Power of Ambedkar

Illustration/Uday Mohite

It was a very moving and inspiring experience, being at Chaityabhoomi in Dadar, Mumbai, at midnight of December 6, last week, on Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar's mahaparinirvan diwas (death anniversary). It was especially moving to hear Buddhist prayers being chanted in the inner chamber of the Chaityabhoomi, under the dome, where Dr Ambedkar's family, heirs, friends, bhikkus (monks), allies and followers offered prayers from midnight onwards. There was a short marchpast by the uniformed Samata Sainik Dal, SSD, founded by Dr Ambedkar to safeguard the rights of the oppressed. Outside Chaityabhoomi, followers from all over India waited patiently to pay their respects in an orderly queue that was so long, we couldn't see the end of it - even at 2 am.

Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, Babasaheb Ambedkar, was a legal luminary, economist, journalist, social reformer, and chief architect of the Constitution of India. He aimed to annihilate caste on many fronts, including by editing newspapers, proposing Bills as a member of the Bombay Legislative Assembly; practising as a lawyer, and teaching at the Government Law College, to direct action, such as at the Mahad Conference in 1927, when he and a large group of "low castes" broke social codes by drinking water from the Chavdar lake in Mahad, Maharashtra. He also led an estimated 5,00,000 followers in a mass conversion from Hinduism to Buddhism in Nagpur in 1956, to escape Hinduism's caste system's "threat to freedom."

Born into a Mahar family (Scheduled Caste, former "untouchable") in Mhow, Madhya Pradesh, for one who had to sit on a gunny sack cloth in a corner of the school classroom, to earn a BA (Elphinstone College, Mumbai), an MA and PhD in Economics from Columbia University, New York, and an MSc and DSc (Doctorate) in Economics from the London School of Economics, and a law degree at Gray's Inn, London, were astounding academic milestones, apart from all his other achievements.

I felt a powerful surge of energy when I returned on December 6 to Shivaji Park, close to Chaityabhoomi - amid lakhs of people who had come to pay their respects to Dr Ambedkar, including artists, musicians, actors, social activists, followers, allies, NGO reps, vendors of books, memorabilia and more, from all over Maharashtra and India. Thanks to Somnath Waghmare, director of the documentary Chaityabhumi, and activist Sakhar Sagare, I was able to meet a diverse range of people, including the superb artist Vikrant Bhise, Gautamiputra Kamble, President, Secular Movement, and Convenor, Secular Art Movement, and artist-curator Prabhakar Kamble; Rahul Sonpimple, founder of All India Independent Scheduled Castes Association, Bhimgeete singer Milind Shinde, artist Kailash Khanjode, Aashit Sable who has made the documentary Shahiri, Shubhkaramdeep Singh, who is doing his Master's in Public Health at Tata Institute of Social Sciences, and many more.

I had a long discussion with Gautamiputra Kamble and Prabhakar Kamble on contemporary art being used to express Dalit and other socio-political concerns; then, they very generously gifted me the important book Revolution and Counter Revolution, that showcases the work of select Indian artists deliberating on Ambedkarite thought. The cover features Vikrant Bhise's brilliant painting, Labour Leader, acrylic on canvas, of a worker in a hard hat, cleaning Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar's statue, and unintentionally blocking his ‘eyes' in the process - it could be interpreted to mean, so that Dr Ambedkar can't see what people have made today of the rich legacy he left behind.

There were also many feisty singers and street plays performed at Shivaji Park, including one on labour rights, encouraging us to use the Labour Helpline 1-800-833-9020 for free advice on labour issues, including wages, work accidents, etc. The BMC and many other groups - press reports said they were prepared for six lakh visitors - had made excellent arrangements for free food, drinking water and portable toilets in Shivaji Park, and covered areas under which the public could sleep, as many had come from villages and cities all over India.

Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar remains a powerful beacon of hope for millions in this country. I was in the "eye" of the convergence of tremendous belief, intention, faith and hope, that kept me on a high for quite some time. I'm keen to continue the conversations. Jai Bhim! Jai Savitri!

Meenakshi Shedde is India and South Asia Delegate to the Berlin International Film Festival, National Award-winning critic, curator to festivals worldwide and journalist.
Reach her at meenakshi.shedde@mid-day.com