Defence projects, invariably, take shape in files marked top secret that are passed, back and forth between a handful of carefully vetted viewers. So, it shouldn’t be surprising that the creation of a National War Museum and Memorial in New Delhi, is taking shape under conditions of peculiar secrecy. The museum and memorial are slated to come up at the very heart of Lutyens’ Delhi, in an area called the C-Hexagon next to India Gate. Construction has already begun on the memorial which has been approved by the Delhi Urban Arts Commission (DUAC). The winners of a global design competition, announced a year ago, are Chennai-based WeBe Design Lab for the memorial and Mumbai-based sP+a Studio for the museum and they are said to have been chosen from amongst 250 proposals.

Globally, the public usually get to see the creations submitted by entrants and the winners of such competitions. In this case, however, the Defence Ministry is maintaining utmost secrecy on the designs. One photograph, which is no longer on WeBe Design Lab’s website, shows deep digging which indicates that the memorial may be below ground level, so that it doesn’t mar the grand sweep from Rashtrapati Bhavan to India Gate. The DUAC has approved the memorial’s design but it has raised objections about the museum. All constructions in the area also have to be approved by the government’s Heritage Conservation Committee.

Not long ago, a police memorial, that was coming up in the Capital was hastily dismantled after an uproar because it was singularly unlovely. It has now been replaced by a much more tasteful creation. Earlier this month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a memorial to BR Ambedkar, shaped like the pages of the Constitution which cost ₹100 crore. Building a memorial to armed forces personnel who have died in action after 1947 was a BJP campaign promise that it’s been in a rush to make good. Perhaps, that’s why it’s keen to ensure that objections aren’t raised to the project and that it can be got underway, if not finished before the elections. But secrecy on such constructions is always a bad idea and the government would be well-advised to let the public offer its opinions before going any further.

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