“From the very first election, we have been fighting against the Congress because it is unnecessarily interfering with our rights. Just see the leader of the Congress Party, Pandit Nehru. He has delivered two thousand speeches during the last 20 years, but he has never spoken about the welfare of the Scheduled Castes even once. From this, you can judge what sympathy the Congress party can have for our people when its leader is so much adamant. Pandit Nehru is always for the Muslims. I do not want that Muslims should be neglected but I do want that Muslims should not enjoy at the expense of the other communities who need more protection”. – Dr Babasaheb B R Ambedkar, in his speech, “I AM LIKE A ROCK WHICH DOES NOT MELT BUT TURNS THE COURSE OF RIVERS”, delivered at Ramdaspur, Jullundar (Jalandhar), Punjab on October 27, 1951, during Election Campaign.
Another stormy Parliament session is over. Congress, as usual, started with the Adani issue, taking cues from foreign-originated allegations. Eventually, the goalposts kept shifting from Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) to the Constitution to Dr Ambedkar and his legacy and ended with ‘standing with Palestine’ posturing. However, the session will be remembered for how Congress’s strategy to push for a debate on the Constitution boomeranged. The ruling BJP used the occasion of 75 years of the Constitution to expose the Congress onslaught on the spirit of the Constitution.
Congress realised the strategic mistake, but it was too late. So, the next step was to focus on who has insulted Dr Ambedkar and who can be the actual claimant of his legacy. The true inheritor of Ambedkar’s legacy depends on two fundamental criteria: what was Dr Ambedkar’s position on various issues in his lifetime, and who has been carrying forward that vision for a harmonious, equitable, democratic and resurgent Bharat. Let us examine the Congress track record on these two parameters.
From his entry into public life, after illustrious academic achievements despite all odds, Babasaheb had reservations about Congress’s politics and its stand on the ‘depressed classes’. When asked about joining the Congress camp by millionaire supporters of Gandhi ji like Walchand Hirachand and Jamnalal Bajaj, Babasaheb referred to Nehru and said, “I cannot sacrifice my conscience for success”. He countered every claim of Congress, from representing all Bharatiyas to the sole appropriation of the freedom struggle. In his lifetime, it was Congress and Communists who tried their best to insult Dr Ambedkar and suppress his politics by ganging up together. Communists considered him the enemy of the class struggle, and Nehru conveniently used them to defeat Babasaheb in electoral politics. Congress manipulated the Constitutional provisions to fulfil its interests, about which Babasaheb was vehemently critical. From finance to defence and security to social transformation, there is hardly anything Congress can claim from Babasaheb’s school of thought. Forget about honouring this great son of Bharat Mata, even after the Mahaparinirvan of Babasaheb, Congress tried its best to crush his legacy regarding personality and thoughts.
Babasaheb opposed dynastic politics; Congress always put dynasty above democracy. Babasaheb wanted to annihilate caste-based discrimination; Congress used his name for political purposes but perpetuated caste differences in society. ‘Nation First’ was Babasaheb’s mantra while ‘family first’ has been the Congress policy. Muslim separatism and Congress appeasement in the name of the minority were key areas of concern for Babasaheb, and the dynastic party refused to learn from past mistakes leading to Partition. Thus, Congress has very little to defend in claiming the Ambedkarite legacy.
The Independence struggle and its great personalities cannot be the legacy of one political party. Dividing great personalities into political, caste or regional lines is another disservice that Congress has done to the post-Independent Bharat. Babasaheb should be revered, and his legacy should be taken forward because he attained academic excellence, dedicated himself to social transformation, kept collective interests above personal ones, and dreamt about a resurgent and assertive Bharat. For him, the fundamental values were equality with fraternity, patriotism, and opportunity for every individual to attain the best in life. All of us, irrespective of ideological shades, should strive to imbibe them in personal and public life instead of fighting over his legacy.
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