False pretences

A new dalit memorial park in Noida has kicked up heated debate in the country. Its critics have dismissed it as a colossal waste. Colossal it surely is. Spread over 33 hectares, the Bhim Rao Ambedkar Park cost the government Rs 684 crore. It houses statues of dalit icons including Ambedkar, Jyoti Rao Phule, Kanshiram as well as Mayawati, Uttar Pradesh’s chief minister.

Mayawati has justified the park on the grounds that statues honouring the contribution of dalit icons are a rarity in India. Indeed but for some statues of Ambedkar, those of other dalit leaders are rare. The few that exist are often desecrated. For centuries dalits have been excluded from public spaces and their contribution to India’s history, literature and culture has not been recorded or recognised. The Bhim Rao Ambedkar Park aims at righting this wrong. Clearly, the conception of the park is rooted in the deep vulnerability that has been the dalit experience for centuries. Mayawati wants to ensure that there will be no erasure of the icons; hence the statues are made of stone or bronze — both hard to destroy.

Mayawati is right in pointing out that she is being singled out for criticism when many others too have gone on statue building sprees. It is a pity, however, that Mayawati, who has broken several stereotypes and been a trailblazer in many ways, has chosen to imitate other politicians who’ve built statues of themselves or affixed their names to airports, hospitals and roads in order to be remembered.

If Mayawati wants to be remembered and more importantly thanked by future generations of dalits, she should focus on improving their situation. Spending on health and literacy rather than on statues should be her priority. That her priorities are seriously misplaced is evident from the fact that while Rs 684 crores was spent on the park in Noida, just Rs 18 crore has been sanctioned by her government for control of Japanese encephalitis, an epidemic that has taken the lives of over 400 children in Gorakhpur district alone this year.

Dalit literacy in Uttar Pradesh is far lower than the national average. It is in primary education of dalit children and public health in rural areas that her government should focus.  Building dalit self-confidence and solidarity is undoubtedly important but these will come by providing dalit children with education and health facilities. Statues cannot improve the human condition.