On a day when the Union government and governments in states ruled by the BJP celebrated the birth anniversary of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya, poor families whose homes were demolished before the unveiling of the RSS ideologue’s statue in Varanasi pleaded for a roof above their heads.
Jira (41), who is among those who lost their hutments, said, “We were told that the area had to be beautified for Modiji’s visit. Our huts were destroyed, but we were told that we could rebuild them in a couple of days. However, the administration has not allowed us to do so till date”.
In February this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited his Parliamentary constituency Varanasi to unveil a statue of Upadhyaya at a memorial named after the right-wing ideologue. Upadhyaya, who was born in 1916, and passed away in 1968, is considered the the mentor and guide of a number of RSS activists and leaders who became prominent in the BJP.
The Upadhyaya memorial is in Padao at the slope of the Malviya Bridge (popularly called the Rajghat Bridge). This bridge over the Ganga connects Varanasi to the Mughalsarai Junction—the station where Upadhyaya’s dead body was found on a platform. The junction is now named after him.
The hutments, including Jira’s, were at a distance of 100 metres from the memorial, and thus visible to traffic coming off the bridge. Some distance away from this site is the village of Sujabad, and 250 metres across in the block of Kashi Vidya Peeth, is Domari—one of the villages adopted by the prime minister under the Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana.
Jira’s hut, part of a settlement of about 50 houses, was considered an eyesore for the high-profile visit.
Kitabu (50), whose hut was also razed, said that two “heavy machines” were brought to demolish their homes two days before the visit of the prime minister. “We have lived here for three generations. Now the administration says we have no right over this land. Where can we go,” he asked.
Prem Kumar, a resident of Domari, seconded Kitabu’s claim. He said, “As children whenever we did any mischief, our parents and grandparents would say that they would send us to Ajore’s place. These people have lived here for at least five decades”. Ajore (a Bhojpuri word which means light) was Kitabu’s grandfather.
Sujabad’s pradhan (village headman) Banarasi Lal (60) also concurred that the families had lived in the area for as long as he could remember. “The problem is that there were a few families at first. Then they called their relatives over and their numbers kept growing. People from many neighbouring districts are also settled here. This is high value land because of its proximity to the city; so the administration would not want to give it away to those who have illegally occupied it,” he said.
Both Jira and Kitabu—who use just one name, like other settlers in the area—are members of the Dharkar caste which is listed as a Scheduled Caste in the Census of India, 2011. Their traditional occupation is the making of bamboo products such as ladders and baskets. On an average, they earn around Rs 150-250 every day. These meagre earnings plummeted during the lockdown.
Jira is the mother of six children of which three are girls. Her youngest daughter Sundari (20) was to get married on Friday, the same day as Upadhyaya’s birth anniversary.
“We have nowhere to accommodate the baraat (wedding party),” she said. Yet the marriage would not be postponed. “Her husband-to-be has a home. I am constantly worried about having a young daughter live by the road under plastic sheets. I will be free of that worry,” Jira said.
The statue that Modi inaugurated is the country’s tallest statue of Upadhyaya. It stands 63-feet tall and took 200 artisans a year to complete. During the visit, he had also inaugurated 30 other projects.
Kitabu said, “We do not ask for much. Just a small hut to live in. My young daughter falls sick constantly. When it rains we have nowhere to go”.
Jira said the pradhan had failed to help them. “My voter card bears the name of Sujabad. We voted for this pradhan, but now he has disowned us. Were we only good enough for the election,” she asked.
Banarasi Lal said he was sure that the administration would not allow any of the huts to be re-built. “The area is being beautified. Why will the administration allow the huts to come back,” he asked.
Saurabh Singh, chief functionary of the Innervoice Foundation, which has been providing rations to the poor in Varanasi (including Domari), Chandauli and Allahabad, said, “I demand from my MP who is also the PM of the country to rehabilitate these people who belong to the extremely marginalised sections. They must be provided houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana immediately. Just because they are poor and so not have a voice, they should not suffer. Our PM should reverse this trend by rehabilitating them. This will give a clear message to citizens. On the 104th birth anniversary of Deendayal Upadhyaya ji, this will be a true homage to him”.
Uttar Pradesh’s celebrations of Upadhyaya’s life included the unveiling of a statue by the state’s chief minister. In a message issued on the occasion, Adityanath said, “Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya’s thoughts are relevant even today. Inspired by his philosophy of integral humanism and antyodaya, the Central government and the state government are working to take welfare schemes to the last man on the margins”.
These last standing, most deprived individuals must include Jira and Kitabu.
