Follow the law and keep your promise, former minister tells Yeddyurappa

Prominent citizens of Bangalore are joining the battle to prevent a war memorial from coming up on the Indira Gandhi Musical Fountain park. The latest to make his opinion known on the issue is B Subbayya Shetty, former minister for education in the Devaraj Urs cabinet, which framed the Karnataka Government Parks (Preservation) Act 1975 to protect public parks.

In a six-page letter to chief minister BS Yeddyurappa (dated July 22), Shetty said that a war memorial is an expression of people’s gratitude for the supreme sacrifice made by the nation’s bravest children.

Stating that “the people have a duty and a right to erect a war memorial to express their gratitude”, Shetty said that it, however, “should be constructed without any acrimony, without violating any law, without harming the  interests of the future generation and without any other selfish motive”.

The former minister has contended that the war memorial plan violated the Karnataka Government Parks (Preservation) Act 1975, according to which it was the duty of the government to preserve and maintain the parks as horticulture gardens.

The construction of the war memorial in the Indira Gandhi Musical Fountain park has raised severe objections from greens and citizens. Shetty argued that using a government notification to transfer a portion of this public park for a different purpose other than that mentioned in the Act, was null and void.

“It is a clear sign of violation of the Act. This is the only prime land in Bangalore now. There is also a national policy which says there should not be any violation of civic amenities to provide a memorial,” he told DNA.

In the letter, Shetty wrote: “Would those martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the future generations approve such depriving of land protected for the future for constructing a war memorial in their name?”

He has also asked the chief minister to explain as to why the promise made by him on the floor of the legislative council on June 1, 2010, was not kept. “The BJP won the elections on the slogan ‘Promise not kept by JD(S)’. The people expect you to honour the promise which you have made on the floor. I am anguished with the decision made now. Thus I have written a letter now and am awaiting a reply from the chief minister,” he said.

The letter also listed out the points raised at a meeting of the Forum for National Integration, of which Shetty is president.
Firstly, the participants had opined that the ongoing work on the war memorial must be stopped immediately as it violated the national policy on war memorials. Secondly, they were of the opinion that the Centre was considering erecting a war memorial in Delhi. Such a memorial need not necessarily be in Delhi. It could be in the south too. Kodagu, a place from where many brave men had sacrificed their lives, could be an ideal location for such a memorial, Shetty cited the participants as saying.

Shetty has forwarded copies of his letter to the chief minister to prime minister Manmohan Singh, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and opposition leader LK Advani among others.