Samatha India

http://www.jewishtimes-sj.com/news/2008/0801/Columns/008.html

(Extract)

Dimensions
International
. JOYCE S. ANDERSON Special to the Jewish Times

Lucknow, India — While we in the United States focus on the question of whether Barack Obama, a black man, will be elected president, halfway around the world in India a more startling event occurred last year. Kumari Mayawati, a woman from the lowest caste on the Hindu hierarchy, the Dalit "untouchables," was elected chief minister of the largest state in India, Uttar Pradesh.

Uttar Pradesh, with 160 million people, holds the largest bloc of seats in India's 543 member Parliament. Neither of the two major parties - the governing Congress Party or its main opponent, the Bharatiya Janata Party - is expected to win control in the up-coming national elections. Ms. Mayawati, who built a coalition that drew voters from all levels in the Hindu caste system, has emerged as a figure on the national scene who could become the first low-caste or Dalit prime minister of India.

Although caste discrimination is officially banned in India, the arena of politics has remained the last hold-out where each caste seeks to uphold and advance its own interests. Ms. Mayawati, 52 and unmarried, is a former school teacher and lawyer who entered politics full time. She drew from the Dalits,who represent 16 percent of the population , and attracted voters from all caste and class levels with her three-part agenda: an eight-lane highway, better policing and private investment to ease poverty. In a rare interview, she told two American journalists in June, "I prefer to be known as a leader for all the communities. In every community, there are poor and unemployed people." She added, "We cannot fight just as Dalits. I understand for centuries people have fought each other. It is not easy to bring them together. But we have done this in U.P." Uttar Pradesh, a large northern state that borders on Nepal is commonly known in India as U.P.

The traditional constituents of the Congress Party have been the Dalits, the privileged Brahmins and the Muslims. Leadership has usually come from the upper-caste Nehru-Gandhi dynasty and Rahul Gandhi went on a widely reported tour of the Uttar Pradesh countryside, eating and sleeping in low-caste homes. Ms. Mayawati, attacked his tour and accused him of purifying himself later with a "special soap".

She clearly has national ambitions and sees herself in a strong position when either national party seeks her support to form a ruling coalition.

"She is an original," said Ajoy Bose, author of a sympathetic biography published by Penguin Books India. "She obviously is going to play a major role in our lives." A less sanguine opinion came from Mrinal Pande, chief editor of the Hindi-language daily newspaper, Hindustan. He predicted that Ms Mayawati could join any party and receive a high price in return, calling her a "predator with little ideological baggage." When Ms. Mayawati was asked where she sees herself in the future, she said she aimed to do across India what she has done in Uttar Pradesh. "Now, people in the rest of the country are watching."

What are they seeing in Uttar Pradesh? There have been large scale arrests of notorious organized crime bosses, as well as a few known criminals in her own party. Her aim is to send a strong message that the police are empowered to do their job. She has put up giant statues of Dalit icons, including one of herself in the capital city. She is proposing a nearly 600 mile, $7l5 billion highway, stretching across the state to enhance commercial traffic as well as private travel. Funded with private money, critics warn that it could be come an easy source of graft.

Corruption is the most serious criticism of Ms. Mayawati. The Central Bureau of Investigation accused Ms. Mayawati and her relatives of having illegally accumulated $2.4 million in property including a villa in the diplomatic section of New Delhi and $1.2 million in bank accounts. Ms. Mayawati denounced the charges as politically motivated. In contrast, Ms. Mayawati is called "a goddess" by her Dalit loyalists. Many say they are proud that a Dalit's daughter governs their state. Rajpal, 50 and a sweeper by caste, said, "The chief minister is our own kind. Now we are not afraid of the police. We are not afraid of the Gujjars (middle caste villagers). We are not afraid of anyone."