Why Many Statues of Dr B R Ambedkar in India?

“Learning the use of symbolic means: Dalits, Ambedkar statues and the state in Uttar Pradesh” is a nice paper written by french scholar Nicolas Jaoul which explains the social theory and rationale behind the ever increasing no of statues of Dr Ambedkar in India."

The Ambedkar statue stands as a major feature of the Dalit movement. In the media, the Dalit emphasis on symbolic politics has been dismissed as mere tokenism, and the Ambedkar icon has been denigrated as Westernised. Despite attempts at studying Dalit politics since the BSP became one of the key players in Uttar Pradesh, there has been a
lack of scholarly attention to the deeper social changes involved in the Dalits’ relationship with the state. This study of the Ambedkar statues in Uttar Pradesh tries to fill this gap by taking three dimensions into account: the iconography, the way in which the statues have spread historically, and the meanings and stakes involved for those who mobilise around them. The assumption is that the Dalits’ struggles for the imposition of their symbol in
public places can contribute to an understanding of the manner in which Dalits have imagined the state and engineered strategies towards it. These statues seem to be the focal point for renewed aspirations towards democracy, while the ceremonies organised around them have provided these deprived citizens the opportunities to build some support within the state.

Click below to download complete article:

http://atrocitynews.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/learning-the-use-of-symbolic-means1.pdf


By: Nicolas Jaoul is a research fellow at the Centre d.Etudes de l.Inde et de l.Asie du Sud, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, 75006, Paris, France. Email: nicolas.jaoul@wanadoo.fr

Collector: Nikhil Sablania
sablanian@gmail.com

Read it. Its a nice paper. Got lots of things to learn about the history of Baba's statues.

Also got to know about the backstabbing by Jagjivan Ram. What a shame that a person
who called Babasaheb coward was always kept on high position by congress. Also in the name of
dalit representation, his daugter is now the loksabha speaker. Traitors!