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I wonder if and when our political elites will begin practising what they preach . On April 14 last we celebrated the 125th birth anniversary of one of our finest social reformers and statesmen B.R. Ambedkar. Top government functionaries and leaders from almost all political parties paid rich tributes to him on the occasion. Earlier , the government posthumously conferred on him India’s highest civilian award Bharat Ratna. It has also founded numerous memorials and statues in his honour . But do most of our politicians really care for the ideals of social justice and democracy he stood for ? Dr Ambedkar was against feudalism, caste hierarchy and untouchability within Hinduism . He was so opposed to these ills that he converted to Buddhism in 1956. His concept of social justice had the objective of removing inequalities and affording equal opportunities to all citizens in social, economic and political affairs. Most of the important leaders, including some of those who have invoked his philosophy from time to time and tasted political power, and their intellectual accomplices hardly practise the master’s ideals. They have done little to dismantle the evil of casteism across the country. In their day-to-day life they behave in a fashion even some kings and princes might not have possibly dreamt of in their times. Democracy is for the multifaceted development of all . This remains a far cry in India. Poverty , illiteracy and terrorism are still staring in the face of our Republic . The ordinary mortal in India-- Mahatma Gandhi’s last man-- remains where he was – without any guarantee of food, water, electricity and even life security. . The benefit of economic progress has not reached the socially and economically disadvantaged sections of the society. According to authentic studies, even after sixty-six years of Independence , India ranks 126th in human development in the world. The much- talked of growth rate is a joke for a vast section of our population. Life is so hard for 95 per cent of our citizens in the unorganized sectors. Over 73 per cent of our people are living on Rs. 20 per day. Women and minorities, including the conscientious individuals, in the country are not as safe as they ought to be in a real democracy. The most glaring failures of our leadership have been in our crucial sectors of education, health and the judiciary. Over 40 per cent Indians are illiterate. Health care is for the rich. Influential politicians, bureaucrats and their allies get five- star treatment even in government hospitals. The poor, ordinary patients cannot get even a bed in most of these hospitals . Over a million cases are pending in our various courts. The supreme reason for this grim scenario is that our politics is increasingly being of gamesters and paratroopers . In the post- Independence landscape certain communal , casteist and regional forces have increasingly manipulated our system with their myopic agendas for the promotion of the short-term When shall we practise Ambedkar’s ideals ? Principal architect of Indian Constitution Dr B R Ambedkar fought feudalism, caste hierarchy and untouchability within Hinduism. He was for equal opportunities to all citizens in social, economic and political affairs. But most of our important leaders hardly practise his ideals, laments Jagdish N Singh May 2015 Power Politics REALPOLITIK Principal architect of India’s Constitution Dr B.R. Ambedkar

Ambedkar India

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Page 1: Ambedkar India

Iwonder if and when our

political elites will begin

practising what they preach .

On April 14 last we

celebrated the 125th birth

anniversary of one of our

finest social reformers and

statesmen B.R. Ambedkar. Top

government functionaries and

leaders from almost all political

parties paid rich tributes to him on

the occasion. Earlier , the

government posthumously

conferred on him India’s highest

civilian award Bharat Ratna. It has

also founded numerous memorials

and statues in his honour . But do

most of our politicians really care

for the ideals of social justice and

democracy he stood for ?

Dr Ambedkar was against

feudalism, caste hierarchy and

untouchability within Hinduism . He

was so opposed to these ills that he

converted to Buddhism in 1956. His

concept of social justice had the

objective of removing inequalities

and affording equal opportunities to

all citizens in social, economic and

political affairs. Most of the

important leaders, including some

of those

who have invoked his philosophy

from time to time and tasted

political power, and their intellectual

accomplices hardly practise the

master’s ideals. They have done

little to dismantle the evil of

casteism across the country. In

their day-to-day life they behave in

a fashion even

some kings and princes might not

have possibly dreamt of in their

times.

Democracy is for the multifaceted

development of all . This remains a

far cry in India. Poverty , illiteracy

and terrorism are still staring in the

face of our Republic . The ordinary

mortal in India-- Mahatma Gandhi’s

last man-- remains where he was –

without any guarantee of food,

water, electricity and even life

security. . The benefit of economic

progress has not reached the

socially and economically

disadvantaged sections of the

society.

According to authentic studies,

even after sixty-six years of

Independence , India ranks 126th in

human development in the world.

The much- talked of growth rate is a

joke for a vast section of our

population. Life is so hard for 95 per

cent of our citizens in the

unorganized sectors. Over 73 per

cent of our people are living on Rs.

20 per day. Women and minorities,

including the conscientious

individuals, in the country are not as

safe as they ought to be in a real

democracy.

The most glaring failures of our

leadership have been in our crucial

sectors of education, health and the

judiciary. Over 40 per cent Indians

are illiterate. Health care is for the

rich. Influential politicians,

bureaucrats and their allies get five-

star treatment even in government

hospitals. The poor, ordinary

patients cannot get even a bed in

most of these hospitals . Over a

million cases are pending in our

various courts.

The supreme reason for this

grim scenario is that our politics

is increasingly being of gamesters

and paratroopers . In the

post- Independence landscape

certain communal , casteist and

regional forces have increasingly

manipulated our system with

their myopic agendas for the

promotion of the short-term

When shall we practiseAmbedkar’s ideals ?

Principal architect of Indian Constitution Dr B R Ambedkar fought feudalism,

caste hierarchy and untouchability within Hinduism. He was for equal

opportunities to all citizens in social, economic and political affairs. But most

of our important leaders hardly practise his ideals, laments Jagdish N Singh

May 2015 Power Politics 31

REALPOLITIK

Principal architect of India’s

Constitution Dr B.R. Ambedkar

Page 2: Ambedkar India

Generally , we elect only those who

are essentially feudalistic in their

taste and temperament; look at any

political party and its elected

representatives. Then there are

those who still vote and even

physically fight with one another for

considerations such as caste,

language, region and religion.

Besides , we have those who still

retain the archaic m o n a r c h i c a

l mindset and see only in the b i o l

o g i c a l descendants of certain

leaders in different political parties

the future leadership of the country

.

All this has to change. Needless to

say, sometimes, citizens do vote the

corrupt regimes out of power. This

would not suffice . Politics is not just

about kicking out the rogues. It is

essentially about meaningfully

electing the genuine to high offices.

The citizens have to make our rulers

and political parties behave the way

our Constitution prescribes them to.

They must remain vigilant as

Ambedkar wanted them to be. We

need renaissance . We need to elect

leaders committed to humanity .

interests of specific elements .

More and more of such

undesirable elements today have

grabbed legislative seats . They

alone can afford elections that have

become enormously expensive.

Volumes have been written to show

that those whom we call our

representatives today care a fig for

the masses . They are interested

just in power and for that they use

any means , fair or foul. And once in

power they have just one pursuit-

wealth and comfort for themselves

and their cronies alone.

It is high time the enlightened,

secular masses asserted against

such petty, hypocritical politico-

intellectual elites . They have to get

up and elect a conscientious and

strategically enlightened, India-

focused political command at the

Centre and in the states today. The

spirit of architect of our

Constitution Ambedkar must

prevail over them to accomplish his

mission of justice .

Dr Ambedkar had warned long

time back : "The working of the

Constitution does not depend

Power Politics May 201532

REALPOLITIK

Pope Francis is simple to the

core and calls a spade a spade .

He has now referred to the 20th

century mass killings of

Armenians as the first genocide of

the 20th century. During a mass

in Saint Peter's Basilica to

commemorate the 100th

anniversary of those killings, the

Pope said, "In the past century

our human family has lived

through three massive and

unprecedented tragedies. The

first genocide of the 20th

century', struck your own

Armenian people."

Branding the tragedy as a

“senseless slaughter,” he said, "It

is necessary, and indeed a duty,

to honor their memory, for

whenever memory fades, it

means that evil allows wounds to

fester. Concealing or denying evil

is like allowing a wound to keep

bleeding without bandaging it."

The Pope also recalled other

mass killings of the 20th century,

such as those in Cambodia,

Rwanda, Burundi and Bosnia.

One hopes Turkey will take the

Vatican statement in the right

spirit . Over 1.5 million

Armenians were estimated to

have perished under the Ottoman

Empire during World War I. One

hopes the Erdogan regime in

Ankara will accept this historical

fact and move forward. Ankara

has so far insisted that the event

was not a genocide branding the

deaths of the Christian Armenians

in the previous century merely as

part of the partisan fighting.

wholly upon the nature of the

Constitution. The Constitution can

provide only the organs of state

such as the Legislature, the

Executive and the Judiciary. The

factors on which the working of

those organs of the state depends

are the people and the political

parties they will set up as their

instruments to carry out their

wishes and their politics."

The citizens of India must adhere

to this prescription in practice.

During the proceedings of the

Constituent Assembly, Dr Ambedkar

hoped that public opinion in the

country would ensure purity in

public life. We have failed him so

far. In reality corruption has

flourished in the country. Unlike the

Abdedkar generations in our history

, new ones join politics for wealth .

The Preamble of our Constitution

demands that we perform our

public duties without any prejudices

of caste, creed, religion, region or

language. But we have cared little in

this regard . Most of us have been

passive towards our political

obligations as citizens of India .

Denying evils is crime

Pope Francis : “The Armenian

genocide a senseless slaughter”

Page 3: Ambedkar India

Will the new Iran-West bonhomie

lead to any dilution in the Khomenis’

36-year dark rights record ? Will it be

good for over 75 million Iranians

tomorrow ? Knowledgeable sources

reply in the negative. They say the

barbaric crimes against women, the

youth, journalists, dancers, musicians,

Christians, Baha’is and others have

continued all these years . The

incarceration of three American

citizens, Pastor Saeed Abedini, Marine

Amir Hekmati and Washington Post

journalist Jason Rezaian is staring us in

our face. In 2013 some analysts

hoped Iran’s current ‘moderate’

President Hassan Rouhani would

bring some positive changes. But his

presidency has seen a dramatic

increase in executions . Over the last

18 months, more than 1,193 have

been killed, as compared to 827 in the

18 months before his term.

The sources say an opportunity for

change in Iran did come in June of

2009. In the aftermath of a contested

presidential election, the Iranian

people tried to tell their story to the

world in the Green Revolution or

Twitter Revolution. But the brutal

governmental crackdowns outpaced

any support.

Today the government pours

millions of dollars into military efforts

in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and elsewhere.

Those within the regime’s radius have

made fortunes exploiting shortages in

food and pharmaceutical supplies.

But the people of Iran continue to

scramble in a sinking economy.

Islam for equality to womenWho says Islam is for the

oppression of women. Like all other

religions, this too is for the

advancement of the entire humanity.

Surah An- nuur verse 26 reads, ‘good

women are for good men .” This clearly

means men have to be deserving and

good to have good women as their life

partners. This means any denial of

respect to women or maltreatment to

them is purely un-Islamic. Director of

the Bristol-based Arab Women Media

Watch Centre Iqbal Tamimi tells me in

a conversation , “If anyone is curious

about how Islam sees women, he/she

should find out how the Prophet

Mohammad treated his wife.

Khadeejah, the first wife of the

prophet was 15 years older than

himself when she proposed to him.

She came from a noble family and was

divorced and she was his employer as

well. Women and young girls now in

many so called ‘Islamic’ countries are

forced married without their consent

which is against the Islamic faith and

annuls marriage. A widow, a divorced

woman or an older woman is not

treated with the due care and respect

or celebrated like marrying a virgin.

Many men do not like to marry a

woman who is doing better than

themselves when it comes to work or

education. The vast majority do not

want to marry a woman who is

established financially or academically,

let alone working for the wife as an

employee. This tells a great deal about

how Islam has been twisted to suit

men without much care about God’s

advice or his

Prophet’s example

in treating women

as an equal

partner. The

misinterpretations

of Islam by

fundamentalist

Sheiks, most of

whom are not

educated enough

about their own

faith, is all about control and insuring

men’s physical pleasures.”

Tamimi laments, “ In Saudi Arabia,

even if the woman is 70 years old, she

needs a male guardian if she wants to

do anything outside her home.

Imagine an educated widowed doctor

needing the permission of her young

son if she wants to travel abroad for a

medical conference. If a woman needs

medical surgery she has to have her

husband’s consent. All these things

happen because some religious

authorities are against updating

old fatwas that are not suitable for

this time and age. They have closed

the doors for Ijtihad, an element of

huge importance to updating the

knowledge of Islam. Ijtihad is an

Islamic legal term that means

‘independent reasoning’."

Pertinently, Tamimi says that in her

present mission “any articles, reports

or interviews that highlight ethical

media and women's performance in

the journalism sector, or cultural

issues that affect women's

performance in this sector are a

priority.”

Tamimi is thankful to the

English socio-political atmosphere for

what she is being able to do today. She

says, "My current work is an extension

of my efforts that I started while

working in the Middle East where

freedom of expression is still facing

lots of obstacles and women

journalists are not enjoying equal

opportunities as their male colleagues.

Continuing the mission in the United

Kingdom where freedom of

expression is guaranteed makes it

easier to highlight women journalists'

concerns."

Iqbal Tamimi :

Fundamentalist

Sheiks are not

educated

What about rights in Iran ?

Freedom in peril

May 2015 Power Politics 33

REALPOLITIK