The increasing trend of identifying great leaders, who have dedicated for the cause of the nation, with their caste is unhealthy, said Aravind Bellad, Hubballi-Dharwad West MLA.
Inaugurating a two-day seminar on ‘The role of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar in building vibrant India’ at Karnatak University here on Friday, Mr. Bellad said great leaders never bothered about caste and creed. However, today we see Dr. Ambedkar being depicted as an icon of the Dalits, Basavanna as that of Lingayats, Rani Chennamma as Panchamsali Lingayat and Sangolli Rayanna as a leader of Kurubas.
Unfortunately, this trend is growing in the society and every other community is striving to trace the caste of great leaders and depict them as their icon. Even Buddha and Mahatma Gandhi are not spared, he said. Terming caste system as a major hurdle in the way of taking the nation on the path of progress, Mr. Bellad said the younger generation should take the onus of eradicating caste system. Workshops, symposiums and special talks on Dr. Ambedkar should be held regularly from primary-level to the university-level, he said.
India is not only suffering from caste system, but also racism. The younger generation should be exposed to the works of stalwarts who gave up their lives to bring in social transformation, he said.
In his keynote address, R.V. Chandrashekhar, convener of the organising committee of the seminar, said Dr. Ambedkar occupies top position among personalities who have dedicated their lives for the cause of nation building. But neither universities nor the governments have made efforts to adopt and apply his ideologies and principles in academics or administration, he said.