Babasaheb Ambedkar has always been an uncomfortable entity for Hindu society as it is constructed, and for the basic fabric of Hindutva as an ideology. He rep-resents a troubling section of the Indian subcontinent’s past, and a disturbing truth for which society has neither expressed regret nor practised penance. Babasaheb Ambedkar represented the failed agenda of Dalit society to get justice and acceptance in the Hindu fold. He was one among many who, even during the freedom struggle, believed that Independence from the British would not free Dalits from the clutches of upper-caste dominance; that they would remain shackled by caste boundaries despite modernisation and industrialisation. He had even said that the Constitution can give equality and liberty to the Dalit community in legal terms, but the spirit of the Constitution won’t be fulfilled without social equality.
Since democratisation of the Indian polity has made every vote count, Dalits, who account for approximately 15% of the population, have be-come politically very important, with every political party seeking their vote. Even the proponents of Hindutva, which represents the suppression of the Dalits in civilisational terms, have of late tried to reach out to them, lure them to their fold and exploit them — purely for electoral purposes. It is being said that especially in north India, no political party can win without the active support of the Dalit community.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has been trying to appropriate Babasaheb Ambedkar since 2014. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and its allied journalists and analysts have been claiming that the BJP’s victory in the 2019 parliamentary and the 2022 UP assembly elections was due to the movement of Dalit voters towards the BJP because they are disillusioned with the other established political parties. There is no denying the fact that there is a slight shift towards the Narendra Modi-led BJP, but it is debatable whether it is due to the attraction of Hindutva or a reflection of their search for a share in power politics.
What is tragic, however, is that due to the compulsions of democracy and vote-bank politics, every political party wants to be on the “right” side of Babasaheb Ambedkar, wants to swear by him, but has very little respect for his thoughts and zero inclination to practise them in real life. It is in this context that the resignation of Aam Aadmi Party minister Rajendra Pal Gautam becomes important in exposing the farce which is being practised by the political parties. Mr Gautam belongs to the AAP but before he joined it, he was a committed follower of Babasaheb Ambedkar. AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal, before embarking on his political journey, was a self-professed Gandhian. During the Anna movement a giant picture of Gandhi used to adorn the backdrop at the Ramlila Maidan but following the Punjab assembly elections, Gandhi has disappeared from the AAP’s posters and walls and has suddenly been re-placed by Babasaheb Ambedkar and Bhagat Singh.
I was told that these two great national icons were chosen not by conviction but by opinion polls amongst the voters of Punjab, especially youth. Dr Ambedkar and Bhagat Singh were found to be most popular, so these two were admitted in the AAP fold and Gandhi was discarded. What does this prove? That Dr Ambedkar and Bhagat Singh were chosen to adorn the walls not for what they believed in or preached, but going by the count of people who know about them. I am sure that the top leadership of the party has no idea about their writings and ideas. I am equally sure they have not read Dr Ambedkar’s Annihilation of Caste and Riddles of Hinduism. If Mr Kejriwal had read Annihilation of Caste, he would have known that Babasaheb had advocated that the Hindu religion should be destroyed. Babasaheb writes, “I have, therefore, no hesitation in saying that such a religion must be destroyed, and I say there is nothing irreligious in working for the destruction of such a religion.” (Para: 23.6; Page: 306; Publication: Navanya, 2014.)
Gandhi had reacted very strongly after the publication of this book, which was originally written as a speech to be delivered by Babasaheb at the annual conference of the Jat Pat Todak Mandal of Lahore but was never delivered due to the organisers developing cold feet. While writing in Harijan on July 11, 1936, Gandhi called Dr Ambedkar “a challenge to Hinduism”. It was the same Dr Ambedkar who had said that “he was born a Hindu but would not die a Hindu”. Babasaheb converted to Buddhism with thousands of his supporters, a few months before his death in 1956. It was during this ceremony that he along with his supporters made 22 resolutions in an open public space. And what Mr Gautam as a devout Ambedkar follower said at the Diksha Samaroh has been expressed by Babasaheb’s followers every year in different parts of the country. There was nothing new, but Mr Kejriwal got rattled by the BJP’s accusation that his minister had indulged in anti-Hindu rhetoric, and that Mr Kejriwal too was anti-Hindu.
Mr Kejriwal, being a smart politician, has realised that if he has to fight the BJP in Delhi and elsewhere, the AAP has to shed its pro-Muslim tag in order to attract Hindu votes. Slowly, he has stopped mixing with Muslim leaders and assiduously metamorphosed into a Hindu leader. He has been seen chanting the Hanuman Chalisa, visiting Hanuman temples, and live-streaming his Diwali puja. Since he is now focusing on Gujarat, it is far more important for him not to be seen even remotely practising anything which can be dubbed anti-Hindu. Therefore, as Mr Gautam’s video went viral and posters calling him anti-Hindu went up in Gujarat, he chanted Jai Shri Ram in one of his public rallies and said that he was born on Krishna Janmashtami, sent by god to annihilate the sons of Kansa.
Now, if Mr Kejriwal believed in Babasaheb Ambedkar and his thoughts then he should have known that whatever Mr Gautam has uttered, he did no wrong; he followed exactly what the AAP, after imbibing Dr Ambedkar’s thoughts, should have been repeating a thousand times. If Mr Kejriwal believed in Babasaheb, then he should have stood as a shield to Mr Gautam and should never have asked him to resign. Since he did not defend his Dalit minister, he stands open to the accusation that for him Dr Ambedkar is not a matter of conviction but of votes. He is not honest to the cause of Dalit empowerment and social justice; rather he is damaging Dalit poli-tics. He is no different from the BJP which talks highly about Babasaheb but will call his followers anti-Hindu, and will humiliate them if they utter what Babasaheb did or said.
On the issue of Babasaheb and Dalit consciousness, I see no difference between the BJP and the AAP, and between Mr Modi and Mr Kejriwal. Both are indulging in crass opportunism. Rather, it should be bluntly said that Hindutva and Babasaheb are two extremes of Hindu society and can never meet. Hindutva will use Babasaheb but will never treat Dalits as socially equal; if Dalits accept the hegemony of the upper caste and live the way they have lived for thousands of years, then there won’t be any problem. Dalits must understand that the curse of civilisation is not erased in a few years; democracy is no guarantee for their social freedom, and many will have to make sacrifices be-fore the sun will rise for them. Rajendra Pal Gautam is just one such victim.
The writer is Editor, SatyaHindi.com, and author of Hindu Rashtra. He tweets at @ashutosh83B
