Commentary/ Rajiv Shukla

All it took was a garland of chappals

I don't know whether Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar had a weak heart. But weak or strong, I don't think it would have survived last week's incidents in Maharashtra.

He wouldn't have minded the garland of chappals much, I am sure. But what followed, he definitely would have.

To an extent, the dalit sentiments, though it wasn't the way Ambedkar would have wanted it to run, is understandable. By the same token, it is understandable -- though unpardonable -- what the instillers of violence are doing. They wanted anarchy, and they got it.

With as little effort as stringing a garland of chappals.

But it is neither understandable nor pardonable what the authorities have been doing about it. Or rather, what they have not been doing.

Here, let me make on thing clear: I am not talking about how the government handled the situation. No, what I want to bring up is another matter. An obvious one, I must admit, but one the government failed -- fails -- to take note of.

Have you ever wondered why, in the past few years, Ambedkar statues are coming up all over north India? (If you doubt the statement, a visit to Uttar Pradesh would help.) Have you wondered why there has been a sudden mushrooming of Ambedkar parks? Why, all of a sudden, is the great man getting a remarkable amount of respect, a respect which has eluded him for a long time? Why?

I will tell you why -- because Ambedkar is the nearest person we have to South Africa's Nelson Mandela. Because he was that kind of man who could evoke such powerful sentiments among his followers that they would die for him rather than see his memory abused.

Because he is the key to dalit sentiments.

And for the anti-social and anti-national elements what better way is there to create anarchy than spark off racial violence? (The Hindu-Muslim riot-well is running dry.) See the effectiveness -- a garland of chappals have achieved more than what 10 bombs would have.

Hence, my point: that the Union government must take note of the Bombay violence, not just in that context, but in a broader, nationwide perspective. The Maharashtra government may term it a problem which has been sorted out immediately, but probe a little beyond that and you will realise the dangers it hold for the country, the ugliness of its potential. Now, dalits are aware of there rights and they are politically strong enough to retaliate.

Today, it happened in Bombay, but tomorrow it may happen anywhere. And the repercussions will be violent. Probably, even more so than now. Has the government thought about that? Are they taking any preventive measures?

In Uttar Pradesh, for instance, the situation can turn much more uglier than it did at the Ramabai Ambedkar colony. As such, the communal situation in the state -- thanks to the aggressive caste politics which the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Samajwadi Party practises there -- is tense. Both parties are now on the warpath. While the BSP is targeting the Yadav community, besides going all out for the upper castes, the SP has launched an anti-harijan drive. And Mulayam Singh Yadav and gang are out and around campaigning against the Harijan Act.

Mayawati, for her part, meanwhile, is selectively picking up Yadav officials for her government. The head on collision between Mayawati and Mulayam Singh has virtually put harijans against the Yadavs.

In such a situation, imagine what the desecration of an Ambedkar statue would bring about in the state. Has the government thought of that?

I hope so. I pray so.

At many places, Ambedkar statues have been planted on government land by the mafia to capture it. (Which official would think of demolishing it?) The administrative machinery will now have to enact a policy about the installation of such statues. And they need to ask the district magistrates as well as the police to take care Bombay-like desecrations do not occur again.

It is sad to see the name of Dr Ambedkar, who dedicated his life for social equality and justice, being used to instigate social injustice. Now, at a volatile time like this, his name is being dragged in the mud -- articles are coming out which club him with the British, and even his claim as the architect of Indian Constitution is being disputed.

I wish people would quit exploiting history to create divisions in society. This is not what Ambedkar taught us.

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