Comedian in US jokes about Statue of Unity; Netizens give him blistering response

The Statue of Unity, honouring Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, has become a global topic of discussion for being the tallest statue in the world, surpassing several prominent statues including the Statue of Liberty in New York. While the inauguration of Sardar Patel’s statue came as a proud moment for the country, and amid reports that over a lakh visitors went to see it in the first 11 days since it was opened, Trevor Noah, host of American television program The Daily Show took a shot at the statue in a segment on his broadcast.

Noah on Monday spoke about the Statue of Unity during his show in which he questioned India’s on building a $400 million (Rs 2,989 crore) statue, inserting a reference to how the money would have been better spent helping out the caravan that is making its way to the US, which US President Donald Trump politicised by calling an 'invasion'. Noah, a South Africa, went onto suggest that it would have been a better idea to build a statue of Mahatma Gandhi, by giving a bizarre reason that ‘he was much skinnier, which would have reduced the cost by half’:

“$400 million.. for a statue? You realize for that amount of money you can fly the caravan back from Sweden first class...What are you doing India? I am not saying that India shouldn't build statues, but not build one of like Gandhi. He is also famous and he was much skinnier.. Then they could have saved the materials, same height, half the cost,” Noah said.

READ: For Critics Of The Statue Of Unity, Here's A Question

Interestingly, his remarks on the Statue of Unity were not appreciated by the netizens, as they ended up reminding the ‘The Daily Show’ host about the history and importance behind the Statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel for India.

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READ: So Just How Tall Is The Tallest Statue In The World? Here's How India's Statue Of Unity Goes Up Against Eiffel Tower, Titanic, Giant Sequoias, Blue Whales And More!