Since 1957, today, December 6, Dalits flock to central Mumbai in their lakhs to pay obeisance to one of the greatest Indians, the late Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar, the chairman of the drafting committee that wrote the Indian Constitution. It ought to be every Indian but ideological and religious fragmentation of the society seems mostly the Dalits, especially the Mahars who renounced Hinduism.
It was today in 1956 that Ambedkar passed away after leading thousands upon thousands of the Scheduled Castes into Buddhism so that they are out of the clutches of the regressive anti-lower caste discrimination by the upper castes Hindus. He did that in Nagpur on October 14 and on December 6 the same year expired and was cremated in Dadar. Both the places are revered, especially by the Dalits. The space by the seashore in Mumbai is Chaityabhumi and the Nagpur site is Deekshabhumi.
Ambedkar did not believe in deification but his followers believed that he was their Mahamanav and worshiped him and his memory. Neither did he believe in hero worship but to the Dalits he is a hero. They, now the neo-Buddhists are better off than the community was before their conversion and generations have experienced their lives change. During the VP Singh regime at the Centre, the neo-Buddhists too became entitled to reservations like the Scheduled Castes.
Dalits flock to his statue
The unusual thing is that no political party, not even those who lead the Dalit-based parties or their workers bring these to Chaityabhumi. They come on their own in any mode they can. If it is a train, the ticket checkers turn a blind eye if they are ticketless. They travel in overwhelming numbers. Ambedkar’s pull is so strong that they need no inducements. The Ambedkarites park themselves anywhere they can – homes of relatives or under the starry skies at Shivaji Park or even on the sidewalks.
Ambedkar is part of the pantheon that is invoked when references are made to Maharashtra in the socio-political context. The others are of course the founder of the Maratha Empire, Chhatrapati Shivaji, his descendent Shahu Maharaj who led and ruled the Kolhapur branch and provided 50 percent reservation for “lower castes” in government jobs in 1902, and Mahatma Phule who led the movement to emancipate women by educating girls.
The trio bow before Ambedkar bust
The pantheon is invoked time and again but socio-politically Maharashtra is progressive but it traversing the opposite route. Those who are progressive rue the reversal of socio-political progress but lip-sympathy is paid as a routine. The first public engagement of the trio that was sworn in yesterday – chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, his two deputies Ajit Pawar and Eknath Shinde – arrived to bow before the bust of Ambedkar. It is an unfailing annual December 6 ritual.
When the Dalits congregate, there is something doctrinal in their approach. They hark back to the five to six generations of Dalits who embraced Buddhism, their improvement in the caste hierarchy though a Dalit bridegroom astride a horse at a wedding barat can risk a beating anywhere in India. When politicians go to the Chaityabhumi, it smacks of insincerity for even Dalit leaders.
Dalit politicians themselves have done little to promote their flock by not being united in the party founded by Ambedkar himself and it has made little political impact. The Republican Party of India has had so many splits that it is hard to count how many exist and what strength they have in politics. Ambedkar’s clarion call was to “Educate, Agitate, Organize” so that the oppressed can empower themselves.
Dalit leaders are ineffective
The ordinary Dalit has opted to educate himself/herself because education is the best tool to free oneself from the caste system and generate an inclusive society. The masses have tried their best but their leaders have split and the RPI is mostly a fringe on the political landscape. They are unable to get elected even from SC reserved constituencies and only in 1988 with the support of the left-of-centre formation did four get elected to Lok Sabha from general seats.
Despite that, they remain disorganised – Ambedkar said “organise” – and one single person who has been a minister for decades and in Assembly and Parliament, Ramdas Athawale has always sensed the direction of the wind and followed power. He is now in a BJP-led government in Delhi. The other is Ambedkar’s grandson, Prakash Ambedkar, a maverick who leads the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi but hasn’t succeeded much.
Thus, Ambedkar’s vision remains a moral idea amongst the Dalits and less among their leaders. It has been least successful though the Republican Party of India (RPI) was founded over 65 years ago and has been fund-less almost forever. It had a fair short-term success for a newbie party in Uttar Pradesh, also known as Bahujan Samaj Party. The RPI factions lack organisational mechanism that can propel it ahead. In the 1990s it saw a major shift towards unity but soon came apart because most factional leaders chose their path.
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