Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar or BR Ambedkar or Baba Sahib was perhaps the most prolific and outspoken Indian social reformer alongside Raja Ram Mohan Roy. For those who don’t know, he was one man who used Gandhi’s Satyagraha methods better than Gandhi himself. Be it the march to Chowdar Tank or the demand for separate electorates for Dalits, Ambedkar’s words and actions were outrageously offending to most caste Hindus at the time. His vision for Dalits went beyond social recognition though. He dreamt of an India where Dalits are duly and honestly represented.
Ambedkar’s India for Dalits was very different from the one that is falsely interpreted by certain leaders under the ‘Bahujan’ tag today. These so called Dalit leaders have become political stooges with deeply vested interests. Their loyalty does not lie with the Dalits. They have no clue or respect towards Ambedkar’s India for Dalits. They are much like those ignorant urban kids wearing Che Guevara tees thinking he was a rock star or something.
Ambedkar’s childhood clearly corresponds to the kind of attitude he developed towards the caste system. In school, he and other Dalits were made to sit outside the classroom, and were not allowed to drink water from the same tap as other caste Hindus. In 1924, when Ambedkar returned to the princely state of Baroda after studying in Columbia University (New York), London School of Economics (LSE), and later Bonn University (Germany), he failed to find a place to live. He was appointed as Military Secretary to the Maharaja but being a Dalit no one was willing to take him as tenant. Can you imagine something like this today? Any LSE alumnus today is considered nothing short of a genius in the making. And then there was Ambedkar, who failed to find a room in India back then, despite having an overseas Doctorate to his name. Do you see it now? There was no place for Dalits back then in India. A young and exceptionally smart man, it didn’t take Ambedkar long to realize that something was drastically wrong with the social system in India. Hence he vowed to fight against the insanely unjust conditions prevailing in the country.
A bronze statue depicting the Mahad Movement led by BR Ambedkar. Ambedkar was accompanied by more than a thousand people who walked to the Chowdar Tank, which was then out of bounds for Dalits, and drank water from it. In December 1937, the Bombay High Court ruled that untouchables have the right to use the tank. (Pic Credits: Wikipedia)
Now back to present-day India, of which you and I am a better judge than Ambedkar. I have Dalit friends who own cars and I also have Dalit friends who come from a humble background. In both these cases, none of them have had to face conditions even remotely similar to what Ambedkar faced. Even in villages, the situation has changed to the extent that Dalits are visited by petty politicians of every religion and alliance, and meals are exchanged. Reservation system, no matter how ridiculous, is still in place and Dalits enjoy its perks. It is twisted and played around with by Dalits belonging to the creamy layer. Educations to jobs, Dalits are frontrunners today. You go to any temple, any public place in India, and Dalits and other caste Hindus drink water from the same tap. No restaurant across the length and breadth of this country will ask you your caste or religion before feeding you. Even if you are a University of Delhi graduate, or not, you can find a place to live anywhere in the country. A few isolated cases cannot be used to make generic assumptions. There are cases of rape almost every day, doesn’t mean every Indian is a rapist. There are robberies, doesn’t mean we’re all robbers. There are murders, doesn’t make us all murderers. Then how do a few Dalit violence incidents give self-proclaimed Dalit leaders the right to drag us back to the Stone Age?
It’s just vicious politics at play and nothing else. Had Ambedkar been born today, he would not be the architect of a petite Dalit party driven by an ego-maniac, no way. Ambedkar would’ve been working towards the next step in improving life for Dalits. Having secured the basic rights of Dalits, his next aim would be to transform their lives. In contrast, BSP’s Mayawati was in power for 5 years, and did absolutely nothing substantial for the Dalits. She spent thousands of crores on meaningless statues and called it Dalit empowerment. Ambedkar would laugh at this if he was alive today. His last few years focused on winning power for the Dalits so that it could be used to emancipate the backward classes. If in power today, Ambedkar would’ve turned around the fortunes of Dalits, by orchestrating an avalanche of opportunities in a year or two maybe. The intent isn’t there anymore. These parties carry Ambedkar’s photo, not his vision.
Ambedkar’s war of words (and that of ideologies) with Gandhi is widely popular. The two sparred for more than a decade through indirect as well as direct mentions in write-ups. In my view, Ambedkar was the man who showed Gandhi the mirror. He exposed Gandhi’s hypocrisies and dragged him out for the same. While the literacy rate in India stood in single digits, it was easy to stunt and impress for Gandhi, as long as his speeches were heard. But as scholars like Ambedkar gained importance on public stage, Gandhi’s image took a beating, and his views have been questioned since. To this day, Gandhi’s description of Ambedkar as a ‘threat’ to Hinduism gives a clear view of the ‘Hinduism’ Gandhi believed in. It was different from the Hinduism we all believe in today. Moreover, many prominent figures of the time shared Ambedkar’s view of a caste-free society. Some of the names include Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Lala Lajpat Rai, Vivekananda, Dayanand Saraswati, and others. No present day Dalit leader has the courage or wisdom to take on a prominent figure that’s missing a beat.
If it wasn’t for Ambedkar, empowering Dalits would’ve been a huge challenge for independent India. Ambedkar fast forwarded our social growth. He encompassed global views and learnings and was not afraid to raise his voice against the popular belief. Today, Dalits are at the mercy of an ego maniac, who runs the most popular Dalit party in the country like a monarchy. Dalits have been cheated by these leaders. Dalits must renounce these leaders and find new leaders. Dalits don’t need leaders who will keep talking history and pay no heed to the future. These phony leaders are just proponents of an outdated movement. The battleground has changed, the challenges have changed, and thus leadership must change. Mayawati must make way for a young and dynamic leader or else BSP will perish.
Ambedkar’s India for Dalits requires sincere efforts and not in the direction of building statues and parks. I’ll rest my case with a couple of quotes from BR Ambedkar. Do share your views in the comments section and let’s have a clean & healthy debate.
“If I find the constitution is being misused, I will be the first one to burn it”
“Ours is a battle; not for wealth, nor for power. Ours is a battle for freedom; for reclamation of human personality.”
– BR Ambedkar
(Banner Pic Credits: The Wire)
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