This refers to the report, “Ambedkar’s 126 birth anniv: Govt to felicitate Dalit scholars, writers in Talkatora stadium” (April 14). Politics drives national discourse, the media, and the intelligentsia. BR Ambedkar is being projected as the greatest leader our country, he is being glorified as the figure of contemporary Indian politics. This not because of his relinquishing Hindu religion or his role in Constitution-making or for his contribution in serving the Dalit cause, but because of the importance of Dalits in present-day politics.
However, Ambedkar’s projection as the Samvidhan nirmata (creator of the Constitution) is factually incorrect. In July 1946, a committee consisting of Jawaharlal Nehru as the chairman and Asaf Ali, KT Shah, DR Gadgil, KM Munshi, Humayun Kabir and N Gopalaswamy Ayyangar as members of the drafting commitee, was constituted to prepare material and proposals for the Constitution. Ambedkar was the chief architect of the Constitution, but it was never a one-man show.