A political fight has broken out in Uttar Pradesh between the ruling Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party over the Government’s decision to use memorial parks for marriage events
The Akhilesh Yadav-led Government’s decision to throw open memorials and parks, built in the memory of Dalit icons by the previous Mayawati Government, for holding marriages and other social functions, has sparked a political debate and given the Bahujan Samaj Party an opportunity to hit back at the Samajwadi Party, by branding the latter as anti-Dalit.
Irate BSP leaders say they will not allow inebriated baraatis to dance to lusty Hindi film songs and desecrate the place, which they claim is like a place of ‘pilgrimage’ for them. Senior BSP leader Satish Chandra Mishra has termed the Government decision ‘illegal and contemptuous’.
The Uttar Pradesh Government’s move has come at a time when the BSP is trying to stitch a Brahmin-Dalit alliance by organising Brahmin Sammelans. The party had reaped rich dividends during 2007 Assembly election by bringing Brahmins under the sarv samaj umbrella.
The BSP romped to power and forgot the Brahmins even as it continued with its Dalit mission. This time the party is trying to replicate the 2007 formula with an eye on lok Sabha election.
The Mayawati Government had constructed 14 parks and memorials in memory of Dalit icons in lucknow and Noida, at the cost of over Rs 5,100 crore. All these parks have large vacant space spreading across several acres of land.
The Samajwadi Party knows that these blatantly constructed memorials have not gone down well with the upper castes. By allowing functions to be held at the Dalit memorial parks, the party sees an opportunity to break the Dalit-Brahmin alliance and also remind the community about the BSP’s game plan.
The BSP knows the going could be tough. Therefore, it is trying to make a point through the Government order which says that no park, playground or open space, specified in the list published under Section 3 or Section 4 (of the Memorial Protection Act), be used for any purpose other than the one for which it was used on the date immediately preceding the date of commencement of this Act. The law further says that the local authority shall maintain all parks, playgrounds and open spaces belonging to or vested in it and included in the list published under Section 3 or Section 4 of the Act. No person, except with the previous sanction of the prescribed authority, can construct any building or put up any structure likely to affect the utility of the park, playground or open space of the park.
It is the second time the Samajwadi Party Government has hinted at opening the memorials and parks for public use. When Mr Akhilesh Yadav took over as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, he declared that the vacant places in the parks would be used for the construction of hospitals. The BSP had cried foul, alleging that under the pretext of hospitals and educational projects, the State Government was trying to oblige private builders. Stung by the allegation, the State Government had retracted.
Recently, when the Smarak Sanrakshan Samiti (Memorial Maintenance Committee) — responsible for maintenance of these monuments and parks — said the vacant places in the memorial would be used for marriages and other social functions, political temperatures shot up by a few notches. The BSP has expectedly made it a political issue and is harping about in its bhaichara committee meetings that are being held regularly.
But it is a fact that the construction of these memorials and parks was mired in controversy. Public Interest litigations were filed in the Allahabad High Court and Supreme Court against construction of these parks in lucknow and Noida, wherein it was alleged that their construction were in gross violation of the master plan and environmental laws.
Environmentalists have said that the construction of memorial and park in Noida is calamitous for the nearby bird sanctuary. They also questioned the large-scale felling of trees in the vicinity. The Supreme Court set up an expert committee and two studies were carried out about the environmental impact of stone memorials in the park’s vicinity and the then BSP-led State Government gave an affidavit in the Supreme Court saying completion of the project would be carried out in the light of the study reports.
Even in the case of memorials and parks built in lucknow, the Supreme Court in its February 9, 2010 order asked the Government agencies not to carry out construction without permission of the Allahabad High Court. The apex court had also asked the Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court to nominate an appropriate Bench to hear writ petitions filed in this matter. The matter is sub judice.
“When the Supreme Court has allowed construction, the State Government decision was violation of the spirit of court order”, Mr Mishra said. Samajwadi Party spokesman Rajendra Chaudhry has argued that the Apex Court was aware of the large-scale anomaly in construction. “We are not destroying anything. Our plan is to use the vacant space”.