Ambedkar a patriot, really ?

Like all true blue Indians educated in the ‘secular’ traditions where it is considered impolite to state the obvious and therefore behave in a docile manner and eulogize people that you really know to have done nothing for the betterment of the society, I have often been pushed to the corners where I have had no other option but to speak the obvious but with pinches of salt. These have led to some friends getting annoyed and have gotten me into many arguments that were either a waste of time or energy or both. In the process many have chosen not to respond to mails and have even avoided being seen with me in public lest they be ostracized from the ‘secular’ and ‘elite’ society.

The ‘secular’ and ‘elite’ society comprises of people who shall brook no disrespect to one or more of  the following :

1. Ramaswamy Naicker ( called as ‘Periyar’ – பெரியார்   )
2. Anna Durai
3. Ambedkar

While I have not meant dis-respect to any of the above, I have often tried to show the ‘other’side of these personnel that is not normally visible to the public. It is not that these personnel have ensured that their other sides are not visible, but their ‘devotees‘ have made it an agenda not to bring out the aforementioned’s multiple dimensions.

For example recently there was this Ambedkar controversy wherein some worthies ‘discovered’, after 50 years, that a sacrilege had been committed by way of a cartoon dating back to the 1950s. The argument was  that a ‘nationalist’ and a ‘ freedom fighter’ and the ‘architect’ of the constitution of India had been insulted by means of a 50 year old cartoon. That triggered a soul searching in me that led to the discovery of some incidents recorded in the annals of history.

Well, publishing these events, speeches et al would result in further depletion of some of the readers. But they are not to be blamed. They have been educated in the staple diet of ‘social justice’, ‘secularism’, ‘class struggle’ etc. Hence what they have been fed, they have come to believe in. They know not that there is always another aspect to ones’ learning at school. Mark Twain asked us not to let our schooling interfere with our education – meaning that schooling is to learn the basic and essential stuff to educate ourselves from then on. But alas, we have stopped learning and that has resulted in our knowledge repository shrinking to the prescribed texts and their associated explanatory notes.

We come to know that Ambedkar was never jailed even once by the British for participating in the national struggle as he never took part in that ( we worship him as a freedom fighter ) . We also come to know that Ambedkar took active part in destabilizing the fasts undertaken by Gandhiji, was responsible for the near-death scenario of Gandhiji ( Gandhiji undertook a fast-unto-death in Yerawada prison to stop the ‘communal-award’ that Ambedhar was espousing. Later there was this Poona Pact that ended Gandhiji’s long fast during which he almost died ). We also come to know the behavior of Ambedkar at the Round Table Conference that was in line with what the British had wanted and how it was in direct contrast to what Gandhiji espoused. Incident after incident goes on to prove the complete support that Ambedkar provided to the British for their continuance in India. It is another matter the Ramasamy Naicker also espoused British rule in India, but about that in another article.

Let me stop my ramblings and let history speak for itself.
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Dr.Ambedkar, 2-Sep-1953, Rajya Sabha Speech :

“People always keep on saying to me:’O, you are the maker of the Constitution’. My answer is I was a hack. What I was asked to do so, I did much against the will… Sir, my friends tell me that I have made the Constitution. But I am quite prepared to say that I shall be the first person to burn it out..”

British Viceroy of India to The Cabinet mission, 05-Apr-1946 :

“He ( Ambedkar ) thought that if India became independent it would be one of the greatest disasters that could happen..”

British Secretary of State for India to the Governor of Madras : 24-Sep-1933 :

” During the last two or three years I have seen a great deal of Ambedkar,and, like most of my friends, I have been impressed by his ability and his manifest desire to support the British influence in India…”

British Secretary of State to the Viceroy of India, 28-Dec-1932 :

” Ambedkar has behaved very well at the (Round Table ) Conference, and I am most anxious to strengthen his hands in every possible way ..”

But there is a more serious and damning revelation that is sure to cause some consternation in us. For long, we have been taught that Ambedkar was the ‘architect’ of the constitution and we know that the Constituent Assembly was formed with the express intention to write the constitution. Here is the view of Ambedkar on the Constituent Assembly.



Dr.Babasaheb Ambedkar, All India Scheduled Class Federation, Bombay, 6-May-1945 :


“I must state that I am wholly opposed to the proposal of a Constituent Assembly. It is absolutely superfluous. I regard it as a most dangerous project… I do not see why a Constituent Assembly is at all necessary.Indians are not in the same position as the Fathers of the American Constitution were”.
“So much of the Constitution of India has already been written out in the Government of India Act, 1935”

“It is my considered opinion that the proposal of Constituent Assembly is more dangerous than profitable and should not be entertained”.
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The above quotes are taken verbatim from Ambedkar’s own writings, Published letters of Winston Churchill and ‘Worshipping False Gods’ by Arun Shourie. Hence there is nothing that I have ‘invented’ in these passages above. There is more ammunition in the archives of the “Proceedings of the Constituent Assembly of India”. But that is a matter for a PhD thesis.


A logical question : Why don’t we see these in our text books ? Why don’t we get to know the history in the real sense of the word ?