New Delhi: A movie about B.R. Ambedkar, ‘pilgrimages’ to sites important in his life, a run for equality, and much more. The Modi government is planning grand celebrations over five months to usher in the 129th birth anniversary of Ambedkar, the ‘father of the Indian Constitution’ and champion of the oppressed, on 14 April 2020, sources in the administration have told ThePrint.
Beginning on ‘Constitution Day’ on 26 November, a busy line-up of events is planned, with different ministries expected to helm a series of initiatives that will cover a wide range from rural India to Indian missions abroad and beyond.
The celebrations will be called ‘Samvidhan se Samrasta Utsav (Constitution to Harmony Celebration)’, the sources said.
The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment will be the nodal ministry for organising the programmes.
The celebrations can be seen as part of the Modi government’s efforts to promote Ambedkar as a national hero, to demolish what the BJP alleges has been a Congress bid to accord undue primacy to Jawaharlal Nehru in India’s historical narrative.
Aside from the celebrations, it is learnt that states will also be told to use the time to publicise the Modi government’s flagship schemes by organising programmes under the tagline “Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas Sabka Vishwas”, a BJP slogan coined by PM Modi.
Mann Ki Baat and more
On 16 October, the cabinet secretary met a committee of secretaries and tasked them with charting out the details of the commemoration.
Speaking to ThePrint, the government sources laid out a broad outline for the events planned.
Two days before Constitution Day, on 24 November, PM Modi is likely to discuss fundamental duties on his monthly radio address, Mann Ki Baat.
On 26 November, the Ministry of Law and Justice plans to organise an event at Delhi’s Talkatora or Jawaharlal Nehru stadium in Delhi, which the PM may address.
A film on the Constitution is likely to be screened the same day, and citizens encouraged to take an “On Duty for India” pledge. There are plans to release a booklet on the Constitution and commemorative stamps too.
On the day the celebrations conclude, 14 April, the government plans to organise an event at Vigyan Bhavan, again featuring a likely address by PM Modi on the economic empowerment of the poor and the marginalised. There are plans to screen a film on Ambedkar, and release his collected works in different regional languages.
The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports will be asked to organise a run for equality.
Study tour to Ambedkar’s alma mater
The Ministry of External Affairs will celebrate both Constitution Day and Samrasta Divas with talks, photo exhibitions and panel discussions centred on Ambedkar’s views on foreign policies across world capitals.
It also plans to organise study tours for students, to the United Nations and other countries, to learn about other governments and constitutions. Since the events are all at the planning stage, details about the exact nature of these tours — whether they will be government-sponsored or paid — are not yet known.
The Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs will be in charge of decorating Parliament House and organising a photo exhibition on 26 November. It may also hold a special joint session the same day.
The Ministry of Law and Justice may look at organising programmes in memory of Ambedkar at Gray’s Inn, London — a professional association for lawyers of which Ambedkar was a member — and sponsor law students from India to study at the institute and other institutions of repute.
The Ministry of Human Resource Development, meanwhile, will be asked to hold seminars and conferences on Ambedkar’s views on education and organise quizzes, speeches, and debates on topics such as fundamental duties and socio-economic equality.
The Ministry of Panchayati Raj will be asked to hold special gram sabha meetings on fundamental duties and social equality in villages. A ‘Gram Uday se Bharat Uday (growth of villages to growth of India)’ campaign, also organised in 2016, is planned as well.
The Ministry of Finance will be asked to release special coins to commemorate Dr Ambedkar, while the Department of Posts will issue commemorative stamps. Similar stamps and coins were also released by the government in 2015.
Study tours to the “Panchteerth” — his birthplace at Mhow, the place where he stayed while studying in London, the site of his conversion to Buddhism at Nagpur, the site of his death in Delhi, and the place he was cremated in Mumbai — will be organised by the ministries of tourism and railways. A special mobile exhibition train that will run across the country is also on the cards.
The Information & Broadcasting Ministry will carry out multimedia campaigns through a short film, radio jingles, a theme song and ‘nukkad nataks (plays)’ across cities and villages.
Big celebrations on 125th anniversary too
The Modi government has observed Ambedkar’s birth anniversary in a big way since it came to office.
In 2015, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment announced that the government will observe 14 April as Rashtriya Samrasta Divas and celebrate 26 November as Constitution Day.
Preparations in the run-up to Ambedkar’s 125th birth anniversary in 2016 were overseen by a national committee under the chairmanship of PM Modi.
Eleven new ‘Ambedkar chairs’ were established in various universities and a study tour to the US and the UK was conducted for 100 research scholars, among other initiatives.
I think as a nation we are getting too deeply enmeshed in this business of celebrating anniversaries and the past. An endless procession of beautifully choreographed events that have all the permanence and utility of soap suds. National energies / resources should instead to devoted to fresh achievements that would warrant celebration 25 / 50 / 190 years since.