[Assam] From Tehelka---Manu's Memorial

[Chan Mahanta]

**** Is it a simple, harmless symbol of  cultural heritage? Or is 
there a whole lot more to it?

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THE WORSHIP OF FALSE GODS

http://www.tehelka.com/story_main31.asp?filename=Cr070707shadow_lines.asp

When a new building was constructed in Jaipur for the state High 
Court, the local Bar Association put forward a proposal for the 
installation of a statue of Manu to beautify the premises. From 
proposal to completion, the entire plan was kept a close secret, 
never made public until the statue was in place. Manu was the creator 
of the varna system under which Hindu society for centuries denied 
all basic human rights and dignity to Dalits. For us, a statue of 
Manu can only symbolise the unjust social structure imposed on us 
from time immemorial. All the oppression we continue to suffer is 
because of Manu and his treatise, the Manudharma Sastra.


We turn to the courts when we are in trouble. Can we ever expect 
justice from a court which we enter looking at Manu's idol?
The Constitution has attempted to improve the condition of Dalits 
through law, but Manu's words have been an unwritten stricture the 
law cannot touch. Had Manu's statue been installed anywhere else, 
perhaps we would not have cared to react. But to see such homage paid 
to a figure who represents all that is unjust in this society, and 
that too standing proud in the premises of the Rajasthan High Court, 
is shocking. It is beyond acceptance. We turn to the courts when we 
are in trouble, which for us is almost perennial. What worse message 
could we receive? Can we ever expect justice from a court which we 
enter looking at Manu's idol? It only tells us that even the High 
Court subscribes to Manu's ideology. On the other hand, the statue of 
Dr BR Ambedkar, the father of our Constitution, has been shunted to 
an invisible corner. It says a lot about the mentality of the 
judiciary and the government in Rajasthan. How is such a system to 
contribute to the constitutional ideal of a casteless society?

The statue was installed on June 28, 1989, and we have been fighting 
it ever since. There were huge protests all over the state soon after 
it was put up, and a full bench of the High Court ordered that it be 
removed within 48 hours. We were all happy, but soon after that the 
Vishwa Hindu Parishad's Acharya Dharmendra filed a writ petition in 
the court of Justice Mahender Bhushan, who passed a stay order on 
July 27, 1989 - as a result the statue is there till date. There are 
many cases dating back to 1989 that have seen their final hearings, 
but not this one. Each time this case comes to a final hearing, the 
bench postpones it on the grounds that it is a very sensitive issue. 
But we will not give up easily - we haven't so far, and we will not 
in the future. We will continue to file applications asking for a 
final hearing in this case. We want to see how they will justify 
their deliberate delays.

We install statues of Ambedkar because that's our way of reclaiming 
our lost dignity. But why is the government installing a statue of 
Manu? The very government which is supposed to have no biases towards 
any religion or caste. Let there be Manu statues wherever anyone 
pleases, but the government should not be a party to it.

Mimroth is a Jaipur-based advocate
As told to Praveen Donthi