Why the fetish for statues? SC asks Mayawati government

Why the fetish for statues? SC asks Mayawati government

30 Jun 2009, 0106 hrs IST, Dhananjay Mahapatra, TNN
NEW DELHI: In what could trip UP chief minister Mayawati's plans to construct grandiose stone images of herself, BSP founder Kanshi Ram and Dalit
icon B R Ambedkar, the Supreme Court on Monday sought a response from the leader on a PIL alleging a massive waste of public money. The Supreme Court has indicated that it might have some tough questions for the Mayawati government even as the BSP leader's aide Satish Mishra, who also pleaded her case in court, hit back claiming that monuments and memorials to upper caste leaders never seemed to generate the same concern and outrage. The BSP argued that the developmental work of the Mayawati government never attracted any attention while the monuments were selectively highlighted. The BSP's accusation of a political agenda and bias did not deter the SC from asking for some responses while it explained that it was not passing any sort of interim order. With the PIL arguing that public funds could be better utilised to help UP's poor, the SC seemed to pose a "Why the fetish for your own statues" query for the Mayawati government with a Bench comprising Justices Dalveer Bhandari and A K Ganguly quoting from the petition filed by PIL by advocates Ravi Kant and Sukumar. The PIL alleges that spending over Rs 1,200 crore on statues was irresponsible when UP had the largest population -- 59 million -- of people below the poverty line. Not surprisingly, the SC notices left the Mayawati government bristling. Appearing for the state, Mishra tried to convince the Bench that the PIL was politically motivated. He even objected to a large portion of the petitioner's allegations being quoted in the order. When the Bench appeared unimpressed, Mishra gave vent to the anguish of the Mayawati government and said memorials for other leaders seldom raised an eyebrow, except when they were meant for a Dalit icon. He sought to buttress his argument by citing the example of the sprawling Teen Murti Bhawan in Delhi, which is a memorial for the first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. "We would like the court also to focus on larger issues like Teen Murti Bhawan which at present would be worth more than Rs 3,000 crore. It hurts when no one questions such memorials. But, if a memorial for Dr Ambedkar is built, then objections are raised," he said after the court issued notices. Earlier, senior advocate U U Lalit said the PIL petitioners had no connection with UP and that all the expenditure on the statues and renovation of parks had been duly sanctioned by the assembly and that nothing was being done without proper sanction. When the court said it has not issued any interim order but was merely seeking response of the state government, Mishra said: "We will bring all the larger issues before the court and it should deal with them." Given the tone and tenor of the arguments, the Mayawati government is sure to list out the number of memorials for upper caste leaders and draw a contrast with the smaller numbers dedicated to Dalit leaders. Mishra also told TOI that huge amounts were being spent by the Mayawati government for the upliftment of the poor, building schools and hospitals besides social upliftment schemes for oppressed class. "The media highlights only the memorials built to honour Dalit leaders and ignores the developmental work of the Mayawati government," he said. Petitioner Ravi Kant, who collated information using the RTI provisions, told the court how massive money was spent on erecting statues of Mayawati and Kanshi Ram in various parks of Lucknow -- Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar Samajik Parivartan Sthal, Manyawar Kanshi Ram Memorial at Alambag, Kanshi Ram Bahujan Nayak Park, Ramabai Ambedkar Rally Maidan, Kanshiram Sanskritik Sthal, Dr Ambedkar Samajik Parivartan Prateek Sthal, Manywar Kanshiram Yaadgar Vishram Sthal, Buddha Sthal, Eco Park, Samata Mulak Churaha and Dr Ambedkar Chauraha, Buddha Shanti Upwan and Prerna Sthal. The petition said all these extravagance was happening when UP had the dubious distinction of having the lowest literacty rate of 56.27%, the highest maternal and neo-natal mortality rate, largest child labour force, largest number of people living below the poverty line and only 59% of villages (56,977 of 97,122) electrified. The petitioners also said that the erection of statues of Mayawati and those of elephants violated the Election Commission's model code of conduct which prohibited display of even pictures of political leaders contesting elections. On the contrary, the Mayawati government was busy installing statues of the chief minister and the party symbol -- elephant -- all over the state, they said.

dhananjay.mahapatra@timesgroup.com

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