Opinion: Ambedkarism

          Religions can be classified into two types: the ones that trace their origin to a founder like Christianity, Islam & Buddhism, and the others without a founder like Hinduism, Zoroastrianism & Judaism. The former were found as a reaction to the prevalent norms of their contemporaneous societies. With the advent of science & modern day ideas of freedom, justice & equality enforced by state, the state has taken many roles previously sanctioned to religion. The religion is now reduced to the individual level, satisfying his spiritual needs. Still many consider the battle is not lost yet with skirmishes between religion and state visible throughout the world in general & West Asia in particular. However a new religion has risen in India. I call it Ambedkarism.

          PM Modi started his campaign for recently concluded UP elections by garlanding Dr. Ambedkar's statue. Same was the case with alliance partners. Although, it was nothing more than a spectacle to attract the 20% Dalit population, it has a clear undertone to it. In the race to co-opt Dalits, no one can ignore Ambedkar. Post-independence, all the political parties have co-opted the leaders of freedom struggle to suit their agenda. While Congress co-opted Pandit Nehru & Gandhiji, BJP found the embrace for its ideology in co-opting Sardar Patel & Bhagat Singh. Yet, 70 years after the independence, Ambedkar is emerged as a leader no one is willing to ignore. Political parties aside, he finds acceptance among whole spectrum of ideologies. The right wing use him for his view against Gandhiji, the left use him for his critique of religious fanaticism, the liberals admire him for his dedication to the modern democratic principles. From promulgation of ordinance to crisis in Syria, writers quote him on his visionary thoughts. Of all this, the most striking legacy of Ambedkar can be seen in the constituency, for whose cause he dedicated most of his political struggle i.e. the Scheduled Castes. 

          3 days ago, on 14th April, the popular media was filled with the photo ops of the leaders from CM Yogi to PM Modi garlanding & remembering Ambedkar. Parallel to this were numerous events & fares organized by the SC community to remember their hero. Calling Ambedkar a Dalit hero will be an understatement. His charisma is akin to that of a demigod among laity. When asked by a journalist in a fare, whether she buys & keeps the Ambedkar idol in his living room, the prompt response from a follower was ''we keep it in temple & worship him". Although, single data point is insufficient to conclude that most of his followers worship him this way, the fact that there is a market for his statues, idols & posters is suggestive of a demand. This is what I referred to as Ambedkarism in the first paragraph. Thus, it is the institutionalization of Ambedkar in the lives of laity, where the symbolism takes precedence over ideas. In this term it is something similar to religions with a founder. Rather than finding positives & negatives in what is largely a societal reality, a much intriguing study will be to find parallels in history & understand the genesis.

          For a case study, the evolution of Buddhism can be delved into. Siddhartha Gautama born around 483 BC became disillusioned by the prevalent rituals and practices of the time. He wandered as an ascetic for years & later developed his own doctrine on the ideal norms for a society & ideal traits of human behavior. However, within few years of his death, he was apotheosized and made into an idol. Different groups ascribed different meaning to his teachings causing breakaway of earliest sanghas into different sects. Many wonder what made Ambedkar to follow Buddhism instead of atheism and a lot has been written about it. It is equally striking how society completes a full circle from Buddhism to Ambedkarism. Ambedkar developed his ideology in the pretext of caste based atrocities of early 20th century India. He provided a strong critique for the bhakti of a particular thought or leader, yet he himself has metamorphosed into a demigod. His statue stands in every corner; every city has an intersection called 'Ambedkar Chauraha' or 'Ambedkar Chauk'. Votes are cast in his name. However, the wait of another Ambedkar from the community still looms. 

          Probably, it is in nature of individual to derive respect from collective prestige of his social group. The social group paradoxically derived its prestige from a singular individual. This individual symbolizes all that is considered desirable in the initial phase, but later is just reduced into a caricature of his original ideas. This phenomena confers itself in obsession with God in all religions. It may be harmless until this derived respect is not used in any way for institutionalization of social hierarchy like caste system, for political gains & fanning animosity between social groups. In case of Ambedkarism it provides much needed wings to break the shackles of history.