Mahatma the big daddy of bust abroad, followed by Tagore

Going by the count of busts and statues of national leaders installed by the government over the last two years, Mahatma Gandhi continues to be the biggest draw for India abroad.
Mahatma the big daddy of bust abroad, followed by Tagore

NEW DELHI: Going by the count of busts and statues of national leaders installed by the government over the last two years, Mahatma Gandhi continues to be the biggest draw for India abroad. The poster boy of nonviolence leads the pack of the Indian icons to get pedestals followed by Nobel laureate poet Rabindranath Tagore.

Among other Indians whose likenesses have got on the honours’ list are astronomer Aryabhatta, Dalit hero BR Ambedkar, spiritual guru Swami Vivekananda, former President APJ Kalam and former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri. “The Ministry of External Affairs regularly supplies busts and statues of eminent personalities from India for installation abroad at prominent locations which helps disseminate our national message,” MEA officials said.

In 2016, demands came for six bronze busts of Gandhi from Sri Lanka, Uzbekistan, Russia, Armenia and two from China. Nepal and Panama also sought the Mahatma's six bronze statues of six feet each. MEA sources told The Sunday Standard that China has shown interest in two busts of Tagore, who gave India and Bangladesh their national anthems.

According to ministry officials, the figures are being installed in prominent places in the host countries as a projection of India’s global cultural influence.
Shastri’s statue is being set up in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan where the leader passed away in 1966. Its neighbour Tajikistan has shown interest in Hindi author Munshi Premchand, whose translated work is a big draw in that country.

In 2016, one Kalam bust found place in Canada. Ironical, it was the first country to levy sanctions against India in 1996 after the Vajpayee government conducted nuclear tests under the leadership of Kalam, then the DRDO chief.

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