(Miss)Deeds to Misdeeds of Maya

The word 'Maya' is used in three connotations from ancient to the present day politics of India. I would just touch all these three aspects of maya, here in this post. 

1. Maya in Scriptures

Ancient Indian scriptures have many references of 'maya' and there its meaning is a 'girl'. Even in modern Bengali language which is very close to Vedic Sanskrut, a girl is called a 'meya', a derivation from 'maya'. In these references in scriptures, importance of women in the human society as the mother of the living creation is shown for saving its honor and respectability. 


2. Maya in modern Religious/Spiritual references

Indian religious and spiritual preachers have all the bad things to say about maya, with the word being used for worldly pleasures and things including women, while they preach to the people for getting free from these worldly attachments without themselves being free from these. They want to have all the worldly pleasures for themselves for which they want people to keep away from these. Still, the basic fact remains that we are worldly creatures and are here to be part of worldly things and enjoy everything worldly around us. 


3. Maya of modern Indian Politics

In the state I live in India, Uttar Pradesh, am unmarried woman named Mayavati is the fourth time Chief Minister of the state for her dirtiest tactical moves in the dirty politics of the country. She belongs to a community which had been mistreated as untouchable by Brahmins of India for the last 2,000 years or so. The community has very little wealth in its possession, used to work hard for survival, but is huge in number of heads with each couple producing half dozen children on an average. This gives them an advantage in democratic politics of the country. They vote enbloc for anybody belonging to their community irrespective of merit. Mayavati is their present heroine who is defamed for putting her own statues all over the state misusing public trust and money. She wins the elections by allying with the community of Brahmins, their torturers of the immediate past. In politics, they say, there are no permanent friends or foes - all are marriages of conveniences of immediate nature,


Impact of politics of Mayavati has many ill effects on Indian society -

1. Members of her community don't work any more but keep on looking for government funds for their survival under various social welfare schemes, all dedicated to this community itself with directions to administration from the government.
2. There are draconian laws favoring the community and against all other communities for providing legal and administrative protections to the community. This is detrimental to the society as the particular community is misusing law and the democratic norms of forming the government. 
3. Huge public funds are being put to misuse by the government in erecting statues of Mayavati, her election symbol elephant and other past leaders of the community in public places all over the state while people of the state keep on suffering for basic facilities like electricity, drinking water, roads, irrigation facilities, etc. Industrialization process has come to standstill stage with rising unemployment in the state. 
4. Corruption is open in all the government offices with officials demanding bribes from people reaching them for administrative helps in solving their problems. Undoubtedly, Uttar Pradesh under rule of this Dalit woman is the worst governed state of India.   

Thus, modern form of Maya in politics of India is true to her form as in modern religious and spiritual references.