Mumbai: Can Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, who ditched Hinduism after bitterly criticising it, be a mascot of the Hindutva brigade? Can the idea of ‘Hindu’ India and democratic India go hand-in-hand? These, and other points, were discussed recently during a talk on ‘Is RSS combine appropriating Ambedkar?’, held as part of the book release function for Prof. Ram Puniyani’s Ambedkar and Hindutva Politics .
Prof. Puniyani, a former IIT-Bombay faculty, has highlighted how Dr. Ambedkar had been bitterly opposed to Hinduism, terming it a ‘Brahminical Order’, and had even burnt copies of the Manu Smriti in protest.
Speakers at the book launch agreed that attention needs to be drawn to the dangers of Dr. Ambedkar being allegedly appropriated by the RSS. “If we don’t highlight the dangers of their strategy, people might get the false impression that the RSS is just a cultural body. There is a much bigger and sinister design being played out when they talk of amity between people of all castes. Shouldn’t they be talking about annihilation of the caste system, as envisaged in the Constitution?” Prof. Puniyani said.
The Sangh Parivar’s attempt to ‘usurp’ Dr. Ambedkar is not going down with Dalit leaders, who say they’re working to outwit the former in election politics in their own way. Dr Prakash Ambedkar, who heads the Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh (BBM), said, “We need take the idea to people that Manu Smriti and Ambedkar were never on the same page, and people would have to choose between Manuwad (a set of rules in Manu Smriti) and the Constitution. I am confident that Indians are intelligent enough to understand the difference between a regimented life and a free one, and would choose the better option.”
He said that Manu Smriti is a dictatorial system of society and cannot go with democracy. “The RSS wants its own cultural and economic theory irrespective of whoever comes to power.” Mr. Ambedkar added the older generation was fed-up with religious riots, but the younger generation could be trusted to take forward the current unrest in the country against the current government, starting from their campuses.
IIT-Bombay student Sukanna, who also happens to be Rohith Vemula’s former colleague — Vemula committed suicide because he was allegedly being victimised for being a Dalit — urged the Muslim and Dalit community to come together to fight ‘Hindu terrorism’ or continue to face victimisation.
Shehla Rashid, a JNU student leader, said people were trying to reduce Dr. Ambedkar to idol status without trying to understand his ideas or writings.
The writer is a freelance journalist
