Dr. Ambedkar Mahasabha honoured the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath with Dalit Mitra or Friend of the Dalit award on the birth anniversary of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar on 14 April 2018 in Lucknow.
This is the same government which had arrested Chandrashekhar Azad Ravan, the founder of Bhim Army which runs over 300 education centres for Dalit children in Saharanpur. On 2 November 2017 High Court described the four cases against Ravan and colleague Kamal Walia as politically motivated and gave them bail. As soon as Ravan was released National Security Act was imposed to arrest him again. This exhibits lack of faith of UP government in Dalits in general.
During the nationwide protests organised on 2 April 2018 against the perceived weakening of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, by the Supreme Court, the Yogi Government was involved in brutal suppression of the movement. In Meerut one dalit youth was killed in police firing, while cases were registered against 9,000 people, of whom about 500 were arrested. Locally maufactured pistols were planted on some youth before their arrest so that Arms Act could be used against them. In Muzaffarnagar too a dalit youth was killed in police firing and cases registered against 7,000 people, of whom around 250–300 were arrested. In Saharanpur, cases were registered against 900 Bhim Army activists. In Allahabad, cases were registered against 27 students who participated in this movement. In the above mentioned cases, sections related to rioting, causing damage to public property, obstructing public servant from performing his/her duty, attempt to murder and Arms Act were used. In Meerut a former Member of Legislative Assembly Yogesh Verma, who is also the husband of Mayor Sunita Verma who belongs to the Bahujan Samaj Party, was first called to assist in controlling the law and order situation, but was later humiliated and arrested from the spot. Will such a government be considered a Dalit friendly government? According to retired Inspector General of Police in Uttar Pradesh, S.R. Daprapuri, cases against SC/STs have gone up in Bhartiya Janata Party ruled states.
In February 2018, in a village in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh, a Dalit girl Moni was riding a bicycle to the market when some people poured petrol over her and set her on fire. She tried to run to save her life but collapsed and died. Earlier in January, in Rasra town of Ballia district, two Dalit youth were caught by members of Hindu Yuva Vahini on the charge of cow theft. Their heads were shaved and they were taken around the village with placards hanging from their necks saying ‘We are cow thieves.’ In March, in Jajauli village of Ballia district, Sonu and Siddhu Singh burnt alive a Dalit woman, Reshma Devi. She had taken a loan of Rs 20,000, and even though she had repayed it, they continued to pressurise her to pay interest on the loan. When she did not acquiesce, petrol was poured over her and she was set on fire.
Many such incidents of atrocities against Dalits can be recounted during the Yogi Government. Two events which specially stand out are where Dalits were not allowed to install statues of Gautam Buddha and Dr. Ambedkar on Ambedkar Jayanti day in Barabanki and Sitapur this year.
In the police station Deva of district Barabanki, there is a village Sarsaundi in which 0.202 hectares of land numbered 312 in the Gram Sabha documents has been earmarked for Ambedkar Park. The villagers wanted to install a Ambedkar statue on the birthday of Dr. Ambedkar. Permission for the event was sought and obtained from the police and Member of Parliament, Priyanka Singh Rawat. But just before the event, Kamlesh Sharma, a village level Revenue department official (Lekhpal), filed a false report that the land in question is disputed and a case was pending with the Land Consolidation Officer. Complainant Kanhaiyya Lal is owner of a nearby brick kiln but not a citizen of the Gram Sabha. Two residents of the village, Kabir Ahmed and Pramid Chauhan, have been shown as witnesses in the report; both now regret having signed the document. When an enquiry was made with the Land Consolidation office, no case was found to be pending there. Quite clearly the Lekhpal is affected by an anti-Dalit mentality.
The story of village Gumai falling in GS Ranipur Godwa and PS Thangaon of district Sitapur is even more interesting. A resident of the village, Gulshan s/o Banwari, wants to install statues of Gautam Buddha and Dr. Ambedkar on his personal land. On the adjacent piece of land four walls of an unfinished temple stand. The structure doesn’t have a ceiling and there are no deities installed inside. This land belongs to Jagrani whose late husband Medilal was earlier the Gram Pradhan and she also agrees with the idea of installation of the statues of Buddha and Ambedkar. In fact, the two statues have already been procured are kept in her house, which is the only permanent residential structure in the village. Some upper caste people under the patronage of BJP MLA Gyan Tiwari have opposed the idea of installation of these statues. None of them are residents of the GS Ranipur Godwa and in that sense are outsiders. Under their pressure, the police has filed a report that a dispute could erupt if Ambedkar’s statue is installed next to the temple of a goddess. This, despite the fact that Jagrani, the owner of the land on which four walls of the incomplete temple stand, and Gulshan, on whose land statues are to be installed, have no dispute between them.
A situation has been created in these two villages that now the villagers seeking the installation of statues of Ambedkar and Buddha will have to seek the permission of the State government through their respective District Magistrates. In both cases the issue has been made a victim of unnecessary bureaucratic entanglement, in which an immediate solution may not emerge. The people may have to approach the court of law, which will be a costly affair. The anti-Dalit mindset of people in the party, government and administration of a ‘Dalit friendly’ CM are at naked play in both cases.
