Ambedkar called Gandhi Mahatma, praised 1932 Poona Pact on Dalit reservation as much better deal: Patwardhan

Taking issue with “hardline” Ambedkarites who have been strongly critical of Gandhiji, top expert and documentary film-maker for 40 long years, Anand Patwardhan has revealed that India’s undisputed Dalit icon Baba Ambedkar in 1932 not only highly praised Gandhiji but called him “Mahatma”.

Pointing out that this is contrary to the popular belief, Patwardhan, who made a highly acclaimed film on various aspects of the lives and politics of Dalit people in Mumbai, “Jai Bhim Comrade” (2011), says in an interview, Ambedkar referred to Gandhi as “Mahatma” for offering “a much better deal for Dalits in terms of reserved seats than Ambedkar himself had asked or hoped for”.
Other notable films by Anand Patwardhan, a secular rationalist and is a vocal critic of Hindutva ideology. include “Bombay: Our City” (Hamara Shahar) (1985), “In Memory of Friends” (1990), “In the Name of God” (Ram ke Nam) (1992), “Father, Son, and Holy War” (1995), “A Narmada Diary (1995), and “War and Peace” (2002), which have won national and international awards.
Patwarthan rejects the “popular theory”, according to which “Ambedkar was blackmailed by Gandhi’s fast-unto-death into accepting a bitter compromise”, insisting, “Ambedkar’s statement in 1932 after signing the pact was totally different in tone.”
A leftist who is known to have maintained a distance from the Communist parties, Patwardhan says, this is what “pleasantly shocked” him after he “read what Dr Ambedkar had to say in 1932 immediately after concluding the now infamous Poona Pact, where the idea of separate electorates for Dalits was abandoned in favour of reserved seats for Dalits.”
According to Patwardhan, “I have always felt that the affinities between Gandhi and Ambedkar are greater than their differences. They were both egalitarian humanists at heart. It may not win me any popularity contest today but I think those who are ready to set prejudice aside and undertake a proper historical study will come around to this point of view.”
He adds, “Take the act of ‘Satyagraha’, a term coined by Gandhi. Ambedkar used this very term and form of struggle to launch his Mahad Satyagraha to claim drinking water rights. There are many other examples of common ideas and action.”
“There is no denying”, admits Patwardhan, who has studied Ambedkar through and through, that “that Ambedkar did get disgusted with the Congress in later years”, but adds, “How much of the blame for the failures of Congress are attributable to Gandhi is a matter of discussion and debate.”
Underscores Patwardhan, “We know that Gandhi’s writ did not work in preventing Partition or the bloodshed that preceded and followed it and that Gandhi did not attend the Independence Day flag hoisting at the Red Fort in Delhi. He was busy fighting the communal inferno in the countryside.”
Even while agreeing that “Gandhi had a lot of obscurantist ideas”, Patwardhan insists, “but as time went on he was honest enough to keep evolving. In the end I see him as a great humanist who died for his belief in non-violence and religious universality.”
Calling Gandhiji “inventive anti-Imperialist”, Patwardhan says, he was also “an organic naturalist that today’s madly consumerist, globally warmed world desperately needs”, and which, he adds, today’s Gandhians “not”.
Coining the term “progressive Gandhians” for “dedicated non-violent fighters like Medha Patkar, Narendra Dabholkar, the whole Baba Amte family, Sandeep Pande, S.P Udaykumar, Teesta Setalvad, Aruna Roy, Admiral Ramdas, and so many others”, Patwardhan adds, “It certainly does not include government-fed Gandhians and those Gandhians who jump onto the Hindutva bandwagon as soon as it gathers steam.”

Comments

Beyond the Sattvik plate: Prof Anil Gupta's take on food, ethics, and sustainability

I was pleasantly surprised to receive a rather lengthy comment (I don't want to call it a rejoinder) on my blog post about the Sattvik Food Festival, held near the Sola Temple in Ahmedabad late last year. It came from no less a person than Anil Gupta, Professor Emeritus at the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A), under whose guidance this annual event was held.

A conman, a demolition man: How 'prominent' scribes are defending Pritish Nandy

How to defend Pritish Nandy? That’s the big question some of his so-called fans seem to ponder, especially amidst sharp criticism of his alleged insensitivity during his journalistic career. One such incident involved the theft and publication of the birth certificate of Masaba Gupta, daughter of actor Neena Gupta, in the Illustrated Weekly of India, which Nandy was editing at the time. He reportedly did this to uncover the identity of Masaba’s father.

'Potentially lethal, carcinogenic': Global NGO questions India refusing to ban white asbestos

Associated with the Fight Inequality Alliance, a global movement that began in 2016 to "counter the concentration of power and wealth among a small elite", claiming to have members in the United Kingdom, South Africa, Kenya, Zambia, the Philippines, and Denmark, the advocacy group Confront Power appears all set to intensify its campaign against India as "the world’s largest asbestos importer".

No to free thought? How Gujarat's private universities are cowing down their students

"Don't protest"—that's the message private universities across Gujarat seem to be conveying to their students. A senior professor told me that students at the university where he teaches are required to sign an undertaking promising not to engage in protests. "They simply sign the undertaking and hand it over to the university authorities," he said.

In lieu of tribute to Pritish Nandy, said to be instrumental in collapse of Reliance-controlled daily

It is widely reported that Pritish Nandy , journalist, author, animal activist, and politician, has passed away. While it is customary to pay tributes to a departing soul—and I, too, have joined those who have posted heartfelt condolences on social media—I cannot forget the way he treated me when he was editor of the Reliance-controlled Business and Political Observer (BPO), for which I had been working informally in Moscow.

Shyam Benegal's Mathan a propaganda film that supported 'system'? No way

A few days ago, I watched Manthan, a Shyam Benegal movie released in 1976. If I remember correctly, the first time I saw this movie was with Safdar Hashmi, one of the rare young theater icons who was brutally murdered in January 1989. Back then, having completed an M.A. in English Literature from Delhi University in 1975, we would often move around together.

Sattvik Food Festival: Shouldn't one question notion of purity, cultural exclusion in food choices?

Recently, I visited the Sattvik Food Festival, an annual event in Ahmedabad organized by Anil Gupta, professor emeritus at the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A). I have known Prof. Gupta since 1993, when I sought an appointment to meet him a few months after joining The Times of India in Ahmedabad—one reason why I have always been interested in the activities he is involved in.

To be or not to be Sattvik: Different communities' differing notions of purity and fasting

This is a continuation of my last blog on Sattvik food. When talking about Sattvik, there is a tendency to overlook what it may mean to different sections of people around the world. First, let me redefine Sattvik: it means having a "serene, balanced, and harmonious mind or attitude." Derived from the Sanskrit word sattva, it variously means "pure, essence, nature, vital, energy, clean, conscious, strong, courage, true, honest, and wise." How do people achieve this so-called purity? Among Gujarati Hindus, especially those from the so-called upper castes who are vegetarians, one common way is fasting. On fasting days, such as agiyarash —the 11th day of the lunar cycle in the Vedic calendar—my close relatives fast but consume milk, fruit juices, mangoes, grapes, bananas, almonds, pistachios, and potato-based foods, including fried items. Another significant fasting period is adhik maas. During this time, many of my relatives "fast" by eating only a single me...

Would Gujarat Governor, govt 'open up' their premises for NGOs? Activists apprehensive

Soon after I uploaded my blog about the Gujarat Governor possibly softening his stance on NGOs—evidenced by allowing a fisherfolk association to address the media at a venue controlled by the Raj Bhawan about India’s alleged failure to repatriate fishermen from Pakistani prisons—one of the media conference organizers called me. He expressed concern that my blog might harm their efforts to secure permission to hold meetings on state premises.

Search This Blog