When Nehru Didn’t Allow Ambedkar A Government Memorial: Down Memory Lane

Reported By :

Last Updated:December 19, 2024, 08:58 IST

Sources within the BJP refer to books and documents to suggest it is the Congress party that has been historically at odds with Ambedkar and his legacy.

BJP insiders refer to another book ‘Letter to Chief Minister’ where a letter dated June 18, 1959 suggests Nehru wasn’t comfortable with the idea of a government memorial for Ambedkar.

India witnessed an aggressive Mallikarjun Kharge and a combative Amit Shah over a man whose legacy is well sought after by both the BJP and the Congress — BR Ambedkar. After Congress chief Kharge alleged Shah disrespected Ambedkar, the Union Home Minister held a counter press conference along with a battery of Union ministers, calling his statement “twisted and distorted by Congress". “I come from a party which can never disrespect Ambedkar," Shah hit back. In a rare move, no less, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took Congress head-on over the issue, learning from the past to not let any “fake narrative" take root that cost the BJP dear in the Lok Sabha election 2024.

But now, sources within the BJP refer to books and documents to suggest it is the Congress party that has been historically at odds with Ambedkar and his legacy.

NEHRU DIDN’T ALLOW AMBEDKAR GOVT MEMORIAL

India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, in his book ‘Selected Works of Jawaharlal Nehru’ (second series) volume 16, part 2, himself discloses a letter between him and BC Roy that BJP insiders now draw attention towards in light of the present row. After BC Roy informed Nehru that Ambedkar had made up his mind to resign from the cabinet, Nehru’s calm reply to Roy was, “Ambedkar’s departure doesn’t weaken the Cabinet…" Here, India’s first Prime Minister Nehru was talking about a man who is known to be the father of the Indian Constitution — and now, whose legacy the Congress party is trying to politically appropriate.

In the same book, Ambedkar alleged that he was not satisfied with the government of the day’s response led by Pandit Nehru to the concerns of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. He was particularly unhappy at being kept out of key committees pertaining to foreign affairs or defence, insinuating that the government of the day didn’t deem him fit enough to be there. All these led to his resignation which wasn’t stopped by Nehru.

BJP insiders refer to another book ‘Letter to Chief Minister’ where a letter dated June 18, 1959 suggests Nehru wasn’t comfortable with the idea of a government memorial for Ambedkar after such demands rose post his death. He was writing a letter to a Mayor.

BJP sources are contrasting it with efforts like ‘each teerth’ — five places related to Ambedkar’s like that the BJP-ruled Centre developed into tourist destinations. A memorial in his birthplace in Madhya Pradesh, the place in London, where he used to study, in Nagpur, where he meditated, in Delhi, where he undertook the Mahaparinirvan and finally in Mumbai, where he breathed his last.

The BJP was quick to point how it was their government that announced November 26 as ‘Constitution Day’ or how PM Modi inaugurated Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar National Memorial in 2018 in Mahaparinirvan Sthal, which the BJP claims was held back by the Congress-ruled UPA regime for ten years.

NEHRU CAMPAIGNED AGAINST AMBEDKAR

“During the discussion, it was proven that the Congress disrespects BR Ambedkar. The Congress tried its best to beat BR Ambedkar in the elections," Shah said in Parliament. He was referring to two instances — 1952 and 1954 when Congress candidates defeated Ambedkar. In 1951-52, in India’s first general election, Ambedkar, for whom the Congress was holding a press conference and accusing the BJP of disrespecting, had fielded a candidate in Bombay North Central to defeat the same Ambedkar who stood from his Scheduled Caste Federation Party. The Congress fielded Kajrolkar to defeat Ambedkar, who BJP says, was given a Padma Bhushan award. Nehru himself campaigned against Ambedkar, BJP sources insist.

In the next by-election in 1954, in Maharashtra’s Bhandara, Congress again threw its entire might to defeat Ambedkar to stop him from entering the Indian Parliament. “This is the respect Congress has for Ambedkar. They should apologise to all Dalits of India," said a BJP source.