Ambedkarism
A controversial take on Ambedkarism as different from Ambedkar himself.
There is a new religion that has a slogan called Jai Bhim. This religion is different from what it claims to associate with that is Buddhism.
In this experiment, Dalits are the pawns. As Raghu Bhaskaran explains in his post titled Abjure or Appropriate Ambedkar, “Dailt” is an artificially constructed identity and, categorising them together with black slaves of the West, are supposed to be need a messiah for their emancipation. So, who can be their messiah? Here, Raghu asks a critical question:
Instead of highlighting cases like Babu Jagjivan Ram, Birsa Munda, Rettamalai Srinivasan, M.C.Rajah, to pick Ambedkar as the paramount icon, is it because these leaders while fighting for their communities, did not hold India-Hindus-Hinduism as the ‘enemy’?
So here is a people forced into an identity that needs emancipation and a messiah thrust upon them who can deliver them. Despite his incisive mind, Ambedkar is not what they can fit into that role. So evolved Ambedkarism.
But Ambedkarism is different, as in it does not take inspiration from Ambedkar. It does not advocate any of the things Ambedkar himself did to enlighten himself. Nor can it reconcile Ambedkar’s views with their demands. Say, for example, Ambedkar advocated for limited reservation ideas, whereas Ambedkarites seek perpetual reservation. So they have reduced Ambedkar to a figurehead, papered over this inconvenient ideas and selectively taken what benefits them. The followers of Ambedkarism are thus greater and bigger than Ambedkar himself. They think that the state owes them everything and that wherever their outcomes fall short of the “bestest” outcome, they blame the state.
Every religion has a few basic tenets. Most primarily, every religion believes that there is some power which is bigger than the person who is the follower of the religion. Most religions also believe that the superpower is greater than the religion's founder. However, this Ambedkarism is the new religion where the followers believe they, not Ambedkar, are supreme.
Such a religion has no rooted thought, but it only claims whatever it lays its eyes on. Such a religion is a dangerous addition to the pantheon of dangerous religions. There is a good reason why this religion has aligned itself with radical Islam. It belongs to the same genus.
Finally, Ambedkarism has hurt the Dalits by misleading them. This is no road to emancipation. It is up to the various individuals and communities / Jatis to look within themselves and determine if this is indeed the way to their prosperity.
Note & Readings:
The Dalits are not a collective identity. They refer to groups of communities or jatis who have been disadvantaged. The dynamics of imposed disadvantages are a separate and long debate that must wait until all the evidence and history are cleared of colonial manipulations.
This article is a must read about Abjure or Appropriate Ambedkar - Should Hindus or Hindutva, by Raghu Bhaskaran.