Come back, Bapu!

Dear Bapu,

Today, your birth anniversary, does not fill me with joy, but with a deep melancholic yearning. I am saddened by the events that do not augur well for your dream of Ram Rajya, which stands perverted by violence, chicanery and hypocrisy.

I ask myself every moment of my life, “Is patriotism about demonizing and killing compatriots?” Today's rulers appropriate Netaji and try to build him up as your rival, when they should know that Netaji was the first to describe you as Father of the Nation. Then they build a huge statue of Sardar Patel anointing him as the pride of Gujarat, when the Iron Man of India was actually your follower and a pan-Indian icon like Pt. Nehru, Ambedkar, Bhagat Singh and many other stalwarts of our freedom struggle. And now these hypocrites have stopped swearing by these two martyrs because they are no more useful in their quest for votes. Now they swear by you, Bapu, yet revere Godse! Diabolical hypocrites!!

During India’s freedom struggle idealism and patriotic zeal pervaded the subcontinent. So inspired were the freedom fighters by you, Bapu, that they vied with each other to sacrifice their all for the cause of India’s freedom. Indeed, today, we find it difficult to believe that there was a sparsely clad man who walked through the length and breadth of the Subcontinent and, wielding no clout other than sheer moral force, pursued the mission of freeing India not just from the British but also from our age-old prejudices, superstitions, and regressive mindsets. Unlike today, you did not have to go to Delhi to stage protests. Wherever you decided to launch the Satyagraha, such place became the country’s, nay, the world’s, focal point. Even if you went on a fast in some remote corner of the country, alarm bells rang right from the Viceroy’s palace in New Delhi to the Whitehall and the Buckingham Palace in London. Such was your persona that the mightiest power of its time dared not treat you lightly. It is no wonder that you inspired millions of Indians to achieve the impossible – win freedom through nonviolence.

Bapu, I am hugely disappointed with the Indian National Congress. It was the most potent political movement during India’s freedom struggle – an epitome of sacrifice, idealism, patriotism and such values as mutual respect and tolerance, uprightness and honesty as well as inclusiveness. Indeed, the evolution of the Indian National Congress presented a mirror image of the evolving India. Inspired by you, the Congress party was able to fashion a secular, socialist and democratic polity that became a role model for other newly independent countries the world over. Let us not forget that the civil rights movement in the bastion of democracy, the USA, was inspired by you, Bapu!

This ethos helped India overcome daunting challenges to its very existence as a united democratic country. Indeed, the Congress party was like a banyan tree, which was the home to a unique ecosystem accommodating conflicting viewpoints and ideologies. Where people might disagree with each other and yet unite in the face of threats to India from outside and within – be these wars, insurgencies, or natural catastrophes. Tragically, this banyan tree is reduced to a bonsai showpiece today. The Congress Party owes it to the nation to reinvent itself, reconfigure its policies and reclaim its premier position on India’s political stage. For this, they must reacquaint themselves with the country's as well as the party’s history, and your role in it. When I contrast today’s chest-thumping politicians with you I am filled with a deep sense of sadness. They dare belittle you, forgetting that you had converted an elitist club into an all-encompassing and powerful people’s movement! A movement that remains unequalled in its size and success. You humbled the mightiest colonial power on earth without having to thump your chest, or resort to boast and bombast. Inspired by you, the Congress Party’s stalwarts and freedom fighters willingly bore bullets and lathi wounds on their chest during the freedom struggle.

And how did the pseudo-patriots express their gratitude to you, Bapu? The Father of our Nation was shot in his chest by Nathuram Godse, in whose name temples are being planned now. Worse, now a megalomaniac president of USA dares to anoint another Indian as Father of India! And, the pygmies here endorse this perfidy!

Oh Bapu, if only you could return and tell the Indian National Congress that it owes it to the nation to revisit its roots and core values; that the politicians need to emerge from the quagmire of greed, lust and violence and return to the path of pristine morality.

Come back Bapu, just this once, and help the nation to redeem its vanishing values!

Babasaheb Ambedkar: the champion of a just society

Click here: All India Radio Broadcast version of this article 

It is said that great visionaries are born only once in a millennium. India was fortunate to have them at the most critical juncture of its modern history, when its social, political and economic character was taking a concrete shape. Along with Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, Dr. Babasaheb Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar was there to guide India’s tryst with destiny. He was a fearless advocate of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity, as reflected in the secular and egalitarian Constitution of India drafted by him.

Ambedkar’s upbringing and childhood experiences had a lasting and profound influence on his worldview. As a youngster, he loved reading Kabir’s dohaas. Later on, somebody gifted him a book on Buddha. Both Kabir and Buddha fashioned his political ideology and vision for the Indian society. Although he embraced Buddhism rather late in life, he had great admiration for its three principles, which he adopted as his life’s philosophy. These principles were Prajna or rational understanding, Karuna or compassion, and Samata or equality. The Constituent Assembly’s choice of the Wheel of Law as our National Symbol had his clear stamp. The Wheel of Law is Buddhism’s Dhamma Chakra, which graces our National Flag as well as the National Emblem.

He was a great democrat and advocated an impartial and uniform set of values for the society. He believed that the individual has certain absolute rights, which the Constitution must guarantee. Under no circumstances should the individual be required to surrender these constitutional rights in exchange of a privilege. He was convinced that only the parliamentary democracy was ideal for implementing social and economic reforms in the society in a peaceful and constructive manner. He regarded the democratic form of government as a symbol of respect towards common people. This was the only system that held the government accountable to the people. In order to strengthen democracy, he stressed upon robust constitutional morality, which means adoption of constitutional methods for removing injustices.

Ambedkar was a relentless votary of protecting fundamental rights in our Constitution. He believed that the Constitution should be effective enough to banish inequities in the society and set up fair and responsive systems and structures of governance. While drafting the Constitution he was aware of the need for removing the contradictions that existed in the society. For example, the principle of one-person-one-vote and one-vote-one-value ensured equality to all, but in reality, there were widespread prejudices in the society. He was aware of the dangers from so-called new ideologies to the Constitution. However, he was confident that the people of India could tackle these dangers. In his last speech in the Constituent Assembly he had said, “By independence, we have lost the excuse of blaming the British for anything going wrong. If hereafter things go wrong, we will have nobody to blame, except ourselves.”

A country’s Constitution is the roadmap to its growth as civilization. Knowing that a just and fair constitution was essential for all-round development, Ambedkar made secularism a vital part of the Constitution’s basic structure. He relied upon it to achieve liberty, equality and justice for all. For several reasons, some of our religious beliefs as well as caste structures have been unjust to various weaker sections of the society, including women. We must defend secularism not only for harmonious co-existence of all faiths, but also for ensuring equality and greater opportunities for the vulnerable sections, especially women. We all know that women often become victims of patriarchy, which owes its existence to religion and caste based traditions. Therefore, the best way to enable women’s empowerment would be to strengthen the country’s secular character. Ambedkar had frequently cautioned that to abolish secularism was to assault the Constitution’s basic structure. This could pose a threat to India’s independence. Indeed, it would be tragic if we failed our Constitution, which has provided a robust protection to the people against unjust acts.

Ambedkar regarded the caste system as an instrument of oppression and an anti-national tradition. For centuries, it had deprived a vast section of Indians of their dignity as human beings. In his opinion, villages were strongholds of casteism. However, he was not an armchair intellectual. He was always prepared to put his beliefs and principles to test in everyday situations. When he learnt that Dalits in Maharashtra’s Mahad town were not allowed to use a local water tank, although animals were allowed, he decided to resist this assault on human dignity. On 20 March 1927, he led about ten thousand Satyagrahis to the town to assert the human right to drink water from a tank meant for public. The upper caste Hindus attacked his procession, but the Satyagrahis remained peaceful although there were many ex-soldiers among them. He could easily have behaved like a firebrand and incited counter-violence. Instead, he chose the path of non-violence.

Ambedkar had a sophisticated approach towards development and empowerment. He did not have much confidence in Socialism as the right ideology for empowering the deprived masses. Yet, he believed that the state must take initiative to plan the people’s economic life and ensure impartial distribution of wealth. He had his doubts regarding Capitalism too, but he was aware of the good it could do if regulated properly. Consequently, he advocated limiting of the powers of both government and capitalists so that they did not have unchecked control over people’s economic life. If he were alive today, Ambedkar would have noted with satisfaction that, ever since India switched over to the capital-driven market economy, a new class of Dalit entrepreneurs has emerged. Free enterprise has become the most effective weapon against casteism. However, his advocacy of state ownership of agricultural land has not found much currency in the 21^st century India. There is an increasing realization that job reservation has done more harm than good because it discourages quest for excellence. Similarly, demand for quality education has weakened due to reservation quotas. As a result, our government-run educational institutions are decaying. Still, this does not take away from the essence of Ambedkar’s vision of India becoming a just society through Constitutional means. Indeed, his advocacy of a high degree of constitutional morality is relevant even today.

His thoughts have acquired greater significance in today’s India. This is because he has remained the Constitution of India’s authentic voice long after his demise. His vision has guided various legal experts and courts in interpreting the Constitution and its social and legal magnitude. Generations of lawyers and parliamentarians have quoted him while understanding, highlighting or explaining the fundamental rights and directive principles enshrined in the Constitution of India. He remains a role model for today’s youth, especially social activists and reformers.

Our first Prime Minister, Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru had visualized India’s tryst with destiny. Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar built a clear and reliable roadmap for making that vision a reality.

Republic Day Greetings

May India become a positive force for ushering in global peace and prosperity!

A Tribute to Our Kargil Martys

 

A reminder

The spilled blood of martyr

is the saffron bloom you admire

from the Kargil heights

* Here the word 'saffron' refers to the famed Kashmiri produce.