With the change of guard in Uttar Pradesh, the Dalit icons, who were very dear to the previous Mayawati regime, are out of favour with the new dispensation.
On Saturday, the Samajwadi Party government reversed yet another decision of the Mayawati regime. It scrapped public holiday on October 9, which is the sixth death anniversary of Bahujan Samajwadi Party founder and Dalit icon Kanshiram.
Government sources here said October 9, declared a public holiday the previous BSP government, will no longer be so.
Ever since the Akhilesh Yadav government assumed office around six months back, it has virtually shunted the Dalit icons to oblivion, removing their names from government -sponsored welfare schemes and changing the names of the newly-created districts named after them.
Sources said all government offices will remain open on Tuesday.
SP criticised
The decision was sharply criticised by the BSP leaders. They said it reflected the ‘anti-Dalit’ mindset of the SP government. “The BSP never showed disrespect to the icons of any party,” a BSP leader said.
The fact that Kanshiram was not popular with the new regime was clear before also as the government recently decided to scrap an award instituted in the BSP founder’s name.
Renamed
It rechristened the award after the legendary Indian army jawan Abdul Hamid who had laid down his life while fighting for the country against Pakistan.
The Mayawati government had started an award in the name of Kanshiram for those doing commendable work in the field of forest and environment conservation. But the Akhilesh government rechristened it.
‘No respect for ideologues’
Though BSP leaders here accuse the government of showing disrespect to the Dalit ideologues, the ruling party leaders rejected the charge. “The BSP regime had discriminated against certain communities and took care of its vote bank only,” they said.