There is a sinister co-incidence about the fact that the tragic terror that struck Mumbai on November 26 happened on a Wednesday. Only a few months ago a low budget Bollywood film on terrorism called A Wednesday received critical acclaim worldwide. It is a must watch film for any seriosu film buff, and for people who are fed up seeing their country attacked by terrosists repeatedly.

As you have noted I am not going into the details of the ghastly attack – you have already been bombarded with horrific images and bone-chilling statistics by the news media. A terrible tragedy but a real scoop for the media the world over. Every country’s media got a local news angle thanks to people of various nationalities that were killed by the bullet sprayers. As I write this piece news comes in that the US had prior intelligence of such an attack and had warned its Indian counterparts.

The Gateway of India with the Taj mahal hotel in the background on the left

If that is the case, then this whole government should resign. The Indian public is fed up of its politicians whose rhetoric speak larger than actions, who have been mute witnesses as the country has been subjected to brutal assaults on each and every one of its major cities. Terrorists haven’t been able to launch another attack in the USA after 9/11, why should India be such a soft target? Manmohan Singh may be a very apt candidate to be a prime Minister – with his impeccable honesty and his economics background – but history will not forgive him for being soft on terrorism.

Sharing a border with a country that is now infamous for exporting its global jehad factory products worldwide is one problem. Living in an overpopulated country is another. People look the same – attitudes and ideologies are different. While pakistan’s civilian government led by President Asif ali Zardari and Prime Minsyeter Yousuf Raza gilani wants peace and friendship with India, its military and intelligence agency veer off in the opposite direction.

The statue will be of the Maratha warrior king Shivaji, a hero in Maharashtra and the rest of India for his defiance of Mughal and British forces. There are already several statues of Shivaji riding a horse with a sword in his hand at important locations in Mumbai – India’s financial and film capital.

It seems that like the ancient Colossus of Rhodes, Christ the Redeemer in Brazil and Mother Russia monuments built as tributes to a nation’s achievements, Mumbai too may get a wonder of its own. A state-government-appointed committee selected the off-shore site near Marine Drive, which is also known as the Queen’s Necklace because of its line of street lights. The statue will be 300 feet high, built on a man-made island, which will include a library, a museum and an amphitheater.

Critics say the project is too expensive at more than $4.5m.

I quite agree. India might be growing above 8% a year, but it is still a poor country. Millions stay below the poverty line, and struggle to earn even a Dollar per day. Maharashtra itself faces more pressing problems, such as a food, water and power crisis in addition to a high suicide level among farmers.

Indian politicians are of course (in)famous for coming up with such irrational ideas. Mulayam Singh Yadav, during his reign as Uttar Pradesh’s chief minister a couple of years ago wanted to build the tallest building in the world at Noida. Mercifully, it never materialized and saved a lot of the taxpayer’s money. Indeed, such landmarks induce pride to a country, but not when the country cant even feed a major chunk of its population. The rural-urban divide is already threatening a civil-war like scenario for India, and we do not need more of it.

Moves to erect the statue have been described as a ploy to win local support ahead of elections next year. It is a no-brainier in times when politicians are dividing people to fill up vote banks.

Thanks to BBC and CNN-IBN