Ambedkar: Target of Political Strategies and Ideological Clashes

The cantankerous statement by Amit Shah against Dr. Ambedkar was not merely a slip of the tongue but a deliberate strategy by the RSS and BJP to relentlessly humiliate Dr. Ambedkar, Mahatma Gandhi, and recently even Rahul Gandhi due to his association with the Gandhi name. To fully understand why Amit Shah launched a scathing attack against Dr. Ambedkar in the Parliament House on December 17, 2024, one must examine the history and ideology of the RSS. What was its strategy during pre-independence and post-independence India?

Golwalkar, a staunch critic of Gandhi, envisioned Brahminical supremacy in post-independence India, while Gandhiadvocated for a free India where everyone had equal rights. The RSS’s mouthpiece Organiser published several venomous articles, with Golwalkar arguing against granting equal electorate rights to Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), Other Backward Classes (OBCs), and Muslims.

The fundamental difference between Gandhi and Golwalkar was that Gandhi sought universal adult franchise, where caste, creed, religion, and gender held no barriers, whereas Golwalkar favoured hierarchical social orders as advocated in Manusmriti. He opposed Gandhi’s efforts to unite marginalised communities against British rule. He spread rumors against Gandhi, claiming he was trying his level best to hand over power to these uneducated, uncultured, and uncivilised communities. He had a casteist theory and was keen to invoke cultural nationalism in place of the secular nationalism prevailing today in the Indian democratic system. He said the articles in the Indian democracy were taken from the constitutions of different countries, arguing that there was nothing Indian in the Indian Constitution book. He was searching for vertical social orders in the Indian Constitution that were missing. Article 14 states equality before the law for each citizen of India.

The furore of Amit Shah against Dr. Ambedkar stems from the latter’s work ensuring equal opportunities for women and men through the Constitution. Dr. Ambedkar’s reforms, particularly the Hindu Code Bill, enraged orthodox Hindu groups led by figures like Swami Karpatri, who vehemently opposed changes to traditional Hindu values. Dr. Ambedkar eventually resigned from Nehru’s cabinet, accusing Nehru of being a pseudo-secularist who indirectly supported RSS ideologies.

The RSS and BJP continue to harbour resentment against Dr. Ambedkar for his role in reforming Hindu personal law and introducing equality in the Constitution. The attacks on Ambedkar intensified with Arun Shourie’s book Worshipping False Gods, which sought to diminish Ambedkar’s legacy. Savarkar and Golwalkar, now represented by their powerful pupils sitting on the throne, want to overturn the rule of the Constitution and are keen to invoke Manusmriti to marginalise women in the system once again. When Dr. Ambedkar brought the Hindu Code Bill to Parliament, the Hindu Mahasabha and other Hindu organisations dominated by Brahmins started protests. Swami Karpatri (Harinandan Saraswati) was leading the demagogic crowd.

Jawaharlal Nehru’s initial enthusiasm for the Hindu Code Bill was met with significant opposition from various quarters, including his own Congress Party. The Bill aimed to codify and reform Hindu personal law, promoting gender equality and modernising Hindu society. Nehru’s U-turn on the Bill can be attributed to several factors. Firstly, the opposition from within his own party was intense, with many members believing that the Bill went too far in reforming Hindu personal law. Secondly, Nehru faced resistance from orthodox Hindu groups, who saw the Bill as an attack on traditional Hindu values. A furious Dr. Ambedkar resigned from Nehru’s cabinet. He assumed Nehru was a farcical secularist who actually supported the RSS and orthodox Hindus more.

The RSS can’t forget the attack upon them. They believe Dr. Ambedkar was the culprit behind the reforming of Hindu personal law and the enactment of equal opportunity for all in the Constitution, so they consistently searched for opportunities to humiliate him. This humiliation campaign against Dr. Ambedkar was initiated by Arun Shourie, who wrote a book titled Worshipping False Gods. In it, he argued that over the last couple of decades, B. R. Ambedkar has come to be idolised as no other political leader has. He noted that Ambedkar’s statue is one of the largest in the Parliament complex and that political parties have reaped rich electoral dividends riding on his name.

The BJP set a target of winning 400 Lok Sabha seats in the 2024 general election. Riding on the name of Dr. Ambedkar and the Constitution, the INDIA Alliance imposed a 40% GST on the BJP’s ambitions, reducing its tally to 240 seats. Restricting the BJP’s seats to 240 was seen as a miracle driven by Dr. Ambedkar’s name and the issue of protecting the Constitution. The BJP, keen to change the Constitution, saw several of its leaders claiming during the election period that they would do so if they secured 400 seats. As Dr. Ambedkar’s relevance and influence in Indian politics grow day by day, the BJP planned attacks on him to counter the momentum of protests.

Now, realising the deep-rooted support for Ambedkar among the masses, the BJP has resorted to targeting him and his followers to weaken the opposition. The recent confrontation at the “Makar Dwar” entrance of Parliament on December 19, 2024, was part of the BJP’s calculated strategy to protect Amit Shah and divert attention from the criticisms against him. Following the principle of “Offense is the best defense,” the BJP orchestrated the conflict to put its opponents on the back foot.

(Cover Photo Credit: Rahul Gandhi/Instagram)

AmbedkarAmit ShahBJPDalitsGolwalkarIndiaIndian ConstitutionIndian National CongressMahatma GandhiOBCparliamentrahul gandhiRSSScheduled Caste