Thursday, Mar 28th 2024
Trending News

Some reflections on Dr Ambedkar

By Satya Narayan Sahu | PUBLISHED: 21, Feb 2017, 18:15 pm IST | UPDATED: 23, Feb 2017, 9:51 am IST

Some reflections on Dr Ambedkar Ambedkar was as much a bitter critic of Gandhi and other leaders of freedom movement as of Hinduism. His book "Riddles of Hinduism" would have invited bitter criticism  if he had written it in twenty first century India. It is full of critical remarks on many revered Hindu Gods and Goddesses and assumptions and propositions of Hinduism.

He burnt Manu Smriti because it gave absurd reasoning for justifying lowest status to Dalits. The prevalent practice of untouchability in Hindu fold led him to convert  to Buddhism along with his huge number of followers.

However, he quoted some provisions of Hindu Shastras including that of Manu Smruti and Artha Shastras of Kautilya which prescribed right of women to own property and monogamy respectively when he drafted and piloted Hindu Code Bill as the first Law Minister of India in Nehru's cabinet.

It mandated gender equality and women's empowerment in the context of Hindu women only. That Bill was opposed by some Members of Constituent Assembly even as they were Hindus.

The first President of India Dr Rajendra Prasad also raised his voice against that Bill and he urged  Nehru and Patel not to go ahead and pass it. Nehru was keen to pass it, but some orthodox Hindu Members of Congress  were opposed to the Bill. So he was helpless in face of that massive opposition.

Ambedkar resigned as Law Minister from Nehru's cabinet to register his protest against non-passage of the Hindu Code,  the central aspect of which was women's right to own property and enjoy equality and equal opportunity in all spheres of life.

He linked women's empowerment for creating nationalism which would be inclusive and supportive of a social and political system based on what he called "one man and one value" and not simply  "one man and one vote".  

He admired Mahatma Gandhi in one speech which he delivered in Rajya Sabha in 1955. It was the only speech where he said and acknowledged for the first time that the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes were nearest and dearest to Mahatma Gandhi and, therefore, a cess should be imposed on salt and proceeds of it should be used to create Mahatma Gandhi Trust Fund to use it for reclamation of waste land for the cause of economic empowerment of Dalits across India.

Such reclaimed land should be given to them for their livelihood. The manner in which he took up the cause of the deprived sections of Indian  society,  be they were Dalits, poor and women,  made him one of the greatest champions of the excluded and disinherited sections of Indians.

The House of Commons of the UK debated Ambedkar Principles in 2007 for two days and urged for their adoption to remove discrimination for employing people.

London Guardian wrote an editorial on Ambedkar in 2011 and wrote that what Ambedkar wrote in the context of India remains equally applicable in the context of twenty first century Britain which is finding itself in the whirlpool of social and economic inequality.

Ambedkar was a rebel child of Hinduism and like Buddha he became a compassionate rebel to bring about social transformation and change and establish fraternity by annihilating caste.

He wanted a religion to be based on liberty, equality and fraternity. And more importantly he wanted that religion to derive inspiration from Upashinidas. That was Ambedkar who inspite of his bitterness promoted the cause of reconciliation and understanding and used, among others,  law and jurisprudence to achieve his desired goal.

# The author Mr Satya Narayan Sahu was OSD and Press Secretary to the late President of India Shri K.R. Narayanan and served as Director in the Prime Minister's Office. He is currently Joint Secretary in the Rajya Sabha Secretariat. The views expressed by the author are personal and not that of Rajya Sabha Secretariat.
Editor's Blog

Farmers, Shahrukh and Putin, a blockbuster week

by : Priti Prakash

The farmers have marched back to Delhi with their demands, for which they sat on roads leading to th...

Quick Vote

How is the economic policy of the Modi government?