Friday, January 22, 2010

[ZESTCaste] Army to protect Indian minister's statues

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/7045137/Army-to-protect-Indian-ministers-statues.html

Army to protect Indian minister's statues
A controversial Indian minister is to recruit a paramilitary force to
guard a series of public statues of herself she has had erected.

By Dean Nelson in New Delhi
Published: 6:53PM GMT 21 Jan 2010

Mayawati, the 'untouchable' leader of the pro-dalit Bahujan Samaj
Party, has provoked outrage throughout India over her decision to
spend millions of pounds on a series of marble statues.

She has also spent public money on figures of her former partner and
mentor Kanshi Ram, and Dr Bimrao Ramji Ambedkar, the untouchable
architect of India's constitution who converted to Buddhism in protest
at Hindu treatment of lower castes.

Tamil civilians flee from their Tiger 'protectors' as Sri Lanka war worsens
Afghans armed to protect villages in new American initiativeThe
statues, in particular those of herself, have been strongly criticised
as an act of self-aggrandisement and a waste of money in a state where
millions live in poverty.

The Kanshi Ram Memorial is more than 130ft high, and has so far cost
more than £40 million. It features a giant figure of Mayawati,
carrying her trademark handbag, and her late partner and political
mentor Kanshi Ram. Its dome is believed to be the largest in India.

Ms Mayawati has defended the construction of the statues as a tribute
to Dalit advancement and suggested they could attract tourists to the
state capital Lucknow. But her ministers are now worried they could be
damaged by her opponents and have begun a campaign to recruit 1,000
new soldiers to protect them.

"The new force will be named State Special Zone Security Force and
will be headed by an officer of the rank of inspector general, who
will have a superintendent and a few deputy superintendents to assist
him," said Uttar Pradesh home secretary Mahesh Gupta.

The troops will guard memorials to Dr Ambedkar in Lucknow and Noida,
close to New Delhi, two Kanshi Ram memorials and the Kanshi Ram Green
Eco Garden, which is built on the site of a district jail which was
abandoned to make way for the project.

A spokesman for the opposition Samajwadi Party, said his party will
replace the statues and disband the security force if it returns to
power in the state. "They are being built with taxpayers' money which
should be spent on development," he said.

__._,_.___
----
INFORMATION OVERLOAD?
Get all ZESTCaste mails sent out in a span of 24 hours in a single mail. Subscribe to the daily digest version by sending a blank mail to ZESTMedia-digest@yahoogroups.com, OR, if you have a Yahoo! Id, change your settings at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/join/

PARTICIPATE:-
On this list you can share caste news, discuss caste issues and network with like-minded anti-caste people from across India and the world. Just write to zestcaste@yahoogroups.com

TELL FRIENDS TO SIGN UP:-
If you got this mail as a forward, subscribe to ZESTCaste by sending a blank mail to ZESTCaste-subscribe@yahoogroups.com OR, if you have a Yahoo! ID, by visiting http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/join/

Also have a look at our sister list, ZESTMedia: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/
.

__,_._,___

No comments:

Post a Comment

Blog Archive