Babasaheb and today’s India
Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar was a unique representative of the Dalit-exploited-oppressed sections of Indian society, who was born in the Hindu religion, but did not die as a Hindu. His journey from being a Hindu to a non-Hindu is embodied in his installed statues, in which he is seen guiding the modern Indian society, wearing western attire and holding the Constitution in his hand. But this journey of his is not just his personal achievement, rather he comes forward as the hero of the struggle against the oppression of the entire Indian Dalit-deprived sections. This struggle of the Dalit-deprived sections is not only for freedom from the shackles of casteism, this struggle does not only involve the question of removing economic backwardness; Rather, this struggle is a struggle to create such a social system where man gets respect and dignity as a human being, where the downtrodden andd deprived sections of society get the right to live with human dignity and achieve their holistic development. The struggle to create such a system has social, political, economic and cultural dimensions.
From this point of view, the struggle that Baba Saheb started is still incomplete and is struggling to achieve its goal. Even after the political independence of the country, that struggle is incomplete because our ruling class tried to “build a palace on a dung heap”. As a result, even after independence and the guidance of the Constitution, we have failed to create an egalitarian society that can ensure social justice and human dignity of the Dalit-deprived sections.
On 20 November 1930, in the Round Table Conference, Baba Saheb had opposed British imperialism in these words and demanded the right to ‘state power’ – “… If we compare the condition of us Dalits before the arrival of the British with the conditions of today, we find that instead of moving forward, we are stagnating at the same place. Before the arrival of the British, our social condition was disgusting due to the feeling of untouchability. Did the British government do anything to remove it? Before the arrival of the British, we were not allowed to enter temples. Are we getting it today?…”
Had Ambedkar been alive today, he would have asked the same question that why is the condition of the Dalits and the deprived still the same as it was before independence? Why are many Rohith Vemulas committing suicide today and why are the criminals of Dalit oppression being honorably acquitted by the courts? Why are Dalits and women still struggling for temple entry and why are reserved seats in jobs vacant today despite constitutional provisions? He would have also asked why are efforts being made to replace the Constitution with Manusmriti and why is the majority of the population still deprived of economic justice and minimum wages?
Today Baba Saheb is no more, but the answer to these questions is not to be given by the British, but by the RSS-directed BJP government, headed by Narendra Modi. This is the same RSS gang, which is ahead in ‘throwing’, but the reality is that it is running a poisonous campaign to convert Baba Saheb’s ‘secular India’ into a ‘Hindu nation’, about which Baba Saheb had said – “If Hindu Raj is established in this country, it will be a great disaster. … Hinduism is the enemy of freedom. Hindu Raj must be stopped at any cost.” The challenge that Baba Saheb faced is the same challenge, magnified any times in size, that is present before us today. According to KC Sudarshan (former RSS chief) – “The Constitution of India is anti-Hindu. … Therefore, it should be thrown away and a Constitution based on the sacred texts of the Hindu scriptures should be implemented.” That is why the RSS gang runs a campaign to declare the Gita as the national book, which Ambedkar had called the ‘philosophy of counter-revolution’. That is why whenever the Sanghi gang attacks the Constitution and talks of reviewing it, the Dalit-oppressed-deprived sections of this country come forward to burn the ‘Manusmriti’. In a way, this fight turns into a struggle against the efforts to establish an orthodox caste system and to build a scientifically conscious, egalitarian modern India.
How bitter this struggle is can be gauged from the fact that the Sanghi gang wants to wipe out any trace of progressive-scientific consciousness in the Indian public consciousness. The demolition of Babri Masjid on 6 December, which is also Baba Saheb’s Nirvana Diwas, was not an accidental act but a well-planned conspiracy. This Sanghi misdeed was an attack on Baba Saheb’s Constitution and also an attempt to wipe out his memory from the public consciousness. Today they are running a campaign to usurp Baba Saheb’s entire ideology and in this sequence, going to the extent of ridiculousness, they are portraying him as an ‘associate’ of Sangh founder Dr. Hedgewar and spreading false propaganda that he believed in the ideology of the Sangh, whereas there is no participation of the ‘black cap, khaki shorts’ people in any of Baba Saheb’s socio-political campaigns/struggles. Forget about Ambedkar, Sanghis have never had any relation with any freedom fighter of the country, because during this entire period from 1925 to 1947, they stood with the British and kept informing them against the freedom fighters. Even after independence, in the case of Hindu Code Bill, they only burnt the effigy of Baba Saheb and cursed him.
Thus, Baba Saheb’s ideology is in direct conflict with the Sanghi gang’s ideology of ‘caste-based social system and the imagination of building a Hindu nation’. The more the struggle of the Dalits, exploited, oppressed and deprived for their rights intensifies, the more this conflict will increase.
To intensify this struggle and move forward, all the forces that want to free man from exploitation will have to come together. Ambedkar understood this in his lifetime itself. In 1927, when a massive satyagraha was held for the water of the Mahad ponds and the Manusmriti was burnt, Baba Saheb had said about the participation of Brahmins in that movement – “The existence of feelings of high and low from birth is Brahminism. … We are not against Brahmins. We are against Brahminism. … Anyone from any caste can participate in our movement.” It is worth mentioning that liberal and Brahmin social reformers also contributed a lot in Baba Saheb’s life. Baba Saheb himself had taken the surname ‘Ambedkar’ from a Brahmin teacher, who was a kind-hearted person and who had helped him a lot in his studies.
The scope of Baba Saheb’s thinking was not limited to caste only. He also linked his social thinking with economics and politics. He raised the issue of farmers and laborers, supported the strike by the communists and opposed the zamindari system in Konkan. The flag of the first political party he formed — Independent Labor Party — was red in color just like the flag of the Communist Party. He said — “Politics should be based on class consciousness. Politics in which there is no class consciousness is just a sham. Therefore, you should join such a political party, which is based on class interests and class consciousness.”
Speaking at the Railway Dalit Class Workers Conference in Nasik on February 13, 1938, he said, “In my opinion, there are two enemies that the workers of this country will have to deal with. Those two enemies are Brahmanism and capitalism. … If socialism is to be brought about, the right way to bring it about is to propagate it among the masses and organize the common people for this purpose. Socialism will not come by cajoling a select few elites or gentlemen.”
In 1937-38, Baba Saheb organised big rallies of farmers along with the communists. Famous communist leaders Shamlal Parulekar, B.T. Ranadive, G.S. Sardesai and S.A. Dange also participated in these rallies. On 12 March 1938, 20,000 farmers marched in Bombay demanding the abolition of the Khot system and removal of the moneylender regime. To curb the influence of communists and revolutionaries, the Congress Ministry of Bombay Province introduced the Industrial Disputes Bill. A massive campaign was launched against it. A strike was organised on 7 November and a joint committee of ILP, communists and liberals was formed to organise it. The strike was a resounding success. A public rally of one lakh people was organised, which was addressed by Ambedkar and Dange. Dalit workers participated in this rally in full swing. 683 workers were injured in the clash with the police during the rally. Ambedkar also participated in a procession and meeting organised by the Communist-led labour union in Bombay to commemorate the dead workers.
Thus, in history there is strong evidence of Baba Saheb’s relations not with Sanghis, but with the Communists.
But still it is clear that Baba Saheb was not a Marxist and communists are also not followers of Ambedkar’s ideology. These two streams, which want to liberate humanity from exploitation, developed parallelly and strongly over time. For the first, the abolition of caste system was paramount, for the second, the struggle against class exploitation was of utmost importance. But the experience after independence shows that both the struggles complement each other and coordination between these two streams of struggle is the biggest need of today. Without waging a fight against casteism, the “Brahminism” sitting in the heart of the worker cannot be killed. This ‘Brahminism’ is the biggest enemy of class unity, which separates one toiler from another toiler. Similarly, without intensifying the class struggle, the problem of unequal distribution of wealth cannot be tackled, because class exploitation does not see caste brotherhood and to maintain its economic dominance, a rich Dalit does not hesitate to exploit another poor Dalit. Therefore, unity of the class-wise exploited class with the socially downtrodden-deprived-oppressed sections is very important for the transformation of the society – for the creation of such a society where social justice, economic freedom and political rights can be ensured.
Jyotiba Phule said in 1890 – “In the absence of education, knowledge is lost, in the absence of knowledge, development is lost, in the absence of development, wealth is lost, in the absence of wealth, the Shudras are destroyed.” This statement of Jyotiba shows the way to connect economic and social issues.
Today the Dalit-oppressed-deprived sections are deprived of both the means of production and purchasing power. The issue of land rights unites this section and motivates it to fight against class exploitation and caste oppression. The way water, forest, land, minerals and other natural resources are being handed over to corporate loot and the way the basic foundations of the Constitution are being attacked to ensure this loot, only the leftists and forces committed to Ambedkar’s ideology can fight against it. Red colour is a symbol of class struggle and blue colour is a symbol of social justice. Only the unity of red and blue — the fluttering of red and blue flags on wells and factories, fields and temples — can take forward the struggle for fundamental change in this country. This is the need of the hour. In this sense Baba Saheb is still relevant today.
(The author Sanjay Parate is the Vice President of Chhattisgarh Kisan Sabha, affiliated to All India Kisan Sabha)
