|
Kanpur: A huge
coloured photograph of Phoolan Devi, the bandit queen-turned-MP
who was shot dead 11 years ago in New Delhi, adorns the wall of
the first floor office of a shoe showroom.
"She was my 'Behenji' (sister). I will always remember and respect
her," said Mohammed Asim, 44, owner of the showroom in Harjinder
Nagar locality, who is also an independent candidate from
Maharajpur constituency of Kanpur district in the Uttar Pradesh
assembly polls that will see voting Thursday.
Asim came into contact with Phoolan soon after she entered
politics and joined the Samajwadi Party (SP) in the mid-1990s. "I
always felt she was a person from the lower caste who was severely
wronged and persecuted. Her violent actions may have been a
reaction," said Asim.
A number of other politicians and former colleagues of Phoolan
still praise her.
Phoolan's dacoit gang earned notoriety for shooting dead 22 men,
mostly upper caste Thakurs, in Behmai village, about 60 km from
Kanpur, in 1981. Phoolan, belonging to the low caste Mallah
community - of fishermen and boatmen - was barely 18 years old
then.
Her supporters claim that Phoolan ordered her gang members to go
on the shooting spree to take revenge on upper caste members in
the village who had humiliated and gangraped her after being
kidnapped by a rival gang.
Not all agree.
Local lawyer Vijay Narain Singh Sengar has been pleading the cases
for the Behmai widows and victims for several years.
"There is a halo built around Phoolan by the media and some
politicians. That is not the truth," Sengar said.
Though Phoolan is dead - she was killed in 2001 at the age of 38 -
Sengar said he was still pursuing the cases against her other gang
members. And the Supreme Court had given him permission to pursue
the cases, he added.
However, in adjoining Mirzapur, from where Phoolan was elected as
a Lok Sabha member twice in the 1990s, and in other districts of
central Uttar Pradesh, many politicians still have words of praise
for her. She herself hailed from the Chambal region close to
Kanpur.
Deepak Kumar, the sitting legislator in Unnao consitutency, who is
seeking a re-election on an SP ticket, had worked with Phoolan
closely.
"During her political tenure, we found her trying to bury her
violent past. She was keen to help the poor," Kumar told IANS over
phone from Unnao.
Kumar is the son of Manohar Lal, a veteran socialist leader and a
former MP from Kanpur, who also played a key role in bringing
Phoolan into mainstream politics.
Kailash Chaurasiya, the SP canddiate from Mirzapur constituency,
had also worked with Phoolan. Pintoo Sengar, currently with the
ruling Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), also spoke highly of her
political career.
But those opposed to her also have a presence in the current
polls.
From behind the bars of Delhi's Tihar Jail, Sher Singh Rana - the
key accused in the murder of Phoolan - is contesting the
elections. Rana, who hails from Uttarakhand, is a candidate from
Jewar constituency in Gautam Budh Nagar district adjoining Delhi
as a Rastravadi Pratap Sena candidate.
The debate - on whether Phoolan was a dreaded dacoit or a victim
of social injustice who took revenge - continues in the political
and social circles of Kanpur.
Sengar said filmmakers and the media have exaggerated several
elements of the Phoolan saga.
But Asim is steadfast in his respect and loyalty to Phoolan, who
lived and died by the gun.
"Even her killing was planned and executed by vested interests and
casteist forces at high levels," Asim alleged.
(George Joseph can be contacted at george.j@ians.in)
|
Comments
|
Quick links