Today, April 14, we are celebrating the 125th
birth anniversary of
Babasaheb Dr. B.R. Ambedkar (April 14, 1891 – December 6,
1956), the greatest son of India in the contemporary times. I greet my fellow
citizens of India and supporters of democracy, justice, equality, liberty and
fraternity, the values which were dear to Babasaheb, in the world at large. It
is a matter of gratification to note that not only the government of India but
also several other authorities, the world over, including the UN are
celebrating and observing the day in one way or the other to pay a fulsome
homage to the great man of our times. It has been noted with a lot of
satisfaction tha
t in spite of all social odds, political challenges and
personal problems which Babasaheb faced throughout his life, his persona
received more and more attention and recognition every passing day and more so
after his death. By now, it seems, there is hardly anybody in the entire
political, social, intellectual and academic circles of not only India but of
the world at large who does not hold him in high esteem and recognize him as an
intellectual giant, a constitutional expert, an economist, a statesman, a
social reformer, a humanist, a spiritual flag bearer of the great Gautam
Buddha. Dr. Ambedkar was a unique phenomena and a legendary figure of
contemporary times. Mahatma Gandhi who was one of the staunch critics and
opponent of Dr.Ambedkar said long back, sometime in the early 1930s, “You may
criticize Dr. Ambedkar but you cannot ignore him.” I am sure that the importance, significance
and relevance of Dr. Ambedkar are bound to increase in the years to come. What
could be a better tribute to the memory of the greatest son of India?
It is a matter of great dismay that Dr. Ambedkar did not get
his due in his lifetime either from the political establishment or from the
people of India at large. Dr. Ambedkar was a stout critic of the Congress Party
and as such PM Jawaharlal Nehru and his colleagues like Babu Jagjivan Ram, D.
Sanjivaya, inter alia, saw to it that he was sidelined from the thickness of
political and even the social playing field. The upper caste dominated
intelligentsia also did not take much notice of him. He was condemned and
projected as a defeated leader of a section of the dalit communities as late as
the 1970s. But it was not to be. Dr. Ambedkar was an ardent nationalist, an intellectual
par excellence, a humanist of the highest order, a spiritual leader of the
Buddhist heritage. How can such a personality be ignored for long. The wonders
of democracy started getting visible, the edifice of which was set up by
Babasaheb himself in the constitution and polity of India. The dalits, the
backwards, the neglected and marginalized sections of the society started
asserting themselves. The resultant social and economic empowerment of the
weaker sections of the society including women changed the political scenario
drastically. The relevance of Dr. Ambedkar surfaced and surfaced with such intensity
that it became difficult to ignore him anymore. Now the situation has emerged
that all political parties are vying among themselves to own the legacy of the
greatest son of India. The think tanks and academia not only in India but also
abroad has re-evaluated and recognized the sterling role played and the
contribution made by Dr. Ambedkar in shaping the constitutional, economic,
social and spiritual landscape of India for the benefit of the marginalized
humanity the world over. The leading
universities and academic institutions including the Columbia University of the
US and the Cambridge University of the UK
besides the Indian academic outfits have increasingly honoured and
recognized, and rightly so, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. The print and electronic media
has taken a due notice of him and have come up with special issues and programmes
on Dr. Ambedkar. – Der Ayat; Darust Ayat. It is a befitting tribute
to the memory of the legendry personality of Dr. Ambedkar.
The successive governments in India, after independence, did
not pay much attention to Dr. Ambedkar and willfully kept him on the margins
except the fact that he was given an onerous task of making the constitution of
India. It was a challenge which he accepted knowing full well that it was not
an easy job. In spite of his failing health and several problems created by his
political and social adversaries, he did his best and gave us a fine document
to run a country full of contradictions, diversity and graded social
inequalities. The constitution has stood the test of times over the years since
its adoption on January 26, 1950. India is now not only a vibrant and the
biggest democracy of the world but also a respected member of the comity of
nations. It is a matter of satisfaction that the 125th birth
anniversary of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar
is being celebrated at the UN in New York with
all gusto and sobriety. I am happy to state that, as a humble follower of Babasaheb Ambedkar, I
wrote to EAM Sushma Swaraj and PM Narendra Modi in August last year to make a
demarche to the UN General Assembly to declare April 14, the birthday of Dr.
Ambedkar, as the International Day of Equality. The proposal was duly
acknowledged but did not find acceptance. I am confident that the stock of Dr.
Ambedkar is bound to rise up and up in the years to come and the suggested
honour will be bestowed on him in due course.
The sooner the better.
PM Narendra Modi’s government, due to its electoral
compulsions, is trying to appropriate the legacy of Dr. Ambedkar. During the
year of 125th birth anniversary of the great leader, the government
has come out with many projects and memorials to celebrate the greatest son of
India. It must be appreciated. But we need not limit ourselves to tokenism
alone. The life, mission and legacy of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar should be included
appropriately in school and university curriculum for the benefit of the coming
generations. The dalit communities consider Dr. Ambedkar next to god. There is
no doubt about it. The political and intellectual elite are increasingly
accepting and realizing the importance and relevance of Dr. Ambedkar. But I note with regret that the casteist mind
set of the upper caste society at large is yet to accept and own him. This is a
ground reality which cannot be ignored all together. It will be difficult till the Manuwadi
mindset and unequal social order are altered and overthrown. I think it will be
done by no one except the larger than life persona of Ambedkar himself, if
India has to remain the India visualized by our fore-fathers including
Babasaheb Ambedkar himself. The
governments, the political parties, the media, the intellectual elite are
celebrating Dr. Ambedkar on his 125th birth anniversary but the
public participation seems to be limited to dalits alone. Why should it be so?
The only answer to this big question which comes to my mind is that it is due
to historical reasons of Manuwadi mindset and caste based social order. Dr.
Ambedkar himself said that democracy would have no meaning without establishing
a casteless society.
The legacy of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar is such a potent force that
it will take its own care in the years to follow as it has happened so far. The
emerging political scenario appears to be of concern and worry. Consciously or
otherwise, Lal Salam is getting acquainted with Jai Bheem. If these forces join hands, it will prove to
be a force to reckon with. One must not forget that Dr. Ambedkar compared
Gautam Buddha and Karl Marx and said their ultimate goal was the same that is
removal of ‘Dukkha’and ‘Exploitation’ but the methods suggested and adopted
were different. He said that the
communist system was based on force and Buddha followed a democratic system and
added that ‘Buddha’s method was the safest and soundest’. Over the years, the Marxists, the Communists
and other Leftist outfits have adopted democratic and peaceful methods to
pursue their agenda to end exploitation. These methods are akin to the Buddhist
thinking. In simple words, Lal Salam and Jai Bheem, as recently demonstrated
at, inter alia, Hyderabad University, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Jadhavpur
University, may become slogans of the younger generation particularly that of
the depressed and suppressed segments of the society. We must understand it to
ward of the untoward. We stand by Dr. Ambedkar for a peaceful and democratic
revolution.
I conclude this with an important quote from Dr. Ambedkar to
rededicate ourselves to the peaceful methods to save our hard earned
independence and for further progress and prosperity of India. He said on
November 25, 1949 while delivering his last speech in the Constituent Assembly
before the Constitution was finally adopted and passed, “If we wish to maintain democracy not
merely in form, but also in fact, what must we do? The first thing in my judgement we must do is to hold fast to constitutional methods of achieving our
social and economic objectives. It means we must abandon the bloody methods of
revolution. It means that we must abandon the method of civil disobedience,
non-cooperation and satyagraha. When there was no way left for constitutional
methods for achieving economic and social objectives, there was a great deal of
justification for unconstitutional methods. But where constitutional methods
are open, there can be no justification for these unconstitutional methods.
These methods are nothing but the grammar of anarchy and the sooner they are
abandoned, the better for us.”
A poetic tribute to Babasaheb Ambedkar in the words of a renowned poet Gurdas Ram Alam:
ਲੂਹ ਕੇ ਸਿਮਰਿਤੀ ਨਵਾਂ ਵਿਧਾਨ ਲਿਖਯਾ;
ਅੱਗ ਲਾ ਕੇ ਸਾਗਰਾਂ ਦੇ ਪਨਿਆਂ ਤੇ,
ਰਾਸ਼ਤੇ ਹਿੰਦ ਦੇ ਨਵੈ ਉਲੀਕ ਦਿਤੇ;
ਪੈਰ ਫੇਰ ਕੇ ਲੀਹਾਂ ਪੁਰਾਣਿਆ ਤੇ !
