Farmers Movement Archive

Diwali diyas glow in the light of political symbolism in Uttar Pradesh

The Diwali diyas (earthen lamps) have a message apparently full of political symbolism in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh this time as they are being used to showcase the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) government’s continued focus on religious sites and marketing of government schemes like the ‘awaas yojana’ (housing scheme) under which dwelling units are provided to the homeless. With the Uttar Pradesh assembly election due in February-March 2022, the Bharatiya Janata Party is wooing potters, mainly Prajapatis (a subcaste among the Other Backward Castes (OBC)). The ruling party promoted its leader Dharamvir Prajapati as one of the seven ministers of the Yogi Adityanath government and started its caste conferences with one for the Prajapati community. The BJP is calling these caste conferences samajik pratinidhi sammelans or social representative meets.Now, this Diwali diya boost is also being marketed as proof of government’s focus on the potters’ community which used to suffer due to preference for Chinese lights over the indigenous ones earlier. The border stand-off with China and the BJP-RSS’s “swadeshi diya” push also seem to be changing the narrative. Consider the numbers: Nine lakh earthen lamps in Ayodhya, another 7 lakh plus in Varanasi and around the same number in Mathura. “In fact, the nine lakh ‘diyas’ lit up in Ayodhya on Deepotsav are actually with a purpose; each representing the housewarming ceremonies of as many people in urban UP. Additionally, another 45 lakh diyas are to be lit across the state – each of them representing the total number of homeless across rural and urban UP who got a house under the government’s ‘awaas yojana’ initiative,” said Dharamvir Prajapati, who until recently was the chairman of the state’s Mati Kala Board set up to promote the community. On October 5, during his visit to Lucknow for the Urban Conclave, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had tasked the UP government with the challenge of lighting a lamp for each of the people in urban UP who got a roof over their head, courtesy his and the Yogi Adityanath government’s housing schemes. Building on the theme, Yogi Adityanath had then directed the officials to ensure that along with Ayodhya, these diyas were lit at the homes of all those who got a house across the state, whether in an urban setting or rural. Additionally, over 30 lakh BJP booth-level cadres too have been sent Diwali gifts, which, among other things, includes earthen, lotus shaped lamps. “Kamal ka phool” or the lotus flower is the election symbol of the Bharatiya Janata Party. “It is our tradition to send gifts on Diwali. And, as a cadre-based political party, we are connecting with the cadres and sending them gifts. We believe that Goddess Laxmi comes riding on a lotus flower and hence, both for the prosperity of the cadre and our state, we believe the lotus is necessary in one way or the other,” said UP BJP vice-president Vijay Bahadur Pathak. The Muslim Rashtriya Manch (MRM), an outfit backed by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to connect with rashtrawadi musalmaan (nationalist Muslims), too, is doing its bit to fuel the swadeshi diya initiative. “Diyas would be lit by the Manch in at least one lakh places across the state,” said RSS pracharak Mahirajdhwaj. Diwali melas at 217 places across the state too would shine bright in the light of the diyas. The main opposition Samajwadi Party (SP) is using the same diyas for a different purpose – to embarrass the government. It has directed cadres to light up a diya each in memory of farmers who died while protesting against the government’s three farm laws. “I would want each party cadre to light up a diya for farmers,” SP chief Akhilesh Yadav told his cadres. The potters aren’t complaining. Irrespective of the purpose that the political parties have subjected the earthen lamp to, in the end it is the potters’ community which is happy as, suddenly, there are far too many takers for their diyas. Rajendra Prajapati, a potter from Kanpur, said: “It is true that the business was never as good. At many places, the diyas got sold out in no time. Diwali is free from the Chinese influence this time.” He said, “From free clay to dyes to cast earthen lamps, the government has given us a lot of facilities. The government push for these indigenous earthen lamps has given the business a boost.”Potters from across the state like Ram Milan Prajapti from Gorakhpur, Sohan Prajapati from Azamgarh and Pratyush Kumar Prajapati from Kannauj said the business has picked up substantially. “Pottery work is labour intensive. We have to source suitable mud, turn it on the wheels and slow bake them in pits fired with wood and straw. But now, people upset with China over its foul play (border standoff) has renewed people’s interest in swadeshi stuff and given a boost to our local diyas,” they said.

Hindustan Times

03-11-2021

Lucknow