Ambedkar's legacy lasts more than Gandhi's?

LEGACY LEADERS: Has the Mahatma lost out to Ambedkar in terms of a living political legacy?

            

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For the first time the country declared a national holiday on Ambedkar Jayanti. Statues, rallies and advertisement campaigns marked the day as almost every political party paid obeisance to the father of modern India's most committed votebank.

And that brings us to the question of the day that was asked on CNN-IBN show Face the Nation: Is Ambedkar's legacy more enduring than Gandhi's?

On the panel of experts to debate the issue were author and historian Ramachandra Guha, Dalit thinker and author Chandrabhan Prasad and BJP leader Sheshadri Chari.

The legacy leaders

When one looks at Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati and the BSP, does it seem that the Mahatma has lost out to Ambedkar in terms of a living political legacy?

Beginning the debate Guha said, “In the context of Dalit emancipation it is only just and right that leaders and activists come from within the Dalit community. I think Gandhi made an enormous contribution in awakening the conscience of some upper caste people to Dalit oppression. Ambedkar provided the alternative route to self-organisation which was necessary for the Dalits.”

So is Ambedkar more politically relevant to modern India? “Yes and no because Gandhi was much more than the caste issue,” Guha said.

“Gandhi’s vision was much more than India. If Ambedkar is the conscience of the nation then Gandhi is the conscience of the world. So let’s celebrate and honour both, let’s not choose between them,” he added.

Chari has been associated with the Hindu nationalist movement in which culture is always seen as an identity and an organising principle. But Ambedkar’s legacy has shown that it’s not culture but caste that has been a medium to mobilise people.

Beginning his argument on a philosophical note Chari said, “They say the best way to punish a philosopher is to provide him with followers.”

He then went on to say that what has failed Gandhi and Ambedkar are their followers.

“I would rather say that both Gandhi and Ambedkar took a leaf out of Gautam Buddha’s philosophy. Gandhi’s stress was more on non-violence and peace while Ambedkar’s was more on divisions that caste has made on the Hindu society. Buddha’s crusade against the divisions in the Hindu society was something that Ambedkar drew an inspiration from. And in a way both had unshakable faith that it was religion alone which could materialise their vision,” Chari explained.

Political legacy vs people’s legacy

Chari believes that it was possible for a section of the leadership in the present political circle to transform Ambedkar into a political icon, which the Congress party was unable to do because of its own internal contradictions.

“Mayawati and Kanshi Ram have made Ambedkar a modern icon and not Ambedkar himself,” he said.

However, Prasad said, “Gandhism is the philosophy of the dead while Ambedkar is the philosophy of the living. So it’s a logical progress, which creates a Mayawati and Kanshi Ram.”

Disagreeing with Prasad’s argument, Chari said, “I don’t agree with this total dismissal of Gandhi. I would in fact agree with Guha that Gandhi’s philosophy extends to the whole world. Peace and non-violence are issues that everybody in the world is talking about. Ambedkar associated himself with one single problem, which he was also subjected to in his own life.”

The point of contention turned out to be that Gandhism has become a romantic and utopian idea whereas Ambedkar spoke about modern prescriptions suited for the present times.