Invoking Ambedkar's name is an imperative
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‘‘It has become a fashion to say Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar'. If they had taken God's name so many times, they would have got a place in heaven”, these were the words uttered by the country's Home Minister in the upper house of the Indian Parliament. Amit Shah chose to publicly insult the chief architect of the Constitution in his speech during the conclusion of the special debate on the Constitution on the 75th anniversary of the country's adoption of the Constitution. Protests have been raised against this and when the opposition demanded his apology and resignation, Shah lost his temper and then the Prime Minister himself came out in support of him. Since the beginning of the discussion on the Constitution, the ruling party, including the Prime Minister, as usual, spent time attacking the nation's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. These remarks made by Amit Shah in continuation of that are not a slip of the tongue or a coincidence.
The Indian Constitution, prepared under the courageous and philosophical initiative of Dr B.R. Ambedkar, is the main obstacle before the efforts made by the Sangh Parivar who for decades tried to bring the country under the ideology based on caste and religion. Ambedkar, who put forward a social vision based on the principles of equality, fraternity and freedom, is the main adversary of those who want to bring back discrimination in the name of caste and religion in the country. Ambedkar has been the focus of communal forces since the time he asserted in the constitution's drafting process that caste is what divides man and separates man from man more than religion and the reason for caste is the Chaturvarna system. Hindutva activists in the Congress party at that time also had tried hard to humiliate and sideline him. It is no wonder that repeatedly hearing the name of that great thinker, who overcame all of that and still stands as the hope and symbol of a secular-democratic India, annoys someone like Amit Shah, who has a track record of communal hatred. It is the strength and energy emanating from Ambedkar and the Constitution that keeps the people of the nation as humans. Otherwise, we would still have to stand in the periphery of the extremely cruel caste system, including discrimination and untouchability.
The Sangh Parivar is trying hard to erase from history the countless freedom fighters, including Nehru, Ambedkar and Azad, as well as the rulers who ruled the country before them and their policies. While the Hindutva communal forces expressed their hostility towards the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, by taking his life, they are showing their hatred towards other freedom fighters by rewriting history books and changing the names of historical monuments and cities. At the same time, they celebrate Godse, Gandhi's killer, and Savarkar, who was his guide. The Sangh Parivar, which builds temples and statues for Godse and worships him. insults Ambedkar by vandalizing his statues and disrupting his memorial services. Furthermore, it is trying to drive the Dalit masses away from higher education institutions, demonizing them, and alienating them from the mainstream of the country. At such a time, Ambedkar's memories remain a force to raise one's voice and fight against all forms of discrimination and segregation as a human being. Therefore, just like the Constitution, the name Dr. Ambedkar should always be raised repeatedly. For those like Shah, who have uttered this name only for electoral gains, it may seem fashionable or farcical. But it is not so for the Indian people. Since invoking his thoughts at every possible opportunity constitutional a vital democratic and freedom activity, mentioning his name again and again is incumbent on those who love the idea of India in current times.
