Who says that Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav is addicted to the air conditioned comfort of his living room? Last Wednesday he was up and about and even scaled the walls of Lucknow’s Jaya Prakash Narayan International Centre (JPNIC).
It was the birth anniversary of the freedom fighter who was born on October 11, 1902, in Sitabdiara, a village in Ballia district of Uttar Pradesh (UP). Akhilesh had wanted to pay a floral tribute to the socialist who is remembered for leading a people’s movement in the mid 1970s against the late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s dictatorial rule, and responsible for her overthrow through a total revolution.
However, when Akhilesh Yadav found the gates of the JPNIC closed he had climbed the wall, inspiring his party workers to do the same.
Ruling party Deputy Chief Minister (CM) Brajesh Pathak rebuked that the SP chief had proved that his party prefers anarchy and lawlessness.
Talking to the media, Yadav said that policemen deployed around the JPNIC had tried to stop him from entering the JPNIC and had used mild force to disperse the crowd. He was sad that the police had stopped him. He came here every year to pay homage to JP Narayan, the people’s leader and one of the greatest political thinkers of our times.
The JPNIC was inaugurated by SP founder and the late father of Akhilesh, Mulayam Singh Yadav in memory of a man who gave his life fighting for social justice.
The Red Sandwich
The JPNIC stands on Lucknow’s horizon like a gigantic ‘sandwich in red’, representing perhaps the urgency of providing food, clothes and home for the poorest of the poor in the country’s most backward state. There is a museum on the premises dedicated to the socialist leader who continues to inspire even humble citizens to never fear in a democracy to raise their voice against injustices in society.
To close down the JPNIC and to keep people out of the premises is to deny a part of our collective history, Akhilesh said, adding that he found the path blocked by tin sheets stopping people from paying their respect and from garlanding the bust of JP Narayan.
An official of the Lucknow Development Authority (LDA) explained that the premises of the JPNIC are shut due to construction work and security concerns.
The JPNIC is spread over a three-acre plot in Lucknow’s Gomti Nagar area and is the brainchild of former Chief Minister (CM) Mulayam Singh Yadav. Construction of the multi-functional centre began in 2013 with a budget of Rs 865 crore. It was inaugurated in 2016 by Akhilesh Yadav when he was the CM.
Officials added that no work has been done on the site for seven years due to a lack of funds. Akhilesh had sent a letter to the LDA requesting permission to visit the JPNIC but he did not get a response. That he had entered the premises without permission, it is seen as a law and order matter and the LDA is toying with the idea of filing a police complaint against the former CM.
Meanwhile, this month observes the death anniversary of many good men. Of JP Narayan, but also of Mulayam Singh Yadav who passed away on October 10 last year, and that of Dalit leader and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) founder Kanshi Ram who passed away on October 9, 2006.
Discrimination Against Dalits
More than 20.5 percent of India's 200 million Dalit population lives in UP. Despite being such a large community, crimes against Dalits continue.
The entry of Dalits in temples is banned. In many government schools there is a separate queue for Dalit students. It is not rare for Dalits to be told to sit separately and to be offered food and water in separate plates and glasses.
In the past, the conflict between Dalits and ‘Upper Castes’ was over land, water, and the practice of untouchability. Traditionally Dalits were given lowly jobs like the manual cleaning of human waste and the skinning of dead animals, including cows.
Today, Dalits are prevented even from practising their traditional jobs. Many who have benefitted from nearly a century old effort by the state to improve their economic status suffer an even more vicious attack against them. Those with power in society dictate even more forcefully what citizens should eat, drink, dress and who they are allowed to marry.
Simultaneously, more and more Dalit voices are raised against this attitude. More are protesting, asking questions, filing right to information applications, making the upper castes feel uneasy and giving birth to social conflict at the very root of society. Social analysts fear that conflicts could increase even as the social condition of Dalits improves.
Today, Dalits send a considerable number of representatives to the Lok Sabha and hundreds of members to the different state Assemblies. Yet there is a feeling of alienation amongst Dalit voters.
In the face of increasing atrocities against the community the hopes of Dalits continue to be pinned on the Constitution, and on government jobs as they do not own land and have no family assets to indulge in any business activity.
Who will promise them social justice in the future, is the uncertainty that makes Dalits feel uneasy.
A Leaderless Community?
The Lok Sabha elections in 2024 are crucial, and every political party may not want the Dalit on its dining table, but all politicians want the Dalit’s vote.The problem at the moment is that the Dalit voter is starved of a well-meaning, mature leader.
In the past there was the iconic Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, former Law Minister and father of the Indian Constitution. Many Dalit leaders rose up in different parts of the country after Ambedkar, but little of the work they did in society was reported in a media that continues to be dominated by upper caste people.
Founder of the BSP Kanshi Ram was the next star on the political horizon at least in UP. In the 1980s he empowered the Dalit community by befriending the Muslim and the OBC voter, winning elections.
Kanshi Ram left his legacy to Mayawati who continues to be adored by her constituency. Today this very popular Dalit leader has become a mystery. No analyst is able to figure out why Mayawati has distanced herself from the people on the street, and what kind of politics does she stand for?
Mayawati is pushing her nephew Akash Anand to take over the leadership of the BSP. Can he, is the question.
Then there is the moustache twirling, bike straddling Chandrashekhar Azad. He has a large following amongst the Dalit youth but his persona has yet to materialise into a leader with a mass appeal.
Will it, is yet another question amongst many other queries staring in the face today of all Dalits today.