Rajiv Tuli has made imaginary, baseless and fabricated claims.
Tuli, in his article, echoes Arun Anand by reiterating that Dr Ambedkar appointed Dattopant Thengadi as the secretary of the Scheduled Castes Federartion. He also claims that Thengadi, allegedly Ambedkar’s most trusted person, was also appointed as an election agent in the 1954 Bhandara Lok Sabha bypoll in Maharashtra. But Tuli has not provided any authentic evidence to support this claim. He must know that a polling representative is not appointed orally; a letter is submitted to the election officials in this regard.
Tuli should submit any written document in connection with the appointment of Thengadi by Ambedkar, instead of building castles in the air.
Far from Tuli’s claim, Ambedkar had appointed P. N. Rajbhoj, General Secretary of All India Scheduled Castes Federation, and Babu Haridas Avle, Secretary of Scheduled Castes Federation of Madhya Pradesh as the chief election agents The evidence of this can be found in my book, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar: Writings and Speeches, DBAWS, Vol.18, Part 3.
As per the constitution of Scheduled Castes Federation, appointment of non-SC person as a member or office bearer was illegal and unconstitutional. In the same fashion, induction of a person in Scheduled Castes Federation who happens to be a member of any other party or organisation was “unconstitutional”. (DBAWS, Vol. 17, Part Two, pp. 459).
Thengadi was a non-SC and a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) man and a Bharatiya Jana Sangh office bearer of Madhya Pradesh. Therefore, his appointment as the secretary of SCF was impossible.
Moreover, election was at Bhandara and Thengadi did not belong to that constituency. He was from Arvi district, Wardha. Logically speaking, there was no point in appointing an incongruous person like Thengadi as the election agent at Bhandara.
Also Read: Why RSS considers Ambedkar as one of its own icons
Claims without evidence
Bhandara by-election happened between 2 and 5 May 1954 (Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, Biography, Dr. Dhananjay Keer, first edition 1966, 9th Edition 2014, Mumbai, pp.630).
The Scheduled Castes Federation activities during this election — campaign, meetings, rallies, speeches etc. —were comprehensively and frequently reported in Janata by Ambedkar in April and May 1954. All the leaders who participated and addressed the rallies have been listed in the Janata reports.
If Thengadi was a trusted associate of Ambedkar, then how come he was absent from all the meetings and rallies of the Scheduled Castes Federation? Thengadi finds no mention, either as the speaker or as the guest of honour, in the election coverage done in Janata by Ambedkar.
Communist Party of India (CPI) and many others had supported Ambedkar in Bhandara by-election. A. B. Bardhan of the CPI participated in the campaign rallies of SCF (DBAWS, Vol. 18, Part Three, pp.374). Does Tuli want to suggest that the CPI and the Jana Sangh were in coalition in this election?
Tuli indicates a one-year interval between Ambedkar’s statement about the RSS and the 1952 elections and states that anything was possible in politics during the span of one year.
But, the fact was that the manifesto of Scheduled Castes Federation pertaining to the rejection of the possibility of an alliance with the Hindu Mahasabha and the RSS was for the Lok Sabha elections, which took place on 4 January 1952.
It was not decided one year earlier as Tuli puts, but in October 1951 only. It is quite natural that the manifesto for the election to be held on 4 January 1952 would be drafted at least three months before, i.e. in October 1951.
But, Tuli counts this three-month duration as one whole year. Perhaps, he does not know the facts or doesn’t want to accept them. Either way, he should refer to my book on Ambedkar’s writings and speeches. (DBAWS, Vol. 17, Part One, dated 3 Oct. 1951, pp. 402).
Also Read: Ambedkar appointed RSS man as his election agent. That’s how close the two were
Ambedkar called RSS ‘poisonous’
Tuli further says, “His views on Partition and radicalism in Islam also reflect clear ideological synergy between the two.” He, very enthusiastically refers, for this cunning inference, Dr. Ambedkar’s Pakistan or Partition of India. But he conveniently forgets Ambedkar’s scathing remarks on the RSS in the same book. As a matter of fact, there was not an iota of ideological resemblance between Ambedkar and the RSS.
In fact, Golwalkar Guruji’s Bunch of Thoughts is the Bible for the RSS. Guruji believes in Chaturvarna syatem. He prefers protection and promotion of Sanatan Sanskriti and construction of a Hindu Rashtra. Dr. Ambedkar says, “If Hindu Raj does become a fact, it will, no doubt, be the greatest calamity for this country. No matter what the Hindus say, Hinduism is a menace to liberty, equality, and fraternity. On that account it is incompatible with democracy. Hindu Raj must be prevented at any cost.” (Pakistan or The Partition of India, 1946, pp. 358. DBAWS, Vol. 8, 1990, 358).
On 07 September 1949, Golwalkar Guruji met Law Minister Ambedkar in Delhi. He sought Ambedkar’s help to curb Marathas. Ambedkar said at that time, “RSS is a poisonous tree. RSS is dreaming of Peshwa rule. It is not possible to be with you. I can’t support you.”
A detailed report of this visit has been published in Ambedkar’s Janata on 10 September 1949. Moreover, Sohanlal Shastri, chief of Delhi Bauddh Mahasabha — founded by Ambedkar — and a well-known scholar, was present at the moment. He has elaborated this meeting in his book- Babasahab Dr. Ambedkar ke Sampark mein 25 warsha, Bhartiya Bauddha Mahasabha, Delhi Pradesh, (New Delhi, pp. 54-55).
During the same period, RSS was obstructing the constitution being written by Ambedkar. RSS was against the Hindu Code Bill. and its members had broken into the auditorium gallery to drive away the constitution assembly; the incident is reported in the parliamentary records. (Contitutional Assembly Debates, Govt. of India Publication, New Delhi, Vol. 7 p. 1233, Dated, 4 January 1949).
Documentary sources are counted as more authentic than the oral narratives. And moreover, Thengadi and Observer belong to RSS, hence there is no authenticity and validity of their claims.
Thengadi wrote the book several years after Ambedkar’s demise. Thengadi, Arun Anand or Tuli have not given any evidence from Ambedkar’s time.
Even Ambedkar’s visit to the RSS workshop is imaginary. No evidences, such as photos, correspondence or the news published in contemporary papers have been provided by the RSS.
Also Read: No, Ambedkar was not impressed by RSS or in an alliance with it. Arun Anand is wrong
Has RSS abandoned ‘Ramrajya’?
Ambedkar burned Manusmriti, renounced Hindu religion, refuted Hinduism and embraced Buddhism. While embracing Buddhism he took 22 pledges, of which, eight are:-
1. I shall have no faith in Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh nor shall I worship them.
2. I shall have no faith in Ram and Krishna nor shall I worship them.
3. I shall have no faith in Gauri, Ganapati and other Gods and Goddesses of Hindu religion nor shall I worship them.
4. I do not believe in the theory of incarnation of Gods.
5. I do not and shall not believe that the Lord Buddha was the incarnation of Vishnu. I believe this to be, mischievous and false propaganda.
6. I shall not perform “shraaddha” nor shall I give “pind dan”.
7. I shall not perform any ceremony through Brahmins.
8. I hereby embrace Buddhism by renouncing my old Hindu religion, which is detrimental to the prosperity of the humankind and discriminate human beings and treat them low. (DBAWS, vol.17, part Three, pp.531).
If so, then, whether RSS has abandoned the idea of Ramrajya is an interesting question. Does RSS advocate Ambedkar’s books — Riddles in Hinduism, Riddles of Ram and Krishna and Revolution and Counter Revolution? RSS wants merging (samarasata), while Ambedkar wants annihilation of caste, which is his basic ideological position.
In a nutshell, even if viewed microscopically, there is no resemblance between Ambedkar and the ideologies of the RSS. They are shrewdly attempting to hijack Ambedkar who has been globally accepted and recognised as the most crucial philosopher leader of the oppressed, while the image of RSS is that of a fascist.
The author is the Editor of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar: Writings and Speeches, Vol. 17 to 22, published by the Government of Maharashtra. Views are personal.
Ambedkar, like his contemporaries Gandhi, Nehru, Netaji, Patel, Savarkar and many more, is a complex, multi-layered and fascinating figure. It is not possible to squeeze any of them into a strait-jacket, as fans or critics do, by either deifying or demonising them. Their lives and works must be debated in a mature, civil manner by well-informed people. This article concludes ThePrint’s correspondence on this issue. We will have more such to debate in days to come.
Shekhar Gupta , Editor-in-Chief, ThePrint
As Shekhar Gupta has aptly commented, this debate needs to be carried out in a matured, civilized manner by well-informed people. Hair Narke is one of them. It is crystal clear that in 1950s there was no ideological similarity between Ambedkar and the RSS. The same can be said about the Congress. There were many leaders in the Congress who vehemently opposed ‘Hindu Code Bill’, as proposed by Ambedkar. The Hindu Code Bill which was presented in the Constituent Assembly in 1946 was withdrawn due to opposition from Hindu traditionalists belonging to all political parties. It was only due to Nehru’s persuasion and insistence that three specialized bills were passed by the Parliament in 1950s. In retrospect, we can now visualize that after the making of the Constitution, these legal reforms were the most important contribution made by Ambedkar to this country and this was possible only due to statesmanship and wisdom shown by the first Prime Minister of India.
To conclude, ideological differences are bound to be there. What is more important is to reconcile these differences. Can one say with certainty that there were no ideological differences between the Mahatma and Ambedkar? Yet, after proclamation of the Independence, Gandhiji told Nehru to nominate Ambedkar to the Constituent Assembly. He was subsequently made Law Minister in post-independent India. The rest is history. It would, therefore, be preferable for the RSS to honestly accept that initially they had ideological differences with Ambedkar but now RSS has reconciled these differences and has accepted the core fundamentals principles of Ambedkar’s social philosophy.
I have a simple question. When some people convert to Buddhism, how do they still remain SC ? Can somebody explain this logic please? I thought the whole SC concept is the inequality in Hinduism only. The reason some people convert is to not remain SC anymore, right ? The same people still identify themselves as SC even after conversion, but ask everyone to be treated not as an SC. Very confusing indeed.
Thank You Hari sir!
We look forward to such debates and fact based writings in ThePrint!!
And this Rajvir Singh….Sir u have completely lost it.
Please no spewing of venom here….lets not malign atleast ThePrint…it is rare nowadays to have such digital media.
Many many compliments to Mr.Narke for very staunchly refuting the utmost baseless arguments of Manuwadi writers,who are devoted to the task of converting Dr.Ambedkar in to a saffron ideology.I am constantly reading Mr.Narke’s counter arguments and I am also spreading his thoughtworthy views in social media by translating them in to Gujarati for the sake of the large scaled Gujarati Ambedakerites.Many of my friends also doing the same.
Nonsense article with no substance at all, He is just moving here and there without addressing the question raised by Mr Tuli.
Pro. Hari Narke has laid a solid example of how to expose the baseless articles that are aimed to hijack great secular and democratic personalities like Dr. Ambedkar. RSS is nothing but a huge sack of lies. It pretends to be a sole protector of the Hindus, but the fact is it represents Vedic religion and wants to enforce Vedic ideas on the Hindu society. To achieve their heinous goal they are on a mission to distort, misrepresent and making huge unsubstantial claims thereby confuse the society and hijack them the way they successfully did with Sardar Patel. The media like Print should be very careful before publishing any article that does not provide reliable documentary evidence. I again congratulate Pro. Hari Narke for fearlessly exposing the designs of RSS.
Idiot our religion important aspect is Vedic thought, and this article is nothing more than whataboutery. Mr Narke, could not refute one point of Ambedkar, just blabbering Ambedkar issue with Congressman of his times.
i hope this ends this “debate” about ambedkar’s lost camaraderie with RSS. Hari Narke provides enough written and documented evidence to prove that everyone knew.It is pretty clear which side has the body of evidence. I hope The Print doesn’t entertain any more “opinions” from Mr. Tuli and like. And should ask the writers of (especially historical figures) to provide solid body of evidence to support their opinions and stop wasting people’s time and spreading misinformation. Because it is quite possible these articles will be presented without context or rebuttal to sway unsuspecting masses.
Nonsense article with no substance at all by this Hari Narke, He is just moving here and there without addressing the question raised by Mr Tuli.
Communal organization rss is very well known for spreading lies in the society…they are go any extent to defend their lies without any shame… Today this communal organization rss is spreading poison of hate, intolerance, violence in the society to create “goondaraj” for this they had support of media, these media peoples are also act accordingly these peoples because they (media) getting suffecient money for this… people of India need aware from this. know these rss peoples are telling another “lie” regarding DR.B.R.Ambedkar that Ambedkar is supported communal organization.but we knows theses communal peoples cunning mind and we are going to believe rss lies…. shame on rss
Enough of false narrative that the hindutwa brigade is trying to create. It only shows how shallow they really are. Ambedkar is someone who fought the Hindu religion to its very core and now we have these hindutwa brigade who wants to push false narrative around ambedkar. Now print should put an end to this peddling of false narrative by RSS around Baba Saheb. Hari Narke has cleared all doubts now this case needs to be put to rest.
You are big Fool if Ambedkar was fighting any religion than why he didn’t supported ML demands , why he said Hindus are doing mistake by keeping Ms in their country post partition 1947. By your logic, then he was a confused personality. He had issue with some people here but that doesn’t mean with everyone. This should be taken in a context of it
i think the act of just letting some debates happen and some not is more nuanced way of dealing with peoples consciousnes. Although one can easily judge media these days with regard to their affiliations , this paper has to be appreciated for presenting logic in a a very subtle manner and trying things out of the box creating newer rationales principles etc etc.Sadly expecting truth from the media these days is crime . It is the WINNERS THAT CREATE NOT JUST HISTORY BUT KNOWLEDGE AND THATS THE ONLY TRUTH
This paper? It is article with no substance, he is just blabbering things , he has not refuted any point of Mr Tuli with specific rebuttals. Everything can be cleared, if some intelligence paper de-classified. Int officer use to keep eye on all politicians.
An author who framed our constitution, has to be judged not on the basis of some incidents in his life. He is a political visionary, astute philosopher, to the core a true revolutionary.
The fascist RSS wants to appropriate Ambedkar as their own.
Fascist is daughter of Italian leading Congress
Why there had been no Hindu organisation in India before the establishment of RSS . What was the need to do so ?
I don’t think this needs a further false counterstatement by Mr Rajiv tuli or mr Anand,this article is well researched one by the author who has put the facts with proof and not just relying on oral history as mentioned by Mr Rajiv tuli.I acknowledge Mr Hari narke for writing this article .
Everything can be disclosed if some intelligence paper are de-classified.
After Mahatma Gandhi and sardar Patel, it is Ambedkar ,whom RSS want to co opt
Altering /teaching history via WhatsApp group, is easy, as there is no healthy and informed debate possible in social media where trolling is the norm.
However it is different ball game in mainstream media like newspapers, TV and digital platforms, where one cannot hit and run with distorted facts
thanks to the people like Mr Narke and unbiased media platforms like THE PRINT, which provides the platform where views for/against are articulated , for us to make informed judgements on issues of past ,given a makeover to suit the current political dispensation
thanks and regards
Mr Narke is making a joke, he couldn’t put any rebuttal to Mr Tuli points. He is just blabbering things of 1950s which are there in public domain. There are many things they do happen behind the scenes
This should be an eye opener to conspiracy theorist in RSS-BJP, including this writer.
From it’s foundation RSS is on propaganda spree. But with historical facts and context Dr Hari Narke once again daringly derail it’s game plan.
Distort history , mislead the people and aim for the Hindurashtra. This is how RSS-BJP operates from seven odd decades, Knowingly though, writers like Tuli and Anad exercises their skill as and expertise to mislead the nation.
It was always clear, RSS’s political aim was and is to have it’s own Hindu rashtra keeping it’s caste structure intact, RSS wants all the icons like Gandhi-Bose-Ambedkar – in its fold without any associated history attached to it. No morality, no ethics. It always engaged in dangerous mind games. Today’s vicious and divisive India is it’s expected result. This article should be seen and analyse in that context.
Fool this Narke could not refute even one point Me Tuli, he is going here and there,, not staying on the topic raised by Mr Tuli, And Hindu rashtra will be made in a Hindu majority country.
Mr Narke should ask his mother who gave him the name “Hari” a word for Vishnu, against whom he is writing. If you have nothing to answer to Mr Tuli’s writing, than don’t write, why show your mental balance to word with nonsense. You could not refute one word of Mr Tuli in your writing, just going here and their dodge the issue.
Dear Rajvir Singh
Why are you attacking Mr Hari personally.it clearly shows you are not able to confront on the subject and are resorting to other ways to put your points which is not good for healthy debates or discussions.i hope you will put your thoughts on the subject rather than finding a way to escape
It is not me who is attacking Mr Narke, it is this Mr Narke who is attacking Mr Tuli without any findings. He is stating things which we have told by Cong followers and is in public domain. But as in politics a lot of things do happen behind the scene. It is well known Mr Ambedkar had sided with Sangh when he was facing attacks from the congress and their followers in 1950s. Everything is not black and white as you think it to be. All of these can easily come out if some some old intelligence files if still present are de-classified. They keep eye on every politician.
First and foremost this writer using two logic for two things. And same case with you caste annihilation never happens with casteist overtones. Today’s most casteist comes from this group of so called backward. This is fact. The whole caste drama was started by xian Brits in 1872. and fools like you still show mental bankruptcy when somebody highlight this.
RSS will not allow a dead man to rest in peace. They see nothing wrong in CO opting mass leaders of Dalit and Muslim communities by offering them positions in government mostly in consequential posts example Paswan Athawale and of course men like MANaqvi.
Dalits and Muslims are a divided lot. Mediocre leaders from these communities have sold their conscience and hoping to get the crumps.RSS game plan is to Co opt Ambedkarism to get electoral gains and they need not try hard. Even if they ignore Ambedkar the upper class votes will ensure their hegemony for the next thousand years.