Namantar Shahid Smarak

The Namantar Shahid Smarak is a large memorial sculpture dedicated to those who died in the Namantar Andolan. In 2013, 19 years after the movement's success, the city government of Nagpur erected the monument in memory of the valour and the sacrifice of the Dalit martyrs. The memorial was built by contractor Sunil Sharma on 2,225 m² of land at a cost of 1.58 crore.

Background

The Dalits of India were on the bottom of the Indian caste system for centuries. 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.
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:

Design

The memorial is located at Indora Bridge 10 on Kamptee Road, Nagpur. The location was selected because it is the site 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 event, who are shown in the act of their struggle. There are also 27 plaques with the name of each person, and the memorial also has a monolith to pay homage to the martyrs.
Nearby, there is a mini-theater for plays and discussions and a library with materials related to the history of the Namantar Andolan.
The martyrs of Namantar Andolan:

Suhasini Bansod
Govind Bhurewar
Bhalchandra Borkar
Roshan Borkar
Avinash Dongre
Narayan Gaikwad
Shabbir Ali Kajal Hussain
Chandar Kamble
Pochiram Kamble
Domaji Kuttarmare
Janardan Mawale
Janardan Mhaske
Ratan Mendhe
Kailas Pandit
Ratan Pardeshi
Dilip Ramteke
Dyneshwar Sakhare
Abdul Sattar
Pratibha Tayade
Diwakar Thorat
Gautam Waghmare
Manoj Waghmare
Shila Waghmare