Kartikey Sehgal

A walk to Dr. Ambedkar’s memorial prompts thoughts on ‘dalitism’.

Did Siddhārtha envisage Indian Buddhism as a sect of people bickering about the validity and significance of a particular famous leader? Or a sect that frowns upon and overtly discourages a boy and a girl from holding hands? If we consider Buddhism as a religion without rites and if then outlaw ‘couples’ then doesn’t it become a religion of rites; that one rule spawning several other rules about public decency and morality leading to a set of punishments?

 
The Ashoka Pillar at the memorial site

Indeed, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar’s memorial (Chaitya Bhoomi) at Dadar near Shivaji Park is a sacred place for dalits and non-dalits alike. But it need not cast such constrained and sorrowful projection onto others. It prohibits couples from watching the 

sea. Makeshift shops of CDs and cassettes announcing the goodness of Babasaheb Ambedkar and condemnation of M K Gandhi are found attended by seemingly poor people who, I learn eventually, are not educated and find subsistence difficult. They don’t know their Buddhism; they rely on the tapes and discs to do the talking for them. I was stopped by one such gentleman and asked to listen to the reasons why Mr. Ambedkar is better than Mr. Gandhi.

Gandhi’s image is found on 100 rupee notes. But our Ambedkar’s photo is found on just a 1 rupee note. why? Because with that 100 rupee note you can buy alcohol. Give Gandhi, get alcohol. Give Gandhi, get alcohol. That is not the case with our Ambedkar. He is with the poor man, that is why he is on the one rupee note unlike Gandhi. (Gandhi encourages alcoholism)

I am aware that Dalits face persecution in rural India* but they are only harming themselves with their dalit, non-dalit policy. The way to absolve their problems is to proclaim that there is no dalit in the Indian philosophy. There never was such a term and it is a societal invention, subject to societal criticism and change. Which educated person will believe you if you say that the dharma propagates dalitism? In the age of internet, libraries and several translations of the vedas, knowledge is accessible and under the purview of every man. So the best (and perhaps the only) way of eliminating your caste based problems is to show that it is not granted by any holy or spiritual Indian book. This, however, is difficult.

Eliminating casteism would mean eliminating caste based politics. How then would you derive votes from the set of people you have categorised as downtrodden? It is convenient to ask for votes to “solve your problems” and “fight injustice”. (This story is not the space to discuss caste based politics and I’ll stop here)

So we have a set of people at a sacred spot, not educated, seemingly unaware of Buddhism, eating minimal food, selling tapes and cassettes that deride a leader vis-a-vis their favourite leader and who are not different from any other common poor man.

And they deride brahminism and priests but indulge in pinda daan, which they are aware is done for the atman of the deceased souls in the presence of a priest (favourably). “The only problem…”, as the seller who plays the anti-Gandhi tones tells me, “The only problem is that it should not be done here because it makes the place dirty”.

Then we shake hands and I leave.

Post Pinda daan

 
Only the bird is solitary

 
The beach adjoining the memorial site. Couples be wary.

* Fighting over Ambedkar and Gandhi. Believing that Rig Veda sanctions birth based division of castes. The ‘high castes’ believe in the uselessness of dalits and untouchables who in turn also believe in the system and blame it for their misery. The leaders, Buddhists and Hindus, don’t rectify them probably for the fear of losing the vote-bank.