The Namantar Shahid Smarak is a large memorial sculpture dedicated to those who died in the Namantar Andolan. The Namantar Andolan was a 1978 to 1994 movement in India by Dalits who wanted to rename a university in honour of a leading Dalit, B. R. Ambedkar. The movement was vigorously opposed by members of the Hindu community. During 16 years of struggle, there were murders, torture, rapes, burning of colonies, poisoning of wells, property damage, boycotts and lockouts. In 2013, 19 years after the movement's success, the city government of Nagpur erected this monument in memory of the valour and the sacrifice of Dalit martyrs.
Background
The Dalits of India were on the bottom of the Indian caste system for millennia. In Hinduism, there are four varnas and in that system, the Dalits are below the lowest of them. Dalits were considered polluted and this pollution was considered contagious. They worked in jobs which were considered ritually impure, they were not allowed to enter Hindu temples, they had to draw their water from separate wells and they had to live outside of villages. Untouchability was outlawed in 1950, but despite the laws, discrimination continues today. In the early 20th century, one of the first Dalits to earn a college education was B. R. Ambedkar. Fighting discrimination, he attended Elphinstone College in Bombay, earned a master's degree from Columbia University in the United States and then earned a doctoral degree from the London School of Economics. The British Raj made education more available to Untouchables but discrimination continued. Ambedkar established hostels, schools and colleges which were open to Dalits. As part of the movement surrounding the independence of India from Britain, major social changes took place and Dr. B. R. Ambedkar was appointed to lead the committee to draft a new constitution for India. He proposed, and the new country passed into law, a wide range of civil liberties, including the legal abolition of untouchability. Many Indian universities were renamed after people like Ambedkar and those changes were welcomed with few arguments. The Dalit community in the state of Maharashtra proposed to rename Marathwada University in honour of Ambedkar. The chief minister, the legislature, and university leaders approved the change, but a storm of opposition arose among Hindus. On 27 July 1978 riots began and the name change was stopped. The riots affected 25,000 Dalits and at least 27 were killed, five by the police. The Namantar Andolan continued for 16 years before the university was renamed Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University.
Development
Many organisations and political parties proposed the idea for a memorial late in the 1990s and worked for 12 years to see a memorial realized. In 2010, the government of Nagpur announced the decision to build the memorial. An initial proposed design unveiled in April 2011 was not considered acceptable because it did not represent the history of the Namantar Andolan. Many suggestions were given for the memorial's design. The final design was completed by sculptor Uday Gajbhiye.
The monument
The Namantar Shahid Smarak is located at Indora Bridge 10 on Kamptee Road, Nagpur. That location was selected because that is where Avinash Dongre, a child protesting in support of the Namantar Andolan, was shot in the head by police on 4 August 1978. Four others - Dilip Ramteke, Abdul Sattar, Roshan Borkar and Ratan Mendhe - also lost their lives nearby. The memorial has a total of 27 sculptures of Bhim Sainiks who died during the pogroms. They are shown in the act of their struggle. In addition to the sculptures, there are 27 plaques with the name of each person; the memorial also has a monolith to pay homage to the martyrs. Along with the monument, there is a mini-theater for plays and discussions and a nearby library with materials related to the history of the Namantar Andolan. The memorial was built by contractor Sunil Sharma on 2,225 m2 of land at a cost of 1.58 crore. Because many Dalits had converted to Buddhism with B.R. Ambedkar, the choice of Buddha Jayanti to inaugurate the monument was auspicious. Jogendra Kawade, the leader of the Namantar Long March, was present that day and he said: This memorial stands for a fight for the pride of the nation. The martyrs of Namantar Andolan:
