Dr. Deepak Pandey
Within months of assuming office, the then Akhilesh Yadav cabinet decided to restore the old names of eight districts that the Mayawati government had named after Dalit and social-justice icons. Kanshiram Nagar was returned to Kasganj, Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj Nagar to Amethi, Ramabai Nagar to Kanpur Dehat, Bhim Nagar to Sambhal, Prabuddha Nagar to Shamli, Panchsheel Nagar to Hapur, Jyotiba Phule Nagar to Amroha and Mahamaya Nagar to Hathras. The exercise did not end there. Dr Ambedkar’s name was likewise removed from the medical college at Kannauj, which was redesignated Government Medical College, Tirwa-Kannauj. The Yogi government later restored Babasaheb’s name to the institution. In the Lok Sabha, an SP member tore up a bill providing for reservation in promotions for employees belonging to Schedled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) in government service. On one side, the party now speaks the language of Babasaheb’s constitution and of social justice. On the other, it must still answer for the period when reservation in promotions for Dalit employees was part of its political opposition. His statement led to criticism. The questions that will still be asked are difficult to ignore. What was done while in office to districts and institutions named after Kanshiram, Ravidas, Phule, Shahuji Maharaj and Ambedkar? What was the party’s position on reservation in promotions? He writes on political and contemporary issues. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy, editorial stance or position of Zee News.)
In 2014, the Akhilesh government restored Sant Ravidas Nagar to Bhadohi. A university named after Kanshiram was renamed after Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti in 2012. The change was made through an ordinance dated August 16, 2012. On September 5, 2016, at the inauguration of a Haj House in Ghaziabad, Azam Khan, then a powerful cabinet minister in the Akhilesh Yadav government, commented on the raised finger of Babasaheb Ambedkar’s statue. And why did a senior minister in his government make such a statement about Babasaheb in 2016? (The author is an assistant professor at the Central University of Punjab.
He said the land on which the statue stood belonged to Ambedkar and that the vacant plot in front of it also became his. Calling Ambedkar a land mafia, he said that whichever way the finger pointed, that land became his.
