Kindle Notes & Highlights
We must have a Government in which the men in power will give their undivided allegiance to the best interests of the country.
Mahatma Gandhi expressed his disappointment at Ambedkar’s ‘unfortunate’ statement, stating that untouchability was on its last legs anyway. He went on to argue that he did not approve of conversion: religion, he said, was not a cloak one could put on or discard, but an integral part of one’s self. Ambedkar dismissed this argument with contempt as implying that a status conferred at birth could not be changed: ‘The difference between humans and animals is that animals cannot progress.
‘Caste has nothing to do with religion. It is a custom whose origin I do not know and do not need to know for the satisfaction of my spiritual hunger.
Representation of the People Act, which laid down the terms and conditions for the qualification of candidates to parliament. (Were political prisoners disqualified from membership of the British House of Commons?, one member wanted to know.
In June 1952, the international acclaim for his work on the Constitution of India found Columbia University honouring him with an honorary degree of doctor of law, calling him ‘one of India’s leading citizens, a great social reformer and a valiant upholder of human rights’.
‘The Constitution was a wonderful temple we built for the gods, but before they could be installed, the devils have taken possession.’
On a visit to Trivandrum, Ambedkar was taken around some of the temples in the city and after observing their practices and rituals minutely, he exclaimed: ‘O what a waste of wealth and food!’
In 2012, Ambedkar was voted the ‘Greatest Indian’, ahead of Gandhi, Nehru, and Patel, in a poll conducted
Under the scheme of our Constitution, the three main organs of the state are the legislature, the executive, and the judiciary. The Constitution defines their powers, delimits their jurisdictions, demarcates their responsibilities, and regulates their relationships with one another, and with the people. But the most important contribution of the Constitution to Indian civic nationalism was that of representation centred on individuals.
Ambedkar’s distaste for ‘bhakti’ in politics extended to his mistrust of any and all leaders: ‘Over regard for leaders saps self-confidence of the masses, leaving them helpless when left leaderless in the hour of trial or when led by unscrupulous leaders.’22 Equally it emerged from his understanding of Hindu religious practice:
forces which do not believe in the ideals of the Constitution forming the administration. In an atmosphere of growing contempt towards cherished values and foundational principles of the Constitution, including secularism, freedom of expression, and equality, Ambedkar’s writings and body of thought could not be more relevant to our times.
