This is no ordinary edict on stone. Neither was December 12, 1911 any ordinary day. Yet, both are forgotten. So is the park where the announcement was made on that historical day. Today, not many people remember  the Coronation Park in Delhi's Model Town. Its rusty gate remains locked and the only way to get in would be to scale the wall.

King George V and Queen Mary laid the foundation stone for the Viceroy’s residence at the Coronation Park. However, on the advice of Sir Edwin Lutyens it was later changed to Raisina Hill, where it lies today---one of the most important buildings of modern India---now the Rashtrapati Bhawan. Also laid was a grand road appropriately called Kingsway (now known as Rajpath), which led up to the War Memorial (India Gate).

A new shopping centre – the Connaught Place and a sports stadium near India Gate (National Stadium)---also became part of the New Delhi project. The construction cost the British £10,625,000 (around Rs. 70 crores in today's value) and the viceroy formally moved into his official mansion on December 23, 1929.

It has been 54 years since the British left India. Gone is the pomp of the Raj. India Gate has been bereft of a statue ever since that of King George was removed and dumped in the Coronation Park. The park itself cuts a sorry figure. Wild grass is threatening to dwarf the towering statues. Puddles of rainwater add to the misery of the stray tourist who can find the park. It's a heritage site gone to seed.

The huge 15 metre [50 feet] statue of King George V that rises ghost-like among the trees looks desolate and out of place. The once almighty King on whose empire the sun never set, is surrounded not by his nobles and courtiers but by weeds and thick undergrowth of grass. Scattered at some distance are the satraps of the British Raj languishing in the park. Some statues have simply disappeared and only their stands remain.

Controversy has been dogging the park right from its inception. The park is a picture of governmental apathy and neglect. It is caught in a war of words between the Public Works Department and the horticulture department.

The responsibility of clearing the place of grass lies with the latter while the maintenance is former's job. Both blame each other for the shabby treatment being meted out to India's history. Earlier, the park's records were with the ‘A’ division of CPWD. Since three years, the work has been downgraded to the 'B' division.

Caught in this bureaucratic wrangling are some eight odd statues of governors and nobles, who cannot be identified as someone forgot to inscribe their names on the pedestals. There are 20-odd blank pedestals that once bore the weight of senior British governors and generals.

There has been a raging debate about the relevance of the park between politicians and historians. While politicians say that the British tormented India and should not be glorified, historians, on the other hand, feel that good or bad, they are a part of Indian history and deserve their rightful place. But no one's listening.

The park has not just been forgotten by the government agencies but even by the residents of Delhi and the tourists who flock the capital. Only the followers of the Raj nostalgia visit it. 

The junkyard of statues that stand neglected behind a wire fence surrounded by acacia trees is testimony to the fact that history cannot be obliterated. It can just be vandalized.