http://week.manoramaonline.com/cgi-bin/mmonline.dll/portal/ep/theWeekContent.do?sectionName=Current+Events&contentId=7016478&programId=1073754900&pageTypeId=1073754893&contentType=EDITORIAL
Jai Bhim! - (11-04-2010) Immortal visionary: Ambedkar still inspires countless Dalits across India / Photo by Sanjay Ahlawat CAMPAIGN BJP spearheads campaign for a grand memorial at Ambedkar's house in Delhi By Kallol Bhattacherjee 26 Alipore Road is too quiet to be an important political address in Delhi. Apart from the silence, the unkept lawns and the general look of desolation tell a tale of neglect. Those who come to visit this house near the Delhi Assembly and the Delhi University campus can be heard murmuring about its deplorable state. It was here that Bhim Rao Ambedkar lived in his final days. It was here that he worked on the Constitution. More importantly for his followers, it was here that he breathed his last. Fifty-four years after his death, his followers are demanding a grand memorial on the plot. Cutting across party lines, Ambedkar followers have come together for this cause. Predictably, around the silent house on Alipore Road, a lot of politics has begun targeting the United Progressive Alliance. Intriguingly, the movement acquired force a few days after the death of anti-Congress stalwart and RSS patriarch Nanaji Deshmukh on February 27. At a meeting in New Delhi’s Constitution Club, to remember Nanaji’s contribution to the Indian democracy, Indresh Gajbhiye, BJP Dalit leader from Madhya Pradesh, spoke about having a suitable monument at 26 Alipore Road. Soon, what should have been the concern of the Bahujan Samaj Party was hijacked by the BJP. So much so that a part of the discussion about how to go about the political agitation regarding the house was also carried out at the Deendayal Research Institute (Deendayal Shodh Sansthan, of which Nanaji was the founder) when Gajbhiye arrived there a day later to discuss Ambedkar’s legacy with some friends. It was clear that most of this mobilisation around Ambedkar's house was to be tinged with an anti-Congress flavour. “It is time we ask why was Ambedkar’s body flown out of Delhi to Mumbai by Nehru? Every great leader was cremated in Delhi. But Ambedkar was cremated in Mumbai. It was a move by Nehru to curtail the stature of Ambedkar at the national stage,” Gajbhiye said, underlining that Delhi should have its Ambedkar landmark before the next general election. Dalit activists have identified four pilgrimage centres related to Ambedkar. The first is at Mhow, his birthplace, and the second at Chaityabhoomi on Dadar beach where he was cremated. The third is the famous Deekshabhoomi in Nagpur where Ambedkar embraced Buddhism. The fourth, according to Gajbhiye, is 26 Alipore Road. According to him, Mayawati tried unsuccessfully to hijack the Ambedkar legacy, which belongs to all Dalits cutting across party lines. “People are gravitating towards the last resting place of Babasaheb Ambedkar because they are tired of the bankruptcy of Dalit politics which is focused on personalities,” Gajbhiye said. The leadership of the Ambedkar house campaign has been quietly usurped by the BJP. This, however, did not happen overnight. The BJP’s pro-Dalit symbolic politics has been on for quite some time. The party chose Nagpur as the venue of its 2009 national executive and national council meetings. Given the presence of Deekshabhoomi in the city, the meeting acquired a latent Ambedkarite colour. To this was added some symbolic gestures made by the then BJP president Rajnath Singh. On his way to Nagpur, Rajnath went to Mhow and was welcomed by Gajbhiye, who took him to Ambedkar’s birthplace. “These symbolic gestures brought the party close to the Dalits,” said Gajbhiye, who is grooming himself as the tallest Dalit leader in the saffron party. After Ambedkar's death, his house in Delhi was taken over by the Jindals who carried out renovations. Growing pressure from the NDA government forced them to transfer ownership of the house to the Centre. According to Dalit thinker Chandra Bhan Prasad, the Centre has never been comfortable in dealing with Ambedkar’s revolutionary aspects and this has reflected in the maintenance of places associated with him. “The house is not properly maintained and the belongings of Ambedkar are not properly kept for viewing,” said Udit Raj, a Dalit leader. “Compared to memorials of Indira Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, the last resting place of Ambedkar is a shame for anyone interested in his vision of a casteless India,” he said. Gajbhiye and others feel Ambedkar was never the chosen Dalit messiah of the Congress, which had a tall Dalit leader in Babu Jagjivan Ram. Since Jagjivan Ram was perceived by many as a rival of Ambedkar, many Ambedkar followers blame the UPA government for highlighting Jagjivan. Surprisingly, some Congress leaders are reportedly supporting the Ambedkar house campaign. Irrespective of whether the house is finally converted into a grand memorial to Ambedkar or not, the biggest gainer from the political movement would be the BJP, which according to Gajbhiye, is in the process of discovering the Dalit factor afresh. In the middle of this politics is the debate over Ambedkar’s decision to embrace Buddhism. According to Gajbhiye, Ambedkar proved that he was not in favour of giving up the Bharatiya way of life by embracing Buddhism, a home-grown religion. Gajbhiye says that this interpretation should make Ambedkar more acceptable to the RSS and propel it to protect Dalit interests. Dalit leaders like Udit Raj, Ram Vilas Paswan, Gajbhiye and Satyanarayan Jatiya have come together targeting the UPA for its inability to protect Ambedkar’s memory. They are frank about any political opposition that might emerge out of this meeting of minds. “If the Dalits can play a greater role in the country’s politics in the coming days, why should they hesitate? After all, it is not necessary that they have just one party [BSP]for looking after their interests,” said Udit Raj. For the moment, Ambedkar enthusiasts are busy organising meetings and marches for building a grand memorial at 26 Alipore Road. On April 30, they plan to have a huge human chain in New Delhi. ------------------------------------ ---- INFORMATION OVERLOAD? Get all ZESTCaste mails sent out in a span of 24 hours in a single mail. Subscribe to the daily digest version by sending a blank mail to [email protected], OR, if you have a Yahoo! 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