New Delhi: A political controversy has erupted over Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s comments on Dr B.R. Ambedkar during his Rajya Sabha speech. The Congress has accused HM Shah of insulting the architect of the Constitution, while the BJP claims that the Opposition is misrepresenting his words through edited videos.
Opposition MPs held up pictures of Babasaheb Ambedkar and raised slogans demanding an apology from the Home Minister for his remarks.
Amid all this political slugfest, some documents and facts are in public domain highlighting alleged mistreatment of Ambedkar by the Congress and Jawahar Lal Nehru, and contrasting it with the BJP’s efforts to honour him.
The facts suggest Congress being “historically opposed” to Ambedkar, citing incidents from Jawaharlal Nehru’s era to the UPA government.
According to the details available, Congress allegedly defeated Ambedkar in elections and obstructed his political career.
First, the Congress allegedly defeated him in the Lok Sabha elections twice. Congress had allegedly obstructed Dr Ambedkar from entering the Lok Sabha on two occasions, defeating him in the 1952 and 1954 elections.
In 1952, Dr Ambedkar lost to his former personal assistant and Congress candidate Narayan Sadoba Kajrolkar in Bombay (North).
Similarly, in the 1954 by-election in Bhandara, he was defeated by the Congress nominee, Bhaurao Borkar.
The erstwhile Jan Sangh (now BJP) had extended its support to Dr Ambedkar in the elections where he was defeated by the Congress.
Second, Congress allegedly refrained from conferring the Bharat Ratna to B.R. Ambedkar for several decades.
The Central government backed by the BJP finally gave the highest civilian award to the late legal luminary.
According to details, Congress leaders have given Bharat Ratna to themselves many times. Nehru gave the Bharat Ratna to himself in 1955, Indira Gandhi gave the Bharat Ratna to herself in 1971 and Baba Saheb got the Bharat Ratna in 1990 posthumously, when the Congress party was not in power and there was a government supported by the Bharatiya Janata Party, say documents.
Congress allegedly blocked the display of Ambedkar’s portrait in Parliament.
Third, in response to Bidhan Chandra Roy’s plea to persuade Ambedkar not to resign from the Cabinet in 1951, Nehru wrote back in a letter: “Ambedkar’s departure does not weaken the cabinet”, reflecting the strained relationship between the two leaders.
Fourth, Nehru is said to have opposed the creation of a memorial for Ambedkar in his birthplace, Mhow, in 1959. Nehru believed that memorials should be initiated privately, not by the government.
This contrasts with BJP’s efforts to create multiple memorials in Ambedkar’s honour. In Nehru’s book Letters to Chief Ministers, there is a reference to a letter dated June 18, 1959, in which Nehru responded to the Mayor of Bombay’s request for a memorial for BR Ambedkar in his birthplace, Mhow.
Nehru wrote: “It is not usual for the government to set up memorials. Typically, this is done through private initiative. If any assistance is needed from the government and is possible, it will be provided. However, it would be an unusual departure for the government to take the lead in promoting a memorial.”
At the same time, the BJP-led government developed five places as “Panchteerth” in his honour. These include Amedbkar’s birthplace in Mhow (Janma Bhoomi), the place in London where he stayed while studying in UK (Shiksha Bhoomi), ‘Deeksha Bhoomi’ in Nagpur, where he took education and memorial at Alipur Road where he spent his last days — ‘Mahaparinirvan Sthal’ in Delhi, and ‘Chaitya Bhoomi’ in Mumbai the place of his cremation.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Dr Ambedkar National Memorial at 26, Alipore Road Delhi in 2018. This was proposed by Atal Bihari Vajpayee when he was in power. Congress is accused of stalling this memorial for years together.
Fifth, in 2015, PM Modi-led government declared January 26 as Constitution Day (Samvidhan Divas) to honour Dr Ambedkar.
The government also established the Dr. Ambedkar International Centre as centre of excellence and inaugurated the Dr. Ambedkar National Memorial in Delhi in 2018.
Last but not the least, a letter from Nehru to Lady Edwina Mountbatten, in which he discusses India’s elections, has also become a point of discussion and debate amid the ongoing controversy. In the letter published in ‘Selected Works of Jawaharlal Nehru’, the late PM writes about the Congress party’s performance in India’s first democratic elections since independence.
Talking about the general elections in Bombay province, Nehru writes about how Babasaheb Ambedkar and Morarji Desai lost their election in 1952. Talking about his own partymen’s loss in the letter dated January 16, 1952, Nehru wrote: “On the other hand, in Bombay city and to a larger extent in Bombay province, our success has been far greater than expected. Ambedkar has been dropped out. Socialists have not done well at all. The Communists have done much better than expected. There are a number of Independents who have crept in”.
(IANS)
