Today’s condition of India’s Biggest Minority is the Antithesis of the Ambedkarite Dream
YASIR
ALVI
If we go down in India’s history, we will find innumerable
leaders but never will we find a kingpin as far sighted as Dr.Ambedkar. We all
are well aware of the fact that he was an epitome of political and constitutional
knowledge, a man whose vision was inclusive, secular and was founded on the
ideals of fraternity and justice. However, not all of us are well aware of how
strong an advocate he was of the rights of minorities in India.
Ambedkar, had strongly pitched for
minority rights as the Constituent Assembly discussed the interim report on
Fundamental Rights on May 1, 1947. He even went to the extent of calling them
‘absolute’.
He said in the Constituent Assembly, “Rights for minorities should be
absolute rights. They should not be subject to any consideration as to what
another party may like to do to minorities within its jurisdiction”. He
was of the solid opinion that these rights must not be unnecessarily challenged
and that these must ensure that the minorities feel secure in their country.
But today’s India is absolutely contrary
to his ideals. The aggressive and extreme Hindu right has taken to power in the
country. The government of a “secular” country has not even a single Muslim
member in their majority in the House of the People. The question here arises
that are we living under the “Hindu Raj” that our constitution makers were
fearing and fighting against?
Ambedkar while shunning the idea of a
‘Hindu Raj’ said, “If
Hindu Raj does become a fact, it will, no doubt, be the greatest calamity for
this country. No matter what the Hindus say. Hinduism is a menace to liberty,
equality and fraternity. On that account it is incompatible with democracy.
Hindu Raj must be prevented at any cost.”
He took another dig against the Hindu
right and said on November 4,1948 , “die-hards
who have developed a kind of fanaticism against minority protection, I would
like to say two things. One, is that minorities are an explosive force, which
if it erupts can blow up the whole fabric of the state,the history of Europe
bears ample and appalling testimony of such facts. Minorities of India have
agreed to place their confidence in the hands of the majority and therefore, it
is for the majority to realise the duty not to discriminate against the
minority”.
Today the rights of minorities,
particularly of the Muslims are under an impending threat. The government of
the day is one which wants to create a society exclusive of Muslims. The
government is running an aggressively funded propaganda machinery to defame the
Muslim community and make the majority believe falsely, how Islam and Muslims
are a danger to India. This ultimately leads to the discrimination which
Ambedkar was apprehensive of.
On the issue of Uniform Covil Code Dr.Ambedkar
had said “sovereignty in
the exercise of power must reconcile itself to the sentiments of different
communities. No government can exercise its power in such a manner as to
provoke the Muslim community to rise in rebellion. I think it would be a mad
government if it did so”. These are the directives he gave to
the coming governments.
However, the majoritarian government of
Narendra Modi continues to poke the Muslims by either interfering in their
personal laws, threatening to ‘impose’ a so called ‘Uniform Civil Code’,
bringing the lethal combination of the CAA-NRC-NPR to throw the Muslims out or
by simply organizing a “state-sponsored genocide of Muslims”. This paint for us
a clear picture that today’s condition of India’s biggest minority is the
antithesis of the Ambedkarite dream.
Dr. Ambedkar was against both –
minoritarianism and the majortarianism. While democracy means majority rule, it
does not at all mean the suppression of minority. He wanted the rule of a
genuine secular political majority rather than a ‘communal majority’ which is
presently enjoying the hegemony in our country.
In short, for putting forward the legacy
of Ambedkar, and fighting against the onslaught of the Hindutva forces, it is
high time for young Ambedkarites, left-progressive forces and oppressed
minorities to develop a larger social solidarity among them. That shall be also
a litmus test for a secular, democratic and socialist country like India in
times to come.
Editor’s Note: On this
Ambedkar Jayanti, we pay tribute to Babasaheb Ambedkar, the Consitution maker
and the biggest advocate of minority right.
If you also have something to write about or speak about, do
it now. We encourage our audience to be the ‘voice of change’.
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