Kannada Chaluvali Vatal Paksha president and former MLA Vatal Nagaraj on Sunday demanded that British-era statues of King Edward VII, Queen Victoria and Mark Cubbon be removed from Cubbon Park here.
He demanded that roads named after British rulers be renamed. Mr. Nagaraj told presspersons here that it was a shame that remnants of the imperialist rule still adorned the city, sending a wrong message to the younger generation.
He said the statues of King Edward VII, Queen Victoria and Mark Cubbon in Cubbon Park represented the era when India was colonised by the British. Instead of giving those statues a facelift, they should be removed and kept in museum, and in their place, statues of Indian freedom fighters should be installed. He added that it was a shame that an equestrian statue of Mark Cubbon was right in front of the Karnataka High Court.
Mr. Nagaraj’s demand comes after the Horticulture Department sought assistance of the Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath and the Department of Archaeology to restore five statues, including three of the British era, installed in Cubbon Park. He threatened of launching an agitation if his demand was not met.
