India is still par excellence the land of idolatry. There is idolatry in religion, there is idolatry in politics. Heroes and hero-worship is a hard if unfortunate, fact in India's political life - Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar.
Nearly six decades after the father of the modern Indian constitution warned against the dangers of political deification, his legatees have ensured that the Ambedkarite vision is reduced to a statue.
Last month, UP chief minister and 'Dalit ki Beti', Mayawati unveiled 15 statues of herself and her mentor Kanshi Ram. This led to a petition being filed in the Supreme Court where the petitioner has alleged that more than Rs 2000 crores from the state exchequer of 2008-09 and 2009-2010 is being spent on statues and memorials across the state. The court has issued notices to the UP government seeking a reply to the charge.
Typically, even before the matter is heard in the courts, an unfazed Mayawati has already replied: at a recent press conference, she claimed that the statues would be a 'tourist attraction' and the money earned from tourist fees would be used for the development of Ambedkar and Kanshi Ram villages. So, the city of Nawabs that was once known for its rich architectural heritage will now be remembered for the statues of dalit icons and the nearly 60 red sandstone elephant statues that are slated to come up in Lucknow over the next couple of years.
Ironically, it wasn't just Ambedkar who had questioned idol worship in politics, but even the Bahujan Samaj party founder Kanshi Ram who had been critical of it. Interviewing Kanshi Ram in the early 90s, I had asked him what his fundamental disagreement with Maharashtra's Ambedkarites was.
"They build too many statues of Babasaheb, and don't do enough to actually capture power," was his sharp reply, adding, "Our aim in Uttar Pradesh is to find the masterkey to power, not to waste time over building statues."
In 2007, Mayawati fulfilled Kanshi Ram's dream of capturing power in Lucknow, but since then, she hasn't wasted time in celebrating the victory in stone. What are the compulsions that are driving her on this statue building spree, often in blatant disregard of environment norms, and at the cost of crores of public money?
Mayawati is not the first, and certainly wont be the last, politician who has actively encouraged the cult of personality politics. The fact that the 'rationalist' Dravida movement was meant to reject idol worship did not stop its followers from creating a culture of grotesque cut outs and shameless acts of sycophancy. That Nehru seemingly detested hero-worship did not prevent his heirs from naming virtually every government institution or project after a member of the Nehru-Gandhi family.
Unlike the other political dynasties, Mayawati doesn't have a family to fall back upon, or any individual, apart from Kanshi Ram, whose memory she seeks to actively promote. She may speak of Phule-Shahu-Ambedkar as icons of Dalit-backward class empowerment in her political speeches, but the fact is that ideals and idealism of the past matter little to her present, and indeed, her future goals.
Mayawati's self-image is that of an Empress of a new dynasty, unburdened by the norms and conventions imposed by traditional elites.
A Kanshi Ram was deeply influenced by Ambedkar's writings, and felt an acute responsibility to take forward the collective Bahujan samaj identity. Mayawati, by contrast, is a fierce individualist, for whom ideology is a constraint in her meteoric rise up the political ladder.
Kanshi Ram was the quintessential backroom political organiser, Mayawati prefers being seen as the Supreme Leader. Kanshi Ram was never at ease in large gatherings or with public displays of flattery, Mayawati appears to relish the big birthday bash and actively encourages a culture of supplicants who must pay obeisance to her.
Perhaps, as a woman and a Dalit in a patriachal, caste-ridden north Indian society, the dictatorial streak is Mayawati's survival mantra. The short hair, the no frills look, the brusque language, all fit in with the persona of a tough, no-nonsense 'masculine' leader to be feared, as much as she might be admired.
By building statues of herself, Mayawati is hoping to carve out a larger-than-life image that makes her rivals look almost Liliputian. Its not enough for Mayawati's vaulting ambitions to be seen as just another politician, she must be seen as a modern-day dalit heroine. And if she cant be cast in wax at Madam Tussauds like other contemporary icons, why not build statues in UP, especially when it makes good business sense to acquire priceless real estate in the name of a memorial which no one dare touch?
Unfortunately, the Mayawati phenomenon is in danger of becoming a victim of its own success. While her army of loyal followers may not object to their leader's attempt to carve out a permanent place in history, there will come a time when the BSP faithful will want more than just statue politics to be their defining badge. Moreover, electoral success is now increasingly dependent on forging robust social alliances, not simply on relying on narrow caste identities.
The statues and memorials may make Mayawati appear a Goddess-like figure for her supporters, but they will only increase the sense of alienation among other social groups, including the Brahmins who had supported her in her 2007 assembly victory.
The historic 2007 UP mandate was for change, for ending a Yadav raj that had spawned a culture of corruption and criminality. But rather than focus on good governance, Mayawati is now seen to be flirting with the very criminal elements that she had vowed to finish. The Lok Sabha election results should have been a warning. Instead, they seem to have spurred Mayawati to become even more brazen in her attempts at self-aggrandisement. It would be a pity if Mayawati as a symbol of genuine Dalit political empowerment eventually becomes an object of Dalit disillusionment.
To quote Ambedkar again: "In India, 'Bhakti' or what may be called the path of devotion or hero-worship plays a part in politics unequalled in magnitude by the part it plays in the politics of any other of the world. 'Bhakti' in religion may be a road to salvation of the soul. But in politics, 'Bhakti' or hero-worship is a sure road to degradation and to eventual dictatorship."
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i would be obliged if you could reply to my query ...Reply
The media in the past few weeks or rather months now has been spending its maximum energy towards one specific topic , which has although for long been its favourite target the popularly elected Bahujan Samaj Party run government in Indiaâs largest ( population wise ) state â" Uttar Pradesh and the party leader and the 4th time chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, miss Mayawati . the media it must be recalled was never fair to this leader or the party and this has been proven at not one but many instances, the reason might well be that the so called âintellectualsâ that the media people liked to be known as do not like to see a person from the very bottom section of the society and that too a women to rise to such high standards of public fame and has become the icon of crores of Indians.
The media with other âintellectualsâ from various other political parties for the past 2 years of the Mayawati government have not let even the minutest of incidents occurring in Uttar Pradesh pass without bashing the state government and the chief minister for it , but what must be noted at this point is that the same media chooses to look away from bigger issues that seem to take place in the other states , this action of media is pretty obvious and points out the UP chief minister is singled out because she does not believe in giving special benefits to people related to media as otherwise are showered upon them by governments at centre and other states.
The mediaâs latest punching bag is the construction of the various memorials dedicated the dalit icons who have worked for the upliftment of the most backward people of the country. The media and its friends across all political parties do not want these memorials to be built and thus the syndicate of political parties and media together launched a campaign against the building of memorials of various dalit icons in Lucknow and Noida. The political parties have through their friends in legal field have taken the matter to the honâble supreme court where it is subjudice , the media in order to please its political friends and also due to its personal enmity with the representative of the dalits started a campaign against the government and the construction by showing continuous false reports about the excess expenditure over the construction of dalit memorials , saying that the government had failed on its pre election mandates and now making parks for self glorification , something which is extremely preposterous and as far fetched from reality as possibly can be. The cost of building these monuments going by the media reports which interestingly changed almost everyday is around 2600 crore rupees , this is the total sum according to the media itself being spent by the government of Uttar Pradesh for making memorials of people who dedicated their entire lives towards upliftment of people who had lived their lives in the most down trodden conditions for thousands of years , the statues of people who continue to inspire crores of down trodden dalits to fight against all odds to reach a respectable position in life . the media in its efforts has shown its insensitivity towards the crores of dalits across the country .
The media often shows in its reports that the building of monuments is a risk to the environment due to cutting down of tress and thus trying to show this state government as one which is against the environment , but what the media does conveniently miss out is that this is the same government that planted 10 Million saplings in a day in 2007 , and that the government is making an ecological park in the heart of Lucknow city which is the first in the state , and has in the pervious month created 500 acres of green belt in Lucknow, the government has undertaken special aforestation programe in the Bundelkhand region of the state something which media is pleased to forget easily .
The media and its politician friends have left no stone unturned in criticisng the state government against the installation of statues but have never shown to people the marvelous change that these constructions have brought to infrastructure and skyline of Lucknow which has been completely transformed into a beautiful city after the completion of the monuments, which are a treat to the eyes, the media has never ever appreciated the beautiful architecture of the monuments and has also conveniently ignored that the monuments construction had also helped providing employment to thousands of workers too!
An another important incidence that has completely exposed the bias nature of media is the recent announcement of the Maharashtra government to install a statue of Shivaji in Arabian sea on the coast of Mumbai , building of this statue would cost the state of Maharashtra thousands of crores , but the media has not launched any campaign against the state government or Congress the ruling party of that state , whereas Maharashtra too like Uttar Pradesh has been reeling under financial crisis and has faced incessant droughts , the question to be asked here are why the ruling party has suddenly just a month before the general elections in the state realized the importance of Shivaji ? A few days ago in an interview with a friendly news channel a congress spokesperson defended the state government by saying that Shivaji was a great leader , agreed ! But do they then oppose the building of monuments of dalit leaders like Dr.Ambedkar because they do not think of them as great leaders of the nation? This statement has exposed completely the hatred of the party as well as media towards the dalits of this country. A question which an unbiased media should have asked those who are opposing the building monuments
Staying on the topic of memorials of the dalit icons and their importance in lives of the people for whom they are being made for, there is a simple sense of lack of understanding on mediaâs side towards the sentiments of crores of dalits who now see the mockery being made of their supremely respected and worshipped leaders being made by the people who have for hundreds of years exploited them. the media has to understand that the memorials might be just a prop for them to use against the BSP leader but for common dalits these memorials are their temples , a place where they will come from far off places and stare proudly and fearlessly at statues of their idols and worship them and take inspiration from them , for crores of people who were and in some cases still not allowed to use even the by-lanes of their villages to be able to go to these magnificent structures of the idols of their caste would bring them happiness and pride which maybe the insensitive media might never understand , the opposition parties who since their inception have been anti dalit are proving their hatred against dalits by opposing the installation of statues of dalit icons whereas they get every other institution, monument, policy , infrastructure project in the country named just after one family , something towards which the media has turned a blind eye altogether !
The opposition parties have raised a question against the building of the monuments stating the poor economic condition of the state , but can the economy of a state as big as Uttar Pradesh which was under economic crisis since decades ( was in worst ever state in 2007 under the previous govt.) be improved by 2600 crore rupees ? the BSP leader and Uttar Pradesh chief minister in her very first visit to Delhi after taking oath as the chief minister of UP for 4th time paid a visit to the prime minister of India Dr. Manmohan Singh asking him for a special relief package of rupees 80 thousand crore for solving the financial crisis of the state and also to undertake special infrastructural development package for the state it also asked extra financial help for the Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh which due to bad policy of previous government in the state and due to the problem of drought become an extremely backward area, this was also the area from where the BSP had got maximum of its MLAâs so the chief minister in her very first meeting asked for a special relief package for the region, the prime minister had assured that he will give the required help to the UP government , but till date not a single rupee has been given to the state government from the 80thousand crore demanded , this despite repeated requests by the state government and personal reminders by chief minister herself.
The central government now wishes to form a centrally empowered committee to look after the development of Bundelkhand region , the move apart from being unconstitutional, is a sad insensitive effort by the ruling party and leaders to play politics with the condition of poverty and making a mockery of the real issues being faced by the people of that region ,when the same government is not ready to give any financial support to government of that state for the past 2 years and have not even given a proper drought relief package for that region even after repeated request , what do they try to achieve by trying to control the part of state themselves, another important question that arises here is that why is there no proposal for such a central agency for the Vidharba region which is equally affected by drought and backwardness and where maximum number of farmer suicide cases have taken place ?? .the media which is so intellectual misses these points completely, obvious again for their own convenience
The media has projected that the only step taken by the state government towards the upliftment of the dalits is by making statues for them , which again is preposterous and the state government has in the first 2 years of its term earmarked more than 12000 crore towards welfare schemes for amelioration of the sc/stâs of the state
The state government after its formation realized the poor power condtion in the state was the biggest roadblock in the development of the state , thus had requested the central government to give enough power to Uttar Pradesh as it demands being the biggest state in terms of population but the centre did not undertake any such action , something the media again chose not to mention , the state government then decided to gather money from its already limited finances to improve the power situation on the state the media for intentions better known to them and their friends in the other political parties have never really stressed on these issues while bashing the Uttar Pradesh chief minister .
The Uttar Pradeshâs BSP government has undertaken some projects to change the falling infrastructure of the state , city wise development programmes are being implemented in major cities of the state something which no previous government had ever tried before.
BSP during elections had promised better roads in the state and after formation of its government it has spent a large sum on improvement of roads in the state and also on improving the transportation facilities in the state .something which is easily visible while traveling in the state , yet the media likes to ignore this and other schemes of UP government like to open one of its only kind of university for differentially able people in Lucknow which unfortunately does do not attract much attention of the âintellectual âmedia , for whom the only activity that the government is doing is to make statues .
The media has to understand the fact that although it might be able to appease its friend in Delhi with its biased and unfair reporting , but in this effort they have lost whatever little credibility they had held in the eyes of the poor dalits ,whom the media and opposition parties have both used a prop for the their own petty benefits .
For the BSP leader its not the first time that she is in the eye of the storm , she unlike the other dynastical political leaders in the country today has risen from the very bottom and has seen all sorts of accusations but every time people have tried to put bad name on her it is her supporters that have responded on her behalf in such a manner that her popularity has grown several folds. She is to all dalits of this county an inspiration and to most a living goddess who is fighting alone for their benefits and has today reached a position where she can get the statues of their ancestors made in the heart of India ! .
The BSP leader has dedicated her life to upliftment of the most backward people in the country and whenever the nexus of media and opposition parties undertake well coordinated attempts to show her in bad light so as to harm her image amongst the millions of poor who worship her they find themselves helping her grow out as even a bigger and more popular mass leader.
...Reply
People of UP must learn to care for their families, children and then think for well being of so called leaders who are capable of taking care of tehmselves very nicely.
India has survived democracy for more than 60 years but indian citizens must learn to demand more for themselves instead of doing neta puja. Bhaiya , there are no more icons any more, try to learn to think yourself first then these netas.
As concerned citizens, we must bring down the status of so called leaders to level of common man and not made them God. staues may follow - did we not see in Iraq and Russia - statues of yester years biting dust on the ground!!
Below is a message from great philospher and anthropologist Simon, who was wise enough and predicted this in late seventies...
----
Hello darkness, my old friend,
Ive come to talk with you again,
Because a vision softly creeping,
Left its seeds while I was sleeping,
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence.
In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone,
neath the halo of a street lamp,
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of
A neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence.
And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more.
People talking without speaking,
People hearing without listening,
People writing songs that voices never share
And no one deared
Disturb the sound of silence.
Fools said i,you do not know
Silence like a cancer grows.
Hear my words that I might teach you,
Take my arms that I might reach you.
But my words like silent raindrops fell,
And echoed
In the wells of silence
And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon God they made.
And the sign flashed out its warning,
In the words that it was forming.
And the signs said, the words of the prophets
Are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls.
And whisperd in the sounds of silence.
...Reply
Concerned, I am sure you know that there are many who do not think it necessary for government to be involved in the lives of the people at all, other than provide safety and freedom for all through impartial rule of law, and high velocity of justice. This is the first duty of government, the duty for which government was born in the first place, and a failure in this regard immediately discredits a government in my eyes. This is why I do not fault Maya for attacking the collapse in the rule of law head on. Nothing positive will be permitted to happen in UP without it.
This brings us to the other crucial way government affects peoples' lives, because the rule of law costs money - the taxation policy. I share the view that government should only tax the people as little as needed to secure the safety of all citizens (within, and from outside enemies, if any) and leave them alone to do as they please with their time and their money. The only exceptions, in my view, are when historical conditions have created such disruptions of the society that governmental intervention remains the only recourse for bringing about a national balance.
In such cases - US and India are great examples, because both have attempted by governmental intervention to correct historical wrongs, with little real success - I am in favour of the state providing financial support to the good efforts being made by the citizens' own temples/ organizations, because they know the people, and how to really service the desired result. Even such government interventions should be time-dated, and either renewed or permitted to expire, as the situation is resolved. In India, the main social agenda of a GENUINELY nationalist government should be to equalize the quality of, and the access to, education across the country. If this is achieved, the state can return to its' proper role of law and order/defence because the natural expression of 'Indian-ness' is indeed beauty and grace.
...Reply
Whatdahec - I agree it appears somewhat tasteless for Mayawati to be putting up her own statues. I understand the purpose and the rationale... it is still tasteless. ...Reply
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