Remembering Dr BR Ambedkar President Pranab Mukherjee pays tribute to the architect of India’s Constitution in New Delhi on Thursday. PTI
New Delhi, September 4:
Amid the rising chorus of ‘Hindu’ being the cultural identity of all Indians, President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday quoted BR Ambedkar to underline that “it is wrong for the majority to deny the existence of minorities”.
Delivering the BR Ambedkar Memorial Lecture on “Vision of India in 21st Cenury, as Envisaged by Dr Ambedkar”, the President emphasised the nation’s cultural and religious diversity. The Constitution guarantees equal rights to all citizens and prohibits discrimination of all kinds in social relations, he pointed out.
The lecture was organised by the Ambedkar Foundation under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
“Dr Ambedkar believed that protection of minorities and their religion was of paramount importance. Thus, the Constitution gives each person the freedom of faith, religion and worship and gives the minorities freedom to manage their religious affairs. Dr Ambedkar justified such protection on the following grounds: ‘It is wrong for the majority to deny the existence of minorities. It is equally wrong for the minorities to perpetuate themselves. A solution must be found which will serve a double purpose. It must recognise the existence of minorities to start with’,” the President said.
Significantly, the President said Ambedkar had warned that if parties place “creed above country”, India’s independence will be in jeopardy.
“Let me conclude recalling Dr Ambedkar’s words from his address to the Constituent Assembly on November 25, 1949 — “In addition to our old enemies in the form of castes and creeds, we are going to have many political parties with diverse and opposing political creeds. Will Indians place the country above their creed or will they place creed above country? I do not know. But this much is certain that if the parties place creed above country, our independence will be put in jeopardy a second time and probably be lost forever,” said the President.
Raging controversy
Mukherjee’s emphasis on this aspect of Ambedkar’s vision for India was made in the wake of a raging controversy over RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s statement, “If inhabitants of England are English, Germany are Germans and USA are Americans then why all inhabitants of Hindustan are not known as Hindus?” The statement was apparently endorsed by Minority Affairs Minister Najma Heptullah.
(This article was published on September 4, 2014)
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