Maya146;s myths

There are few who can beat Mayawati in the business of myth-making. The nation is unlikely to forget in a hurry that diamond-spangled cake c...

There are few who can beat Mayawati in the business of myth-making. The nation is unlikely to forget in a hurry that diamond-spangled cake cutting ceremony conducted in a Lucknow marriage pandal not so long ago to celebrate the UP chief minister8217;s birthday. But the spin-offs from self-promotion are necessarily limited. There is only that much one can gain by beating one8217;s own drum. More effective, surely, would be to latch on to a greater personality in order to buttress one8217;s own. That is why Mayawati decided a long time ago to harness the power and mystique of B.R. Ambedkar, the legendary Dalit champion and a founding father of the Indian republic, to her greater glory.

If behenji8217;s birthday was big, Babasaheb8217;s will now be bigger, much bigger. Five additional trains will be requisitioned to carry rallyists for the Mahapardafash rally to marked B.R. Ambedkar8217;s birthday later this month during which behenji will provide the main soundbites. If behenji gets an impressive security cover as the chief minister of the state, Babasaheb8217;s statues in the state capital will now be entitled to their very own platoon of bristling bodyguards who will, presumably, keep a keen, round-the-clock eye out on potential vandals and pesky pigeons. Some 220 policemen and a tidy sum have been especially requisitioned for this crucial operation of guarding these inanimate representations. As Mayawati no doubt impressed upon her police force, for her voters Ambedkar8217;s monuments are as important as the shrines at Kashi and Ayodhya.

What Ambedkar would have thought of all this fuss will, of course, never be fathomed. But it is quite likely that a man so renowned for his rational outlook and commitment to democratic values would have winced at the prospect of having his image in stone, and would certainly have frowned at the thought of having these very statues guarded. Wasn8217;t it he who so memorably commented that 8216;8216;we must realise that our people have yet to learn it constitutional morality. Democracy in India is only a top-dressing on an Indian soil, which is essentially undemocratic.8217;8217; His efforts were to deepen democracy at every level of Indian society. But ask Mayawati if she cares.