Sirgapoor Sahil Reddy - Week 8


DALIT LITERATURE AND CULTURE READING SUMMARY
DALIT ARCHITECTURE
Sirgapoor Sahil Reddy
20161245

One feature that highlights every Bahujan Samajwadi Party’s (BSP) government that have come into power since 1995 has been the campaign to build memorial parks and statues throughout the state, which has in fact been pursued with great impetus thereafter in 1997, 2002 and 2007 when they formed the governments in Uttar Pradesh.
The statues, stupas and memorial parks of Dalit leaders like Kanshi Ram, Ambedkar and Buddha have been built with the sole purpose of arousing a collective political consciousness amongst the Dalit community. By using public spaces Mayawati has aimed to inject into the public spaces of Lucknow, her party’s heritage and Dalit culture.
Through these structures Mayawati is not only asserting the Dalit identity but also s fabricating heritage by updating the past, i.e. ‘anachronistically reading back from the present qualities we want to see in past icons.
On one hand, where I agree with Mayawati’s attempt to glorify those who fought the barbaric caste system by erecting monuments and injecting the Dalit culture into urban culture. More importantly, these monuments bring to light the narratives of the Dalit reformers and leaders, which have always been ousted.
On the other hand, I completely disagree with the use of the public exchequer to do the same. Uttar Pradesh is the most populated states in India, and has lakhs of its population in extreme penury. It also has one of the highest percentages of backward caste population in India. Thus, rather than formulating policies and spending this money for the elevation of these people, she has decided to spend money on promoting her party’s leaders and ideologies. These monuments also carry along with them a large number of irregularities and corrupt practices which is another of the characteristics of the Mayawati government.
Thus, in conclusion, I disagree with the practice of building memorial parks, and statues in order to revive Dalit heritage amongst the people, by spending hundreds of crores. Dalit Heritage could be revived or rather, given greater impetus by using these funds for the present Dalit population in the state, by promoting their education and health.   

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