Today marks the 135th birth anniversary of Dr B R Ambedkar , one of India's greatest visionaries. There have been deliberate and unjust attempts to downplay the legacy of Dr Ambedkar . After more than a century, the greatest injustice to his legacy is to reduce him to a Dalit leader. Today, he should be seen not merely as a symbol of resistance for Dalits and marginalised, which he undoubtedly is and always will be, but also as one of the foremost thinkers of modern India.
It is recorded that when he was at school, he was not even permitted to drink water from the common tap that other children drank from. One day, in the scorching heat, when he decided to drink from the source closest to him, he was assaulted for daring to violate this oppressive taboo. After such an incident, many young boys would have been resigned to their fate. Others may have become reactionary, rebelling against an unjust system through violent action. But Ambedkar channelised his inner angst into a zeal for learning. He went on to get an MA, MSc, PhD, DSc, DLitt and Bar-at-Law, including degrees at Columbia and London School of Economics.
Providence granted Dr Ambedkar unparalleled grit, intellect and integrity, which he put to use as a social reformer , jurist, economist, philosopher, human rights champion and nation-builder. His role as an institution builder also needs to be highlighted. Several institutions in modern India, such as RBI and Central Water Commission, find their genesis in Babasaheb's farsightedness.
Being a staunch democrat, Dr Ambedkar also believed that a democratic form of govt presupposes a democratic form of society. He believed that without moral order in society, there cannot be democracy and rule of law. It can also be said that for him, democracy, politics and ethics formed a trinity just like liberty, equality and fraternity. Like his greatest interlocutor, Gandhiji, Dr Ambedkar was committed to fundamental social reform.
This is because he was deeply worried about the future of India, its democracy, and hard-earned independence. His trepidations found expression in his last speech in the Constituent Assembly. Amid loud cheers, Dr Ambedkar held that we must be determined to defend our independence with the last drop of our blood. He forewarned that India would lose its democracy and independence a second time if Indians become complacent.
It is his words of caution that set India on the path of a vibrant democracy for almost eight decades. However, today, we see attempts by some people to reduce the fraternity between Indians based on social cleavages such as caste, religion, ethnicity, language etc. We should be on guard to ensure that these divisive tendencies remain nothing but failed attempts. For instance, Ambedkar mocked the Aryan invasion theory at a time when he could have gained most from the Aryan-Dravidian divide. "Whether a tribe or family was racially Aryan or Dravidian was a question which never troubled the people of India until foreign scholars came in and began to draw the line," Babasaheb wrote in a paper published in 1918.
Furthermore, those who are attempting to use linguistic issues to further their narrow and sectarian interests would greatly benefit by reading Dr Ambedkar's views on the unity of the nation and the role of a language in this. On Sept 10, 1949, he moved an amendment in the Constituent Assembly supporting Sanskrit - one of the nine languages he had mastered - as the official language of the Union. In his 'Thoughts on Linguistic States', he also declared it the "bounden duty of all Indians to own up Hindi as their language". Dr Ambedkar believed that social and economic democracy goes hand in hand with political democracy. PM Narendra Modi ji has set a target of 'Viksit Bharat' by 2047, which conforms to the vision of Babasaheb.
Last month, when PM Modi visited Deekshabhoomi, he reaffirmed govt's commitment to work even harder to realise the India which Babasaheb envisioned. Babasaheb's birth anniversary presents all Indians with an opportunity to renew our pledge to the values and ideals given by him. Let us rise above our race, religion, region, caste and creed, and be 'Indian'.
The writer is India's Raksha Mantri
It is recorded that when he was at school, he was not even permitted to drink water from the common tap that other children drank from. One day, in the scorching heat, when he decided to drink from the source closest to him, he was assaulted for daring to violate this oppressive taboo. After such an incident, many young boys would have been resigned to their fate. Others may have become reactionary, rebelling against an unjust system through violent action. But Ambedkar channelised his inner angst into a zeal for learning. He went on to get an MA, MSc, PhD, DSc, DLitt and Bar-at-Law, including degrees at Columbia and London School of Economics.
Providence granted Dr Ambedkar unparalleled grit, intellect and integrity, which he put to use as a social reformer , jurist, economist, philosopher, human rights champion and nation-builder. His role as an institution builder also needs to be highlighted. Several institutions in modern India, such as RBI and Central Water Commission, find their genesis in Babasaheb's farsightedness.
Being a staunch democrat, Dr Ambedkar also believed that a democratic form of govt presupposes a democratic form of society. He believed that without moral order in society, there cannot be democracy and rule of law. It can also be said that for him, democracy, politics and ethics formed a trinity just like liberty, equality and fraternity. Like his greatest interlocutor, Gandhiji, Dr Ambedkar was committed to fundamental social reform.
This is because he was deeply worried about the future of India, its democracy, and hard-earned independence. His trepidations found expression in his last speech in the Constituent Assembly. Amid loud cheers, Dr Ambedkar held that we must be determined to defend our independence with the last drop of our blood. He forewarned that India would lose its democracy and independence a second time if Indians become complacent.
It is his words of caution that set India on the path of a vibrant democracy for almost eight decades. However, today, we see attempts by some people to reduce the fraternity between Indians based on social cleavages such as caste, religion, ethnicity, language etc. We should be on guard to ensure that these divisive tendencies remain nothing but failed attempts. For instance, Ambedkar mocked the Aryan invasion theory at a time when he could have gained most from the Aryan-Dravidian divide. "Whether a tribe or family was racially Aryan or Dravidian was a question which never troubled the people of India until foreign scholars came in and began to draw the line," Babasaheb wrote in a paper published in 1918.
Furthermore, those who are attempting to use linguistic issues to further their narrow and sectarian interests would greatly benefit by reading Dr Ambedkar's views on the unity of the nation and the role of a language in this. On Sept 10, 1949, he moved an amendment in the Constituent Assembly supporting Sanskrit - one of the nine languages he had mastered - as the official language of the Union. In his 'Thoughts on Linguistic States', he also declared it the "bounden duty of all Indians to own up Hindi as their language". Dr Ambedkar believed that social and economic democracy goes hand in hand with political democracy. PM Narendra Modi ji has set a target of 'Viksit Bharat' by 2047, which conforms to the vision of Babasaheb.
Last month, when PM Modi visited Deekshabhoomi, he reaffirmed govt's commitment to work even harder to realise the India which Babasaheb envisioned. Babasaheb's birth anniversary presents all Indians with an opportunity to renew our pledge to the values and ideals given by him. Let us rise above our race, religion, region, caste and creed, and be 'Indian'.
The writer is India's Raksha Mantri
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