Dr. B.R. Ambedkar - THE GREATEST INDIAN
"The
hunt for
The
Greatest
Indian
has come
to a
Celebratory
End! The
votes
are in
and the
people
of India
have
spoken.
The
Greatest
Indian
to have
ever
lived
after
Mahatma
Gandhi
is
Dr.B.R
Ambedkar"
.This is
the
announcement
made by
the CNN-IBN
news
channel
on
August
11, 2011
as the
outcome
of the
poll
conducted
by them
along
with
History
TV 18
channel
and the
magazine
Outlook.
It is
good to
be late
than
never -देर
आयात
दरुस्त
आयात
. This
recognition
of
Ambedkar
was
overdue.
The CNN-IBN
schedule
of
programmes
indicates
that the
formal
announcement
will be
made on
the
Independence
Day on
August
15. Of
course,
it is a
fulsome
tribute
to the
great
son of
India
and
rightly
so. The
poll on
the
greatest
Indian
conducted,
in line
with
such
polls on
the BBC,
by the
CNN-IBN
and
History
TV 18 is
appreciable.
The
media
partner
of the
exercise,
the
magazine
Outlook
has done
a
tremendous
work in
bring
out a
special
number
–‘B.R.
Ambedkar
–
Greater
than
Nehru’
which
quite
informative.
My
congratulations
to the
organizers
of the
opinion
poll.
Three
things
come to
my mind
which I
would
like to
share.
One – to
become
the
greatest
Indian
is a
well
deserved
recognition
of the
worthy
son of
India,
Dr. B.R.
Ambedkar
which
shall be
appreciated
and
accepted
by all.
Second,
we shall
tend
avoid
the
controversy
on
comparisons
of
greatness
like the
greatest
Indian
after
Gandhi
or
greater
than
Nehru.
The fact
that
Ambedkar
has
topped
the
elite
club of
the
greats
by his
own
right,
the
other
greats
like
Gandhi
and
Nehru
and many
more
have
become
‘one of
the
greats.
The
monopoly
has been
broken.
Thirdly,
it is
clear
that
Ambedkar
is not
an icon
of the
dalits
alone
but a
national
hero.
The
earlier
it is
accepted
the
better.
Yogendra
Yadav,
one of
the Jury
members,
rightly
said in
his
assessment
“The
selection
(of
nominees)
as much
about
us…we
still
largely
see
through
Nehru’s
eyes.
Dr.
Ambedkar
stands
very
very
tall
(despite
being
ignored
by the
main
stream).
He was
just not
a dalit
icon but
a
scholar
as
well.”
Yet
another
thought
before I
conclude.
It is
the
hypocrisy
of the
urban
middle
class.
The
Market
Research
Survey,
one of
the
components
of the
poll for
the
greatest
Indian,
conducted
by AC
Neilsen
ranked
Ambedkar
at
number 6
out of
the ten
short
listed.
It
clears
spells
the
mindset
of the
caste
ridden
society.
The Jury
of the
poll was
high
power
and well
represented
by the
intelligential
and the
upper
crust of
the
society.
The
intellectual
bankruptcy
was at
its
best.
Out of
the 28
members
of the
jury
only 6
voted
for
Ambedkar
as
against
14 for
Nehru.
Two of
the Jury
members
voted
for
Patel
and one
for JRD
Tata.
Five
members
did not
cast
their
votes.
The Jury
ranked
Ambedkar
at
number 2
after
Nehru.
The
popular
vote
clearly
and
decisively
weighed
in
favour
of
Ambedkar
with
highest
number
of
votes.
In spite
of all
obvious
odds,
Ambedkar
made it
to the
top in
the
final
run. The
final
results
would be
formally
made
known on
August
15. The
media is
silent.
No
national
paper,
to my
knowledge,
has
picked
up the
event as
news
worthy.
It is
shameful
of the
so-called
independent
and free
media.
उडाए
कुछ
बर्क
लाला
ने
कुछ
नर्गिस
ने
कुछ
गुल
ने;
चमन
में
हर
तरफ
बिखरी
हुई
है
दास्ताँ
मेरी,
उड़ाई
कुछ
कुमरिओं
ने
तुतिओं
ने
अन्द्लिवों
ने
;
चमन
वालों
ने
मिलके
लूट
ली
तर्ज़े
फुग्हन
मेरी
,