Jayalalithaa asks PM Modi to ensure Thiruvalluvar statue is treated with respect, installed soon

Following the controversy regarding the installation of a Thiruvalluvar statue at Haridwar, Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday to ensure that the statue is installed at an appropriate location at the earliest.

In the letter, she wrote, “I request you to kindly take up this matter with the Government of Uttarakhand urgently and to ensure that the statue of Thiruvalluvar is treated with due respect and is installed at an appropriate location at the earliest.”

The proposal to install the Thiruvalluvar statue in Haridwar was first made by BJP MP Tarun Vijay. On June 18, 2016, the statue was flagged off from Kanyakumari and was installed at Shankaracharya Chowk in Haridwar instead of the originally planned Har ki Pauri, due to protests.

The Chief Minister stated in the letter that the statue was supposed to be unveiled on June 29 but this was called off due to protests. “It is learnt that the Thiruvalluvar statue is now lying in the Dam Kothi Guest House, Haridwar, in an abandoned condition. The visuals of the statue in this condition beamed on television screens is causing outrage in Tamil Nadu,” she states in the letter.

She has asked the Prime Minister to ensure that the statue is treated with respect and installed at the earliest so that the whole objective of installing the statue in a pilgrim centre in northern India will not be defeated.