22 Dec, 2024 06:30 IST
First published: 22 December 2024 06:30 IST
What really disturbed me about the shenanigans in Parliament last week was the hypocrisy. All sides of the political divide manifest their love for Dr. Ambedkar in an attempt to show their love for him in a silly way. There was Rahul Gandhi in a blue t-shirt (instead of his usual white) with his sister in a blue sari and several other Congress MPs also wearing dalit blue, the color chosen because all are equal under the sky. They chanted ‘Jai, Jai Bheem’ and carried placards declaring ‘I am Ambedkar’ and Ambedkar is my God. A party with which Ambedkar had serious differences.
This is not just a show of hypocrisy by the Congress party. But also BJP’s hypocrisy. In the home minister’s speech where he allegedly ‘insulted’ Dr Ambedkar, he listed the memorials and many other things that Narendra Modi had done in his memory since he became Prime Minister. And BJP speakers in the debate on the Constitution never failed to mention that the Prime Ministers of the dynasty had refused to award the Bharat Ratna to Ambedkar. These latest members of Babasaheb Ambedkar’s fan club failed to mention that the ideology they subscribe to, the Hinduism that defines the Modi government, is the opposite of what Ambedkar believed.
Dr. If any political party responsible for the humiliating encounters and hooliganism in Ambedkar’s name had been sincere in their love for him, they would have done more to end the shameful treatment of our Dalit community that continues till date. Here are some statistics that should put us all to shame. Manual scavenging is technically illegal today, but the largest employer of manual scavengers is the Indian Railways.
Hand scavenging is practiced in nearly half of India’s districts. More than 90% of sewer and septic tank cleaning workers in our ancient land are from Scheduled Castes. Not only do these sanitation workers lack dignity, they also lack protective gear. Many die just doing their job. Rahul Gandhi likes to pretend to do the work of a common worker, but does not dare to shoot this job.
Come on, hate the crimes committed against Dalits every year in India, and ponder this statistic for a moment. According to an estimate, a crime is committed against a Dalit community every 18 minutes. The National Crime Records Bureau has shown a 45 percent increase in rape of Dalit girls between 2015 and 2020. You don’t need to be a statistician to know that most victims of gang rape and other forms of sexual brutality in rural India belong to the Dalit community.
Dalit children are routinely discriminated against in schools and there are many Hindu temples that still prohibit Dalits from entering their sacred premises. My point is that as we dream of our ‘Developed India’, we must remember that the nightmare Dr Ambedkar faced as a child in school still haunts us. He was made to live in a sack at some distance from his upper caste classmates which he had to carry back home with him. When he wanted to drink water, he had to wait for a high-caste peon to come and pour it for him because his touch was considered polluted. Untouchability is difficult to practice in our cities, but it thrives in our villages. I have personally never been to an Indian village where the Dalit quarter is not segregated from the upper caste quarter.
Do I blame our political leaders for this dire situation? yes Absolutely. They have done very little in the last 75 years to make casteism socially unacceptable. Hence they need to take refuge behind public displays of love for Dr Ambedkar. Therefore, they should push for increasing the reservation for Dalits. It is my humble opinion, expressed in past columns, that reservations have become a base for politicians rather than an effective form of affirmative action. It needs to be reconsidered and a better way needs to be found to uplift the lives of those Dalit communities for which even Dalit politicians have not done enough.
Dr. To remember Ambedkar as truly memorable, you need to be in Mumbai on December 6, when millions of very poor Dalits gather in the city to commemorate the day he died. They came from far and wide. Many were too poor to afford hotels, so they slept on sidewalks and in parks to get to Chaityabhoomi, a monument built like a Buddhist stupa to honor him. They did not need to carry his picture in their hands or shout slogans to show their love for him. They came as pilgrims come to shrines, quietly and with dignity and devotion. Our elected representatives can learn a lot from them.
Meanwhile, when can we expect a peaceful debate instead of a violent clash at the gates of Parliament? I understand that the Home Minister spoke carelessly about Dr. Ambedkar. But it is true that it has become fashionable to chant Ambedkar’s name for those who use it as a political tool during elections.
Why should you buy our membership?
You want to be the smartest in the room.
You want access to our award-winning journalism.
You don’t want to be confused and misinformed.
Choose your subscription package