How Much pro-Dalit Has Been Mayawati?

 

How Much pro-Dalit Has Been Mayawati?

S.R. Darapuri, National President, All India People's Front

Mayawati became the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh four times. Generally, it is expected that during this period she would have done a lot for the welfare of Dalits, but the ground reality is completely opposite to this, as is evident from the following examples: -

1.       Mayawati had banned the screening of the film "Teesri Azadi" made by Kanshiram through BAMCEF in Uttar Pradesh in 2007 because some people from the higher caste had objected to it. This ban continues even today.

2.       Mayawati had banned the sale of Periyar's book "Sachchi Ramayan” (A True Ramayana) in Uttar Pradesh in 2007 because some people from the public had objected to it.

3.       Mayawati had banned the installation of Dr. Ambedkar's statue in Uttar Pradesh even at a public place or private land without the permission of the District Magistrate, which is still in force.

4.       Mayawati had stopped reservation for SCs/STs in admission to sports college given by a Dalit officer (Harish Chandra IAS) with Mayawati's approval because the people of Sarvajan had objected to it saying that it will lead to decline in the level of sports. It is noteworthy that this reservation was not for admission in any team but only for admission in sports college. Mayawati had also blamed that the said officer had fraudulently taken my signature.

5.       Mayawati had issued an order issued by the same Dalit officer with Mayawati's approval that if any Dalit is living on any land (including village land) in a hut or house, then he should not be evicted but the said land should be transferred in his name. Some people of Sarvajan objected to this saying that this will give Dalits the right to occupy anyone's land, so Mayawati cancelled the said order saying that the said officer had got issued a wrong order with her approval   and removed Harish Chandra from the post of Revenue Secretary.

6.       In 1996, Kanshi Ram had announced to hold a “Periyar Mela” in Lucknow and install a statue of Periyar at Parivartan Chowk, but when BJP opposed it, neither Periyar Mela was held nor till date, not only Periyar’s statue, but not even a poster could be installed in Lucknow.

7.       Mayawati’s biggest blow to the Dalits of Uttar Pradesh was to stop the implementation of SC/ST Act in the case of atrocities on Dalits in 2001, saying that it was being misused. At that time, there were 21 crimes of atrocities in the said Act. In the order issued by Mayawati, it was to be applied only in two cases instead of 19: one murder and the other rape. In the case of rape too, there was a condition that it should first be certified by a medical examination. It is well known how much manipulation is done in the medical report in the case of rape of Dalit women. The police deliberately delays registration of the case  so that the evidence is destroyed. Due to this, Dalits had to suffer a double blow. Firstly, those who tortured Dalits were exempted from strict punishment and they continued to torture Dalits fearlessly. Secondly, the compensation given to Dalits under this Act in case of atrocities was also stopped. This anti-Dalit act which no non-Dalit Chief Minister had the courage to do, was done by Mayawati with full impunity. It is also worth mentioning that the SC/ST Act is a Central act and no state government has the power to make any change in it, but still Mayawati banned it with full arrogance. It is also worth mentioning that there is already a provision to act under Section 182 against the person who files a false case against someone.

Some Dalit organizations had challenged the above anti-Dalit illegal act of Mayawati in the Allahabad High Court and got it cancelled. But in the government order issued by Mayawati after this, while cancelling her previous government order, she again wrote that this Act should not be misused under any circumstances, the meaning of which the police understand very well.

8.       During Mayawati's rule, cases of atrocities on Dalits were not registered on the pretext that this would bring disrepute to the Mayawati government. Dalits had to bear the brunt of this. The best example of this is the burning of 18 houses of Dalits by Thakur people in Amethi. I was told about this by a BSP MLA himself. He told that when he met Mayawati regarding the police not registering a case of burning Dalit houses, Mayawati scolded him saying that this would bring disrepute to the government.

9.       In 2007, Faizabad (Bikapur) BSP MLA Anand Sen was accused of kidnapping and murdering Shashi, a Dalit law graduate student of Faizabad, but he was completely acquitted due to Mayawati's protection.

10.     In 2011, BSP MLA Purushottam Dwivedi was accused of kidnapping and rape of a minor backward caste girl, but no action was taken. On the contrary, the rape victim was accused of mobile theft and sent to jail. When there was a huge uproar against this bias of the Mayawati government, the case was handed over to the CBI and the MLA was arrested and sent to jail. Ultimately, he was sentenced by the court.

11.     It is well known that under the Right to Food Act, mid-day meals are being provided in all government primary and middle level schools as per the Supreme Court order. Dalit cooks are to be appointed on priority basis for cooking the mid-day meals. Under this order, some Dalit cooks were appointed in Uttar Pradesh. In 2007, when Mayawati became the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh with a huge majority, the food cooked by a Dalit cook was boycotted in a village school in Sarojini Nagar block of Lucknow, the news of which was also published in the newspapers. Instead of taking punitive action against the students/parents who boycotted the food, the Mayawati government fired the Dalit cook. We, on behalf of the Ambedkar Mahasabha, tried a lot to get the Dalit cook reinstated but failed. Not only this, the Mayawati government even cancelled the government order to recruit Dalit cooks.

It is clear from the above examples how pro-Dalit Mayawati has been.

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Ramasamy Naicker Periyar's Uttar Pradesh connection

 

Ramasamy Naicker Periyar's Uttar Pradesh connection

S R Darapuri, National President, All India People's Front

According to available details, EV Ramasamy Naikar Periyar came to Uttar Pradesh in 1944, 1959 and 1968. In 1944 and 1959, he came to Lucknow to address the Sammelan of Backward and Untouchables of Uttar Pradesh. No details of his 1944 program are available. Regarding his arrival in Lucknow in 1959, a picture of Dr. Chhedi Lal Sathi, the then Uttar Pradesh President of the Republican Party of India, is available which has been published in his book “How to make the common people of India exploitation-free and empowered”. Apart from this, no other details are available.

Periyar meeting in Lucknow and Kanpur

In 1968, Periyar came to Lucknow on 12-13 October. On this occasion, he addressed the Minority and Backward Classes Conference in Lucknow on 12th October and the Untouchable-Backward Conference in Kanpur on 13th October. This conference was held in Barhadari, Kaiserbagh in Lucknow. Regarding the Lucknow conference, Dr. Chedi Lal Sathi had told me that they wanted to take Periyar to the meeting venue in the form of a procession but some upper caste goons objected to this and threatened to attack him. On this Chedi Lal Sathi asked some of his people to accompany the procession with naked swords and sticks. In this way the procession reached the meeting place safely. Dr. Sathi told me that during that time Periyar had also addressed the students of Lucknow University. His associates in this event were Dr. Dauji Gupta, Dr. Gaya Prasad Prashant, Dr. Angne Lal and Shiv Dayal Singh Chaurasia etc. Periyar's speech in Tamil was translated by Dr. Dauji Gupta.

While addressing the meeting in Lucknow, Periyar ji said-

“Our leaders want to keep the old religious and social system, as it was before. The same is still being forcibly imposed. Humanity is far from this. Establishing an egalitarian society is impossible.”

“In the name of God, Vedas, Dharma-shastra, soul, heaven, hell, sin, virtue, destiny, rebirth, Gods and Goddesses, upper caste Hindus have taken advantage. The one who invented God was a fool! He is a great fool! He who worships God is uncivilized! There is no God! There is no God!! There is no God!!!”

“Some people want to maintain the caste system to gain illegitimate advantage. But more people want to end the caste system because they are being insulted based on caste system only.”

“As long as Hindu religion exists, there will be a society of untouchable mentality and discrimination.”

“I had said the same things in 1944 and 1959 in the same ground of the State Backwards and Untouchables Conference.”

Periyar addressed the Untouchable-Backward Conference at the Parade Ground in Kanpur on 13 October. In this conference Periyar said:

“If we had not believed so much in God, Vedas, Shastras, Hindu religion and its Gods and Goddesses, we would not have faced so much social insult and religious exploitation.”

“Governments of old and new times encourage this Hindu religion. Our social structure has become a part of religious life.”

“A dog can eat food from a Brahmin's plate. But man cannot even come near the plate, leave alone eat the food. I want to say in clear words that humans are undoubtedly more dignified than animals.”

“Nation does not belong to any particular community i.e. caste or varna.”

“Those who have advocated the existence of God have created self-serving stories to serve their own ends and to exploit others, which are blatant lies.”

Mayawati government and ban on Periyar fair and installation of statue of Periyar

In May 1995, Mayawati's government of BSP was formed in Uttar Pradesh with the support of BJP. Just a few days after the formation of the government, Mayawati had announced to organize Periyar Fair in Lucknow and install the statue of Periyar at Parivartan Chowk. BJP strongly objected to this, as a result of which Mayawati could neither organize the Periyar Mela nor install the statue of Periyar. Not only this, Mayawati, while in government four times, never displayed Periyar's photo in any fair, meeting, or exhibition. There is so much fear of BJP and maybe even today.

Confiscation of True Ramayana

Apart from participation in the above conferences, Periyar’s  connection with Uttar Pradesh was due to the publication of the Hindi translation of his much-discussed book "Ramayana: A True Reading", titled "Sachchi Ramayana". Lalai Singh Yadav, known as Periyar of Uttar Pradesh, published its Hindi translation in October 1968, due to which there was an uproar in the entire state. On this, the then Congress government banned this book in 1969 and confiscated the book. Lalai Singh filed a case against this in Allahabad High Court in which he won. The High Court said in its decision that the government side could not present any evidence that there is anything in this book that would spread enmity between different communities. The Uttar Pradesh government had filed an appeal against this decision in the Supreme Court in 1970, but there too the government lost and the true Ramayana reached the general public.

Mayawati government's ban on sale of true Ramayana

It was Mayawati's BSP government in Uttar Pradesh in 2007 and at that time BSP had changed from Bahujan to Sarvajan and had accepted the transformation into “Haathi nahi Ganesh hai” (it is not elephant, it is Ganesh). At the same time, some upper caste people demanded a ban on the sale of the True Ramayana book, calling it anti-Hindu. The Mayawati government immediately acted on this complaint and banned the sale of Sachchi Ramayana, which is in place till today. Thus, this action of Mayawati was a repetition of the anti-Dalit action of the Congress government. Not only this, during this period Mayawati had also banned the film named “Teesri Azadi” made by BAMCEF, which is continuing till date. Such is Mayawati's love for Periyar and Dalits!

It is clear from the above description that Periyar had a very close connection with Uttar Pradesh and his ideology has a lot of influence here too.