Speaking on the second day of the debate on the Constitution in Lok Sabha Saturday, Union Minister for Minority Affairs Kiren Rijiju attacked India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, also referring to the letter that the first law minister Dr B R Ambedkar had written to him while resigning from the Cabinet.
The two-day debate marks the 75th year of the adoption of the Constitution in India.
Asserting that Mahatma Gandhi had asked Nehru to include Ambedkar in the first Cabinet along with Syama Prasad Mookerji, Rijiju said that as someone interested in economics, Ambedkar wanted a ministry where he could contribute to the economy.
“He told Nehru that his first priority was economy, but he did not get those ministries. He was also not included in any Cabinet committee. He got frustrated that he was not being given any opportunity. He was also not given a planning portfolio. He said he was not interested in an ornamental portfolio,” Rijiju said, obliquely seeking to blame Nehru for his resignation.
Existing writings on Ambedkar’s resignation, including a piece written by Ram Madhav for The Indian Express, see opposition to the Hindu Code Bill as the reason behind the social reformer’s move.
Rijiju said Ambedkar wanted to return as an MP, but the Congress ensured his defeat in the elections. He asserted that Ambedkar had written that Nehru, the leader of the Congress, had never spoken about the welfare of the Scheduled Castes even once, though he did have sympathies towards Muslims, and wondered what sympathies the Dalits could expect from the Congress as a party.
Rijiju added that while Ambedkar’s view on reservation was about the primacy of social justice, for Nehru it was a temporary measure for the integration of these groups.
“Till 1990, why did you not give Bharat Ratna to Babasaheb Ambedkar? Nehru and Indira Gandhi gave themselves Bharat Ratna. It was the VP Singh government that gave Bharat Ratna to Babasaheb. He was the first one to deserve Bharat Ratna,” Rijiju charged, adding, “Modi-ji gave prominence to five teerth sthals (places of pilgrimage) related to Dr Ambedkar. His Mhow birthplace was developed, the house where he lived in London was purchased and declared Shiksha Bhoomi.”
“The place where he passed away is being developed as Parinirvan Bhoomi. The Babasaheb Ambedkar International Memorial has come up. In Mumbai, we are developing the Chaitya Bhoomi of Babasaheb. A 430-foot statue of Ambedkar is coming up in Mumbai. It will be visible from 25-30 km away too.”
He said that while Dr Ambedkar struggled against untouchability, he had no enmity with Hinduism, and had also faced discrimination from Muslims, Christians, and Parsis. “In 1961, Nehru wrote to all CMs that if we promote reservation, the talented will suffer. Nehru thought of talent, but this should not happen at the cost of the disadvantaged,” the minister said.
Rijiju added that after the Mandal Commission report came out in 1980, it was put on the back burner for 10 years. “It was the VP Singh government supported by the BJP that decided to implement it. We all know what Rajiv Gandhi and Nehru said. You speak the opposite of it today but don’t say that you don’t agree with their views,” he stated.
The Union Minister for Minority Affairs wondered why some went out of the country and said that Muslims cannot go to dargahs and Sikhs to gurdwaras in today’s India – hinting at a statement by Rahul Gandhi while addressing the diaspora in Washington DC in September that the fight was about whether a Sikh would be allowed to wear a turban or go to a gurudwara in India.
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