of Uttar Pradesh, Ms Mayawati, will inaugurate a park in Noida, that
Mayawati claims is a Dalit memorial to symbolise Dalit liberation and
power in India. Noida is close to New Delhi, the national capital. It
is reported that the park, constructed at the expense of 685 crore
Indian Rupees of taxpayers' money, has more than two dozen statues of
Mayawati and her political mentor, Mr Kanshi Ram. The park also has
statues of real Dalit icons like Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, in an attempt to
justify the expenses or probably to make a statement which Mayawati
mistakenly believes, that Mayawati and Ambedkar are of equal standing.
Hundreds of Dalits, including Dalit children starve to death each
year in Uttar Pradesh, where Mayawati is the Chief Minister. It is
estimated that every third Dalit child in the state is malnourished.
Yet, spending such money on concrete, marble and granite in
constructing what is called a Dalit park, is nothing but a shameful
example of criminal wastage of public funds, for which Mayawati should
be prosecuted. It is nothing more than a Bokassan style shameless
self-indulgence.
While the Dalits for whom Mayawati allegedly work for continue to
live in abject poverty, their votes have made her today a millionaire,
from her humble beginnings as the daughter of a postal employee. With
no other source of reported income other than her salary and
allowances as an elected representative, none cares to ask how did
Mayawati acquire such wealth.
It is reported that Mayawati has instructed her police officers to
refuse registering cases, as much as possible, particularly concerning
atrocities committed against the Dalits, so that on records, the
administration can claim that during Mayawati's tenure as the Chief
Minister of the state, the crime rate in the state has drastically
reduced. Yet, for today's ceremony, the state administration has
arranged for 2,500 policemen. This includes nine Provincial Armed
Constabulary companies, 175 traffic policemen, 50 women cops, 1050
police constables, 184 Sub Inspectors, 25 Station House Officers, 15
Superintendents of Police and seven Additional Superintendents of
Police. This is in addition to the anti-sabotage units, bomb disposal
squads, National Security Guard teams, local intelligence units, fire
service units, emergency medical assistance units and the members of
the Chief Minister's security. The mobilisation of these government
agencies, just for the day, also involves enormous additional expenses
to the public exchequer. None of this indeed will help a bit to
improve the condition of the Dalits in Uttar Pradesh or in India. All
this apart, the 84-acre project is also allegedly an environmental
disaster. However, none of this has deterred Mayawati.
Had the state government of Uttar Pradesh intended to improve the
conditions of the poor, in particular that of the socially boycotted
Dalits, there are steps the government could have taken. This includes
among others: cracking down on corruption in the public food
distribution system, which is largely under the control of privileged
castes like the Brahmins and Yadavs (many Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav as
the Chief Minister); ensuring that the complaints regarding the
implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee
Schemes are immediately dealt with; ensuring proper functioning of
government schools that would allow the Dalit children to seek and
obtain education; guaranteeing that there is no discrimination of the
Dalit children and/or their mothers in rural health guaranty
programmes; ensuring that the practice of bonded labour in the state
that exploits the Dalits is put to an end; ending the evil practice of
manual scavenging; and above all, complaints of discriminatory
practices against the Dalits are investigated and prosecuted. The
state government has done nothing in achieving any of these. Yet, the
Chief Minister who heads the government believes, and many Dalit
groups concur, that the park Noida would contribute profoundly towards
ending caste based discrimination in the country.
To bring about social change, what is required are the tools for
social engineering. This includes an administration with the resolve
to end the unacceptable status qou of Dalit discrimination and a Dalit
leadership who are willing to challenge corrupt individuals like
Mayawati on the ground. It also requires a rule of law framework,
which includes a functioning policing system and other institutions
like the courts which are equipped to deal with crimes like caste
based discrimination promptly and effectively. None of this is debated
in one of the most lawless states of the country, Uttar Pradesh.
Yet, what it has today is a Chief Minister who wastes public money in
constructing memorials and parks filled with her own statues. This is
not any investment for the future, but sealing the destiny of some of
the most underprivileged in the country. In that, the inauguration of
the Dalit park today is the state sponsored celebration of the
monstrosity of it.
# # #
About AHRC: The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional
non-governmental organisation that monitors human rights in Asia,
documents violations and advocates for justice and institutional
reform to ensure the protection and promotion of these rights. The
Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984.
Posted by:Vipul Koul. Edited by :Ashok Koul
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