Maanya Anand Week 8

In the article on Mayawati and her memorial parks in Lucknow, one important aspect of the construction and development of these parks is that they are mostly located on the outskirts of the city of Lucknow- near airports, highways, banks of rivers etc. Even when statues are made to represent Dalit heritage such as those of Ambedkar or Mayawati, everyone does not symbolise them the same way i.e. as a representation of Dalit heritage. Moreover, there was another discussion during class regarding these statues and how people consider it a waste of money, fights taking place over statues that especially represent Dalit heritage in places like Pune and various districts of Maharashtra. However, I do not think there should be any issue with making these statues. If states like Maharashtra can have statues of Shivaji Maharaj and further, the government can spend over a 1000 crores for the statue of unity in Ahmedabad modelled on Sardar Vallabhai Patel, a freedom fighter, statues of figures like Ambedkar should also be allowed to be constructed without resorting to violence and unnecessary challenges because he also at the end of the day is a freedom fighter who fought for our country and its people and is a leader with great respect and value and looked up to especially by the Dalit Community. 

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