132nd Birth Anniversary of Dr. Ambedkar
Today, India is commemorating the 132nd birth anniversary of Babasaheb Ambedkar, one of the greatest figures in Indian history. Meanwhile, RSS which controls the Indian regime today and which vehemently opposed Ambedkar during his lifetime, is now engaged in a historical falsification and misappropriation of the legacy of Ambedkar, even as latter’s program of caste annihilation is antithetical to the prognosis of cultural nationalism of the former.
In 1927, Ambedkar burnt Manusmriti, the ideological basis of RSS within 2 years of latter’s formation. On the other hand, led by Ambedkar, when the Draft of Indian Constitution was presented to the Constituent Assembly and the latter adopted it, RSS mouth piece Organiser (November 30, 1949), upholding “the unique constitutional developments in ancient Bharat” as enunciated in “Manu’s laws” or Manusmriti was proposing it as Constitution of India.
Today, while apparently garlanding and worshipping Ambedkar on the one hand, RSS and BJP are again working overtime to erode his principles and demolishing the very structure of the Constitution drafted by Ambedkar. The strategy of BJP is to hero-worship Ambedkar and simultaneously destroy his principles and strengthen oppression and violence against Dalits.
Ambedkar firmly upheld that “Great Indian Democracy” is incompatible with caste-ridden Indian society, and for him democracy was “quite different from a Republic as well as from Parliamentary Government.” Democracy, according to Ambedkar is not merely a form of Government, Parliamentary or otherwise. ” A democracy is more than a form of Government. It is primarily a mode of associated living. The roots of Democracy are to be searched in the social relationship, in the terms of associated life between the people who form a society.”
As long as caste system is there, according to Ambedkar, the Indian people will “have no common experience to share and have no bond of sympathy… The existence of the Caste System is a standing denial of the existence… of democracy.”
The “ascending scale of hatred and descending scale of contempt” implicit in caste system has “most pernicious consequences” destroying any kind of “willing and helpful co-operation among people.” Ambedkar’s evaluation that “political tyranny is nothing compared to social tyranny” enforced by caste system is proved absolutely true from the experience of the past several decades after Power Transfer.
Hence, at this critical juncture, when the fascist forces are engaged in transforming India into a Hindurashtra based on Manusmriti, it is the solemn duty of all who stand for a basic democratization of society to uphold Dr Ambedkar’s perspective on democracy and strive hard for annihilation of caste, the most inhuman institution in history.
The Program of CPI (ML) Red Star self-critically admits the failure of Communist movement in India “to recognise the historically determined integral link of India’s inhuman caste system with the class formation in Indian sub-continent. Hence the Communist Party could not carry forward class struggle and struggle for abolition of caste as interrelated processes.” Chapter 5, Program of People’s Democracy, among other things says: “The People’s Democratic State shall take concrete steps for the abolition of the inhuman caste system. Eradicate all forms of untouchability, caste oppression, and caste discrimination from all spheres of life. All caste-practices and reactionary institutions should be suppressed and the perpetrators of such crimes shall be punished.” It was with this perspective that CPI (ML) Red Star had taken initiative to form Caste Annihilation Movement (CAM) in 2011.
Let’s commemorate Ambedkar Jayanti paying rich tributes to Great Ambedkar on his 132nd birth anniversary.
P J James
General Secretary
CPI (ML) Red Star
14th April 2023
