Babasaheb Ambedkar left this world on this day. Today is celebrated as Mahaparinirvan Day. But even in Pakistan, the fans of Ambedkar are increasing. Know what is the reason for this?
Bharat Ratna Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar
today is 6th december Bharat Ratna Dr. Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar Had bid farewell to this world. Those who believe and love him on this day Day of Mahaparinirvana celebrate as Thousands of people from far and wide are reaching near Chaitya Bhoomi in Mumbai today to pay homage to him. Everyone knows Babasaheb Ambedkar as the creator of the Constitution and a man of the era who fought for Dalit rights throughout his life, but wouldn’t you like to know that Pakistan What do people know about them?
If you know that today’s Reserve Bank of India started with the concept of Baba Saheb Ambedkar, then you may not know that Baba Saheb Ambedkar was a supporter of Uniform Civil Code. Yes, which is in BJP’s manifesto and BJP continuously promises its voters to bring it across the country. If you know this too, then perhaps you would not know that after independence, the idea of increasing productivity by increasing investment in agriculture and the concept of building big dams was also of Babasaheb Ambedkar.
Still people in Pakistan did not know his name till the year 2000.
If you also know this, then also know that Babasaheb Ambedkar was a supporter of small states. For a long time, he had been talking about separating Jharkhand from Bihar, Uttarakhand from Uttar Pradesh, Telangana from Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh from Madhya Pradesh, even he was a supporter of separating Vidarbha from Maharashtra. The country did the same many years after Babasaheb Ambedkar left. Baba Saheb was the most educated and degree holder of the country in his time, when he left this world, about 40,000 books were in his home library. But despite all this, people in Pakistan did not know much about Babasaheb Ambedkar till the year 2000.
Why were people in Pakistan unaware of Babasaheb’s name? Who is spreading the name now
It is necessary to name some people here, due to which the hunger to know about Ambedkar has increased in Pakistan. To name a few, Dr. Sono Khangarane, who is associated with Pakistan’s rural development projects, Malji Meghwal, convener of the Pakistan Dalit Solidarity Network, Qazi Imdadullah, secretary general of the Communist Party of Pakistan, and two-three members of the National Assembly and current members of the Pakistan People’s Party. A handful of people (who would have been in total 40-50 in the whole of Pakistan), including Senator and Member of Provincial Assembly, first started spreading their thoughts after getting influenced by the thoughts of Babasaheb Ambedkar.
Malji Meghwal of Pakistan Dalit Solidarity Network talks to TV9 Bharatvarsh
When we contacted Malji Meghwal, convener of Pakistan Dalit Solidarity Network, on behalf of TV9 Bharatvarsh Digital, he told in detail how much curiosity and awareness has increased in Pakistan about Ambedkar after the year 2000. He told that in the year 2000 the World Social Forum was organized in Pakistan. Then all the people who know and understand Ambedkar all over the world, including India, came to Pakistan, here through ideological discussion, people came ahead of Gandhi, Nehru and Bhagat Singh and came to know about Ambedkar. But still many people were not able to know about Ambedkar, because he was a gathering of a select few.
After this, these few people celebrated Babasaheb Ambedkar’s 114th birth anniversary, then hundreds of people including many leaders of the People’s Party participated there. Then seminars and discussions were organized at many places. After this, the way a magazine named Dalit Voice is published in India, similarly a magazine named Dalit Adab started being published there. In this way, now common Pakistanis are also becoming aware of the name of Babasaheb Ambedkar.
Pakistanis have this opinion about Babasaheb Ambedkar
Here we are keeping those parts of the conversation with Malji Meghwal, from which it can be known that what is the opinion of common Pakistani about Babasaheb Ambedkar-
Question- You say that before the year 2000, Pakistani people knew little about Ambedkar. Because?
Answer- I will not be able to tell the specific reason, it may be that in your country also Dalit consciousness emerged in the eighties-nineties and they became known to the mass level. Before that he was not read and heard that much in North India.
Question- When people in Pakistan understood Ambedkar, what were his words attracting people’s attention?
Answer- In their eyes, they kept fighting for the downtrodden (the exploited, the deprived, the poor).
Question- First of all who liked Ambedkar there?
Answer- To the Communists?
Question- reason?
Answer- Marx and Lenin also call upon the workers of the world to unite and in their eyes Ambedkar also does the same
Question- You are a Dalit thinker. You know that there is a difference between Ambedkar’s caste consciousness and Marx’s class struggle. Ambedkarites in India have a different opinion from communists. They understand that the doors for a poor Brahmin to rise up are not closed, but the doors of Dalits are closed in every way, because even if there is economic progress, marriage cannot be done in a noble family, in such a situation only a few people can rise in the society. Even if he goes, can’t the entire oppressed society rise?
Answer- The subtle difference has not been understood here yet. Here they only know that Ambedkar was fighting against inequality. While the truth is that people in Pakistan may have different religions. But till recently, the attitude of Muslims towards Dalits was the same as that of a Hindu Bania or Brahmin. They judge Dalits only from the point of view of Baniyas and Khatris. Even today, intercaste marriages with Dalits are not only frowned upon by Hindu upper castes, but Muslims also do not perform marriages.
Question- But they say that there is no inequality in Islam
Answer- It is only in books. By changing the religion of the girl of Hindu Baniya, they get married. But this is not the case with Dalits. Dalit girls are mostly abducted at an early age. Force conversion is a big problem here. It is very difficult to maintain your identity. But if something like this happens with upper class Hindu girls, then they have their own influence and they are able to raise their voice by saying that they are Hindus from Dalits as well, but Dalit girls are forcibly converted. So the upper caste Hindus do not support.
Question- What happened to the Dalits who adopted Islam?
Answer- His family is remembered in the mind. Two-three generations will pass then maybe they will forget. Otherwise, in their eyes Sheikh can be equal to Pandits and Pathans to Thakurs. But I already told you that all this was more for our generation. Think of the year 2000 as a time for change. Today the Dalit community of Pakistan is realizing the importance of education. Because of this, after being educated, a Dalit boy or girl gets into a love marriage with a Muslim. But here they still have to change their religion, otherwise the law does not recognize such marriages.
Question- How do Dalit parents or their society view inter-caste marriages of educated children?
Answer- Dalit society also does not see it with good eyes. They feel that if a person had gone ahead, he would have adopted the daughter of another family in the society, then the status of another family would have increased. But if he or she goes out of the society, then his personal life improves, but the society is not benefited.
Source: www.tv9hindi.com”