Minister of the Home Amit Shah: It is a myth to invoke Ambedkar in the absence of social justice

Minister of the Home Amit Shah: It is a myth to invoke Ambedkar in the absence of social justice

Luckily, I was seeing live speech of  politicians in Parliament at my home  on December 18, 2024.  Amit Shah was addressing opposition. He remarked, “It has become a trend to repeat Ambedkar’s name over and over. If they had chanted God’s name as much, they would have attained heaven in seven lifetimes.”

After that he said that we are happy that you invoke   Ambedkar’s name; however, then ironically, he remarked that it is good that you have recognized Ambedkar now, but while you were in power, then you did not recognize him more; moreover,  you ignored him. Shah’s comments highlighted the political opportunism surrounding the invocation of historical figures for political gain. His remarks underscored the importance of genuine recognition and respect for leaders like Ambedkar, regardless of political affiliations.

Being a scholar of Ambedkar’s philosophy, we should be grateful for his outstanding contribution to shaping a new India and his approach to navigating a dignified life for Dalits and marginalized people; he significantly emphasized the concepts of equality, liberty, and fraternity. But when Ambedkar resigned as law minister, then Congress was in power. The responsibility for Ambedkar’s resignation should fall on the Congress party, not the BJP. There is a need for a thorough, rigorous examination of historical facts to understand the context of Ambedkar’s decision. Ambedkar’s resignation was a result of his disillusionment with the lack of support for his vision of social justice within the Congress party, leading him to take a principled stand.

Shah reminded the opposition, particularly Congress, about its refusal to build a memorial for Ambedkar at his birthplace in Mhow in Madhya Pradesh on the unacceptable argument that personal memorials should be built using private resources. However, our government had built memorials for Ambedkar at Mhow, London, Delhi, Nagpur, and Mumbai, which have been called panch treeth—five sacred places associated with Ambedkar.  (Ram Madhav, IE, December 21, 2024, p.13)

 Anand Teltumbde also argued his seminal book Republic of Caste that the track record of the Congress towards  Dalits inspires nothing but doubt and dismay. From the days of the ‘benign’ Mahatma Gandhi, Dalits had endured antipathy from a Congress that harijanized them while they continued to support it for a lack of alternatives. Ambedkar exposed it all in an exasperated account, What Congress and Gandhi Have Done to the Untouchables (1945), and indicted Gandhi for projecting himself as a saviour of the untouchables along with the Congress party while doing nothing more than practicing insincere symbolism. (p.375). Despite this, Ambedkar set aside his pride and misgivings about the Congress party and agreed to cooperate with it. And now congress has been invoking Ambedkar to charged its political agenda; However, the present government also should be concerned about social justice and think about why Dalit students have been committing suicides. Why have Dalit students been quitting higher studies from the esteemed institution? Why have Dalits been subjected to so-called upper castes? Why have Dalit women been raped just because of their caste identity? Why have institutions been using not-found suitable policies to exclude them from academia? 

Dr. Krishan Kumar

Political Sociologist

Expert of  Micro Dalit Issues in Haryana