very sensitive issue.
>>>>  But we will not give up easily - we haven't so far, and we will not
>>>>  in the future. We will continue to file applications asking for a
>>>>  final hearing in this case. We want to see how they will justify
>>>>  their deliberate delays.
>>>>
>>>>  We install statues of Ambedkar because that's our way of reclaiming
>>>>  our lost dignity. But why is the government installing a statue of
>>>>  Manu? The very government which is supposed to have no biases towards
>>>>  any religion or caste. Let there be Manu statues wherever anyone
>>>>  pleases, but the government should not be a party to it.
>>>>
>>>>  Mimroth is a Jaipur-based advocate
>>>>  As told to Praveen Donthi
>>>>
>>>>
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>>
>>
>>
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