I wrote earlier about the
possibility of hijacking the name and legacy of
Babu Kanshi Ram. I don’t know whether it is good
or bad but it is happening gradually. It
happened, and rightly so with Dr. B.R. Ambedkar
too. Till almost the 1970s, Ambedkar was
recognized as the leader of Republican Party and
that of some dalit outfits. As the ground
realities of the political landscape in India
changed, there was no option for the political
parties but to own Ambedkar. Now Ambedkar is
increasingly occupying the rightful space not
only in the political sphere but also in the
society at large. It is gratifying to note. Dr.
Ambedkar deserved this recognition and honour as
the greatest Indian of contemporary times. The
events have taken a full circle. Ambedkar’s
mission was further carried by Babu Kanshi Ram
who was the founder of Bahujan Samaj Party
(BSP). As his heir, Mayawati is celebrating her
birthday today (January 15) with a huge rally in
Lucknow, the mission and agenda and also the
name of Babu Kanshi Ram is being owned and
hijacked by his erstwhile opponents slowly but
steadily. In the run-up to the 2014 elections,
the big political parties like the Congress and
BJP are vying with each other to grab the name
of Babu Kanshi Ram to establish their claim on
the dalit votes.
A few months ago, Rahul Gandhi
addressing the National Dialogue on Social
Disparity organized by the National Commission
for Schedule Castes said “It will be our effort
to give maximum representation to dalits in the
coming elections” and praised Kanshi Ram in the
same vein and said that the movement started by
him to empower dalits had come to a standstill
after his death. Yet at another function
recently Rahul Gandhi wooed dalit voters and
underlined the need to break free and gain
higher ‘escape velocity’. While he was critical
of Mayawati, he hailed her mentor Kanshi Ram and
said that he provided escape velocity to dalits
and many people benefitted from it. Now it was
the turn of BJP to follow suit. It has been
reported in the media today (Hindustan Times of
January 15) that BJP will take out the Sanmaan
Yatra to the native place of Babu Kanshi Ram in
Bunga (Rupnagar). The posters and hoardings of
the Yatra have the photo of Babu Kanshi Ram at
the centre of Lotus, the election symbol of BJP.
And flanked by the photos of Dr. Ambedkar and
Narendra Modi. President of the SC Morcha of
BJP Dr. Dilbagh Rai, according to media reports
said “Kanshi Ram founded the BSP but he is
respected by the entire dalit community. Here
lies the importance of Kanshi Ram.
Post Script: Flagging off the
‘Samman Yatra’ on January 15, 2014, Sanjay
Paswan, President of BJP’s SC Morch said that
Kanshi Ram was a great leader of the community
in north India which is why they had organized
the ‘Samman Yatra’. He added “If BJP comes to
power, we will recommend to bestow the
prestigious ‘Bharat Ratna’ award on him just
like Dr. Ambedkar. One can see that Kanshi Ram
is here to stay.
By. Mr. Ramesh Chander, Retired Indian Diplomat
