Ambedkar feared Muslim domination, told Dalits not to convert to Islam, said Gandhi condoned Muslim violence
Did Dr BR Ambedkar, father of the Indian Constitution and Dalit icon, hate Islam and Muslims, in the same way as he disliked Hinduism? It would seem so, if facts brought to light on his birth anniversary (April 14) by a prestigious site, which claims to “value independence and transparency”, are any indication.
In what can prove to be excellent ammo to the Sangh Parivar, Ambedkar is quoted as saying, "Conversion to Islam or Christianity will denationalise the Depressed Classes. If they go to Islam the number of Muslims will be doubled and the danger of Muslim domination also becomes real."
The quotations have been taken from “Pakistan or The Partition Of India”, a collection of his pre-Independence writings and speeches. In this book, Ambedkar not only says that “Hindu Raj must be prevented at all costs”, but controversially insists, “If Muslims truly and deeply desire Pakistan, their choice ought to be accepted.”
Taking selections from the book, Anand Ranganathan quotes Ambedkar as saying, “Islam divides as inexorably as it binds. Islam is a close corporation and the distinction that it makes between Muslims and non-Muslims is a very real, very positive and very alienating distinction.”
Insisting that brotherhood of Islam is not the universal brotherhood of man, Ambedkar said, “It is brotherhood of Muslims for Muslims only. There is a fraternity, but its benefit is confined to those within that corporation. For those who are outside the corporation, there is nothing but contempt and enmity.”
Citing yet another "defect" of Islam, Ambedkar said, “The allegiance of a Muslim does not rest on his domicile in the country which is his but on the faith to which he belongs… Islam can never allow a true Muslim to adopt India as his motherland and regard a Hindu as his kith and kin."
Referring to how casteism has engulfed India, Ambedkar said, “The Muslim society in India is afflicted by the same social evils as afflict the Hindu society. Indeed, the Muslims have all the social evils of the Hindus and something more. That something more is the compulsory system of purdah for Muslim women."
Always critical of Gandhiji, Ambedkar did not spare the Mahatma either for being soft to Muslims. The Dalit icon said, "He [Gandhi] has never called the Muslims to account even when they have been guilty of gross crimes against Hindus."
Worse, he said, Gandhi did not call upon “the leading Muslims to condemn” violence either, adding, “He has kept silent over them. Such an attitude can be explained only on the ground that Gandhi was anxious to preserve Hindu-Moslem unity and did not mind the murders of a few Hindus.”
Recalling the “blood-curdling atrocities committed by the Moplas in Malabar against the Hindus”, Ambedkar said, “All over Southern India, a wave of horrified feeling had spread among the Hindus of every shade of opinion”, yet Gandhi was “so much obsessed by the necessity of establishing Hindu-Moslem unity that he was prepared to make light of the doings of the Moplas.”
Ironically, elsewhere, Ambedkar has been quoted as saying that while “Mohammedans and Christians… thrust down the throats of unwilling persons what they regarded as necessary for their salvation”, the Hindus “would endeavour to keep others in darkness”, adding, “If the Mohammedan has been cruel the Hindu has been mean and meanness is worse than cruelty.”
At yet another spot, Ambedkar has been cited as telling a Constituent Assembly debate, “I personally do not understand why religion should be given this vast, expansive jurisdiction, so as to cover the whole of life and to prevent the legislature from encroaching upon that field.”
Always critical of Gandhiji, Ambedkar did not spare the Mahatma either for being soft to Muslims. The Dalit icon said, "He [Gandhi] has never called the Muslims to account even when they have been guilty of gross crimes against Hindus."
Worse, he said, Gandhi did not call upon “the leading Muslims to condemn” violence either, adding, “He has kept silent over them. Such an attitude can be explained only on the ground that Gandhi was anxious to preserve Hindu-Moslem unity and did not mind the murders of a few Hindus.”
Recalling the “blood-curdling atrocities committed by the Moplas in Malabar against the Hindus”, Ambedkar said, “All over Southern India, a wave of horrified feeling had spread among the Hindus of every shade of opinion”, yet Gandhi was “so much obsessed by the necessity of establishing Hindu-Moslem unity that he was prepared to make light of the doings of the Moplas.”
Ironically, elsewhere, Ambedkar has been quoted as saying that while “Mohammedans and Christians… thrust down the throats of unwilling persons what they regarded as necessary for their salvation”, the Hindus “would endeavour to keep others in darkness”, adding, “If the Mohammedan has been cruel the Hindu has been mean and meanness is worse than cruelty.”
At yet another spot, Ambedkar has been cited as telling a Constituent Assembly debate, “I personally do not understand why religion should be given this vast, expansive jurisdiction, so as to cover the whole of life and to prevent the legislature from encroaching upon that field.”
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