A powerful Indian politician dubbed the “Untouchables Queen” once sent a jet to pick up her favorite brand of sandals, according to leaked US diplomatic cables released by the WikiLeaks Web site.
Mayawati, chief minister of India’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, was described in the cables as “a first-rate egomaniac” who “is obsessed with becoming prime minister.”
The 55-year-old Mayawati, who goes by one name, has built a career on championing the cause of the untouchables, known as Dalits, who are among India’s poorest and most deprived people.
However, she has been criticized for corruption, throwing lavish celebrations and building parks with massive statues of Dalit leaders, including herself.
“When she needed new sandals, a jet flew empty to Mumbai to retrieve her preferred brand,” according to a cable dated Oct. 23, 2008.
“She constructed a private road from her residence to her office, which is cleaned immediately after her multiple vehicle convoy reaches its destination,” it said.
Mayawati also employed food tasters to guard against poisoning, it said.
According to the same cable, one minister was forced to do sit-ups in front of Mayawati as a punishment for a minor offense, while those wanting to become election candidates for her party had to pay tens of thousands of US dollars for the privilege.
A spokesperson for Mayawati said in a statement that “such exposes” do not carry any authenticity, but she did not mention WikiLeaks by name.
Supporters of Mayawati, a former teacher, say her acts fill them with a sense of pride and are a source of inspiration to the millions of Dalits who have traditionally been forbidden from displays of well-being.
At her birthday parties, top public figures, including police chiefs and politicians, are often seen feeding her cake. Mayawati kicked up a storm last year for receiving a garland of cash at a political party celebration.
The Congress Party has been campaigning aggressively to try and wrest Uttar Pradesh from Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party, deploying its star campaigners such as party chief Sonia Gandhi and her son, Rahul, to garner support.
Dislodging strong regional parties is seen as key to Congress’ ability to push through painful structural economic and political reforms to modernize the region’s third-largest economy in the years ahead.
India is awash with stories of corruption that have piled pressure especially on the federal coalition and sparked a wave of street protests demanding tougher laws.
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia
ON ALERT: A Russian cruise missile crossed into Polish airspace for about 40 seconds, the Polish military said, adding that it is constantly monitoring the war to protect its airspace Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and the western region of Lviv early yesterday came under a “massive” Russian air attack, officials said, while a Russian cruise missile breached Polish airspace, the Polish military said. Russia and Ukraine have been engaged in a series of deadly aerial attacks, with yesterday’s strikes coming a day after the Russian military said it had seized the Ukrainian village of Ivanivske, west of Bakhmut. A militant attack on a Moscow concert hall on Friday that killed at least 133 people also became a new flash point between the two archrivals. “Explosions in the capital. Air defense is working. Do not