Thursday 14 April 2016

LIBERATING AMBEDKAR’S IDEOLOGY FROM THE RELIGIOUS NATIONALISM ..............................



Talk by

Dr. RAM PUNIYANI

Chairman, CSSS and Former Professor, IITB

Date:14.04.16; Venue: IC&SR Auditorium; Time: 4.15 p.m


“If Hindu Raj does become a fact, it will, no doubt, be the greatest calamity for this country”

-  B.R. Ambedkar


In the forthcoming 125th birth anniversary of Ambedkar, the extravagant shows by RSS, BJP and their Sangh parivar would be to celebrate his birthday along with the portraits of Hedgewar and Golwalkar, their Hindu Rashtravaadi founders. They attempt to justify such antithetical actions with their twisted statements like ‘Ambedkar believed on Sangh ideology’. These actions are yet another step by them to digest Ambedkar under Hindutva fold. Let them celebrate his birthday, as the people of India are indebted to Ambedkar for his vision for the country. But the trap behind all such moves to appropriate Ambedkar should be analysed profoundly.

What is the need for the Hindutva fascists to colour Ambedkar with saffron? Is that merely for vote-bank politics? No, it is to use Ambedkar as a mere symbol to convert dalits into footmen in Hindutva’s warfare against the working masses of this country and to pit them against Muslims and tribals, while diverting them away from moving forward with Ambedkar’s ideals for caste annihilation. This is what has happened in 2002 Gujarat riots, Dadri Lynching, Bathani Tola, Hashimpura and Maliana massacres. This is a clear tactic by the millennia-old caste system to remould itself for this era of neo-liberal, to maintain the continued caste and class supremacy in the Indian society.

The activities of the current BJP regime are part of a multi-coloured project for these causes. They acquired and converted the memorial hall of ‘10, King Henry road, London’ where Ambedkar stayed during 1921 – 22, while calling the students of Ambedkar Students Association in HCU ‘casteist, extremist and anti-national’. They cried for Rohit Vemula’s death that ‘a mother of India has lost her child’, while backing VC Appa Rao, booked for Rohit’s death, to continue his office in HCU. At the same time, they are more conscious on their real and intact agenda of building Hindu rashtra. They banned study circle named with Ambedkar and Periyar (APSC IITM), orchestrated the death of Rohit Vemula, converting all educational institutes into the hierarchical ‘gurukul’ with the help of their student wing, killing more tribals of central India in the name of ‘Operation no name’, breaking  dissent of any form, are some of their steps towards the goal. Even some times when they speak about the ‘social justice’, they are unmasked and their real faces are exposed. Recently, Mohan Baghwat sought a review on quota policy, Amit shah justified the varna system, MLA’s and MP’s of BJP are spewing poisonous statements to move towards their ‘Ram raj’ or ‘Hindu rashtra’.

The concept of ‘annihilation of caste’ by Ambedkar is more sufficient to fight against the appetite of digesting Ambedkar within Hindu religion. His ideology cannot be compared with the ideas of hinduism, where caste hierarchy is its central nervous system, without which the survival of Hinduism will cease completely. Unless and until we wish to annihilate the caste system, it is impossible for anyone to absorb Ambedkar’s ideology. Particularly it is not a possible one for the Hindutva forces, since Hindu religion itself is built with the bricks of multi levelled caste system.

Nowadays the celebration of Ambedkar’s birthday anniversary is being merely turned into a ceremonial function. This is the greatest betrayal to Ambedkar, who is being worshipped as a sheer idol rather than being read and understood, to take forward the fight towards annihilating caste. The dire need of the hour for the student community is to know Ambedkar’s ideology towards the ‘establishment of caste free society’. Those who simply praise or celebrate Ambedkar for name sake can never succeed in fulfilling his wish. Working towards annihilation of caste is the only way to isolate the trickeries by the proponents of the caste system. For that Ambedkar has to be reclaimed from identity politics into radical politics.

As a student community let us unite and pledge to annihilate the caste system!

OUR MISSION STARTED...........


 
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