The RSS is trying to use B.R. Ambedkar to “sophisticate” its “dangerous agenda of ghar wapsi,” Dalit rights activist and writer Kancha Ilaiah said on Tuesday on the 124th birth anniversary of the architect of the Constitution.
Amid a tussle between the BJP and the Congress for the ownership of the legacy of Dr. Ambedkar, Mr. Ilaiah, however, held that in the larger picture, the discussion would “help reposition and expand the question of caste and untouchability.”
“By selective and out-of-context quoting of Dr. Ambedkar, the RSS [which is increasingly quoting Dr. Ambedkar in recent times] is trying to use him in their position on re-conversion … that is dangerous,” Mr. Ilaiah told The Hindu . He said the current tussle between political parties to “own” Dr. Ambedkar, went beyond a fight for “Dalit votes” and was a result of the globalisation of caste and untouchability, which had become profound after the visit to India of U.S. President Barack Obama.
As the BJP-RSS tries to increasingly claim the legacy of Dr. Ambedkar, in Maharashtra the Devendra Fadnavis government, since coming to power, has taken a few symbolic measures to appease the Dalit sentiment and placate Ambedkarites.
Whether it be expediting the construction of a grand national memorial for Dr. Ambedkar, or according State honours to him on his death anniversary or purchasing the 2,050 sq ft, three-storey bungalow in London where Dr. Ambedkar lived during 1921-22 while he was pursuing higher studies at the London School of Economics. The bungalow on 10 King Henry Road will now be converted into a museum-cum-memorial even as a three-member team led by State Social Justice Minister Rajkumar Badole will travel to London on April 17 in this regard.
