Whenever I think of Babasaheb Ambedkar’s thoughts and his sublime vision, his works on social democracy strike the mind. It is not a coincidence that Babasaheb Ambedkar kept social democracy at the centre of the address he gave at the last meeting of the Constituent Assembly.

He said that the caste system and democracy cannot coexist. That is why the Indian Constitution introduced such rules that there is no discrimination on the basis of caste and language for the citizens living in any part of the country.

I believe that any nation is formed by combining its traditions, culture, religion, castes and languages. Therefore, nationalism has no place for parochialism. The main task of proving the provisions of the draft and their justification in the Constituent Assembly was carried out by Dr Ambedkar and other Drafting Committee members. He drafted the Constitution with his able colleagues and gave a voice to the traditions, faith and beliefs of the country. But, the basic thing in it was that all the citizens of the country are Indians first and have some other identity later.

If we go into the depth of Dr Ambedkar’s statements in the Constituent Assembly, we will also find that there is a unique confluence of politics, law, history and philosophy. Everyone has a sense of equality, not just any one caste.

In November 1948, while proposing to consider the draft of the Constitution, he said that they had called India a Union of States and not a Federation of States. I believe that Dr Ambedkar was concerned with social separation in India, so he said, “If we want to build a democracy, we have to recognize the obstacles in our path because the grand palace of the Constitution stands on the foundation of people’s allegiance in democracy.”

I think Dr Ambedkar’s views are in fact related to the nationalism in which there is no distinction between caste and religion among the individuals. Every citizen of the country has the same principle. There is harmony among all of us under social order and social thinking. That is why our nation is a classic example of unity in diversity. Even in the Preamble of the Constitution, equality and fraternity have been talked about for all citizens.

Dr Ambedkar also explained this vision for India in a wider perspective in his thoughts. Giving importance to the land, its society, and the best traditions for nation building, he also stressed that the nation is not a physical entity. The nation is the result of the continuous efforts, sacrifice and patriotism of the people of the past.

While describing the nation as lively, he also said that nationality is social consciousness and is how citizens come close to each other. The sense of fraternity develops from this. In this, the idea of narrowness is the biggest obstacle. He clearly said that he wants all the people of India to consider themselves as Indian and only Indian. Ambedkar said that if for some reason this cannot happen, then we will commit the biggest sin, and he will always keep opposing it with his strength.

Dr Ambedkar, the architect of the Indian Constitution, took three words from the French Revolution: liberty, equality and fraternity. These words, included in the core of the Constitution, also deeply influenced his political and social philosophy. That is why the Fundamental Rights enshrined in the Constitution explain the Right to Equality through Articles 14 to 18, Right to Freedom through Articles 19 to 22, and Articles 23 and 24 provide the Right Against Exploitation. The important fact is that Article 19 (2) also prohibits unrestrained expression against any caste, class or community under the Right to Freedom of Expression. If there is any law for the preservation of these three or if there is any law being made, it should not be hindered. The Right to Religious Freedom is also given in the Constitution of India through Articles 25 to 28. I believe that it is only the Indian Constitution, among other constitutions around the world, in which the fundamental rights have been interpreted in this way.

Dr Ambedkar’s contemplation is also profound because he pushed himself forward by having a fundamental vision for almost all-important areas. If we take his thoughts on women’s education, it also feels as if he was the first initiator for reservation for women in jobs. While addressing the Mahila Sabha of Bombay, he once said, “Woman is the creator of the nation, every citizen grows up in her lap, the development of the nation is not possible without awakening the woman.” His depth of thought also probably made him the first scholar who tried to understand the position of women in the caste structure from the point of view of gender in the Indian context. For this, women rights were also advocated.

At the core of his vision was the thought that equality should be established at all levels of society. That is why he constantly emphasized on making society classless. His saying, “Revolution is for the people, people are not for the revolution” will always enlighten minds.

Dr Ambedkar was a great personality. I also believe that it is intellectual poverty if we associate him with a particular class or caste. He was a great man with a lofty vision. There is also a need to explain his view of seeing everyone as equal as something essential for the rounded development of the nation.

It also needs to be understood that Article 370, which has been abrogated 72 years after Independence due to the strong will and resolve of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, had been added to the Constitution against Dr Ambedkar’s will.

Instead of looking at his thoughts and vision from a single point of view, there is a need to think deeply about it in totality and see the seeds of equality, unity and integrity of the country in his words. His multifaceted philosophy of “Bahujana Hitaya Bahujana Sukhaya”, speaking of equality and justice, is relevant even today and will remain so tomorrow too.

The author is the Governor of Rajasthan.

In a setback for the BJP-led NDA in Goa, the Goa Forward Party (GFP) on Tuesday quit the ruling alliance over differences in the “agenda of the government”.

In a letter penned to Union Home Minister and NDA chairperson Amit Shah, GFP president Vijai Sardesai said that his party has withdrawn from the alliance after a unanimous decision by the GFP leaders. The GFP president said that it mistook former Chief Minister of Goa Manohar Parrikar’s agenda to be NDA’s agenda and alleged that instead NDA is only interested in handing over port to Adanis.

The GFP chief said, “The state executive and the political affairs committee of the Goa Forward Party has decided to withdraw from the NDA. We joined the alliance in 2017 when Manohar Parrikar was Chief Minister of Goa seeing his development agenda as the agenda of NDA. Rs 16,500 crores were brought by him for the development of roads and bridges and he created good infrastructure in the state.”

“Today the only agenda of the government is related to transportation of coal and handing over port to Adanis and in protest against this destructive agenda of NDA we have formally resigned today although we were out of the government after NDA betrayed us in 2019. It betrayed the people of Goa by successively taking several decisions against the interest of Goa and Goans.

WITH ANI INPUTS

Maharashtra minister Aslam Shaikh on Tuesday stirred a controversy when he said that celebrities like Sachin Tendulkar and Akshay Kumar “did not need to get admitted to the hospital”. He said that celebrities, who are Covid-19 positive but asymptomatic, should take treatment at home and leave the hospital beds for people in need.

“Celebrities who are asymptomatic should take treatment at home, not occupy beds in the hospital. Some celebrities like Akshay Kumar, Sachin Tendulkar did not need to get admitted to the hospital. Beds should be left for the need,” he said.

LUCKNOW: Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav has extended support to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s sit-in in Kolkata in protest against the Election Commission’s decision to ban her from campaigning for 24 hours and said it actually reflects the desperation of “a losing BJP”.

“Getting a ban imposed on the poll campaign of Mamata Banerjeeji in fact reflects the desperation of a BJP losing the election. Samajwadi Party is symbolically with her dharna,” Yadav said in a tweet. “Hope the independent Election Commission will also impose a ban on those talking of religious divide in terms of ‘shamshan, kabristan’,” he added.

TMC MP Derek O’Brien had on Monday slammed the EC’s decision, calling it a “black day for democracy”.

“Today is a black day in Indian democracy. They cannot beat us, that is why they ban us.”

The EC, on Monday, banned Banerjee from campaigning in the ongoing state elections for 24 hours from 8 pm and said she had made “highly insinuating and provocative remarks laden with the serious potential of the breakdown of law and order and thereby affecting the election process”.

The ban came ahead of the fifth phase of assembly polls in the state on 17 April.

Amid the ongoing spike in Covid-19 cases, Gurugram and Faridabad have emerged as the most affected districts, with both witnessing the maximum number of total cases and death toll, compared to other districts so far. This has added to the headache of the state government as well as the health department. It is pertinent to mention that nearly one-third of total cases were reported in both districts, followed by Hisar and Sonipat and this has added to the woes of the health officials of the state.

Besides, districts like Panipat, Karnal, Kurukshetra and Ambala continue to witness a huge increase in Covid-19 cases constituting a sizable chunk of the total cases. The present scenario clearly shows that districts located in the National Capital Region (NCR) and National Highway 1 have been highly affected by the disease. Gurugram and Faridabad are among those districts which have witnessed the maximum number of deaths amounting to nearly 25 percent of the total patients.

In the wake of a surge in Covid-19 cases, Haryana had imposed a night curfew which came into force on 12 April, to control the spread of the fatal disease. While rejecting the possibility of imposing a lockdown, Health Minister Anil Vij said that the government is not in favour of it. It is pertinent to mention that as many as 428 deaths have been reported in Faridabad so far, followed by Gurugram and Hisar with 370 and 342 deaths respectively. One-third of the total cases have been reported from Faridabad and Gurugram districts.

“The health department is doing its best to bring down the increasing number of cases, particularly in the most affected districts located in NCR,” said Director General Health Dr Veena Singh. Along with this, speed of vaccination is quite satisfactory and medicines have been administered to people across the state . Besides, the state has sufficient stock of vaccines which will play a pivotal role in controlling the disease.

With deaths from Covid-19 cases rising in Gujarat, bodies are piling up at cemeteries and funeral chimneys in Surat are literally melting from heat due to overuse 24 hours a day.

There are three cemeteries in all, at Ramnath Ghela, Ashwinikumar and Jahangirpura, and all the three are witnessing cremations round-the-clock.

On Monday, 18 people died in Surat. For the last 10 days, bodies are being loaded in both government as well as private vehicles. The round-the-clock use of the funeral chimneys has resulted in the iron grill made for the funerals to melt from the heat, and, thus, requiring repair.

Families have been forced to wait in line for hours for the funeral of the deceased in every cemetery. Due to such a dire situation in Surat, the Surat Municipal Corporation administration has decided to reopen the cemetery at Pal, which had been closed for 14 years since 2006, and 50 bodies are planned to be cremated simultaneously.

An official of the Surat Municipal Corporation, who did not wish to be named, said only bodies from Covid deaths will be buried in Pal’s cemetery. Fifteen bodies were cremated last night and a total of 50 bodies are scheduled to be cremated.

Former corporator of the municipal corporation and trustee of the cemetery P.M. Patel, and current corporator Nilesh Patel and former BJP president Nitin Bhajiyawala decided to start the closed cemetery immediately.

The Kailash Mokshadham on the banks of the Tapi river at the back of the Pal Aquarium in Surat has been started and more than 50 corpses from Covid deaths will be buried here. Despite tokens being given for funerals in the three cemeteries in Surat, corpses are piling up and the wait for funerals is getting longer.