The UP Government stoked a controversy when Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath passed an order asking all departments and High Court Benches to refer Dalit icon Dr BR Ambedkar by his full name of Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar in official documents. The Dalit icon’s grandsons have slammed the Uttar Pradesh Government and said they were not consulted over change of name.
Ambedkar’s grandsons Prakash Ambedkar and Anand Ambedkar told a TV channel that the UP Government’s move was “nothing but vote bank politics by the BJP”.
The BJP wants to have their own agenda before the 2019 elections. They might try to tell the voters that Ambedkar was also a “Ram bhakt,” Prakash said.
He used to write Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar only in his signatures and for all other purposes he used only initials, he added.
Even Dalit leader Udit Raj, who is BJP MP from North-West Delhi, has objected to the move, saying Ambedkar always chose his name to be written only as Bhimrao Ambedkar or BR Ambedkar.“Why so many years after his death his name is being changedIJ This is completely uncalled for,” Raj said.
The Government also changed the spelling of Ambedkar in Hindi. The Hindi spelling of Ambedkar has been changed so that his name is pronounced ‘Aambedkar’.
In his letter to all Government departments, Principal Secretary, General Administration department, Jitendra Kumar said that taking cognisance of 8th Schedule of the Indian Constitution, where Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar’s name is written as Dr Bhimrao Ramji Aambedkar, the Government has directed authorities concerned to correct the name in all records.
The directives further said that all Government offices should also have pictures of Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar from April 1.
The Opposition called Yogi Government’s decision a political stunt aimed at garnering Dalit votes.
“The Government wakes up one fine morning saying that Dr Ambedkar’s name should be changed. Merely adding a word in Dr Ambedkar’s name will not change the fortune of the BJP. The writing is clear on the wall – it is finished,” SP leader Sunil Sajan said.
Health Minister Sidharthnath Singh said when Dr Ambedkar while writing his name on the 8th Schedule added Ramji as his middle name, it should be ensured that the full name should go in official records.
“People who cannot take Dr Ambedkar’s full name, how can they follow his principles. There are political parties who swear by his (Dr Ambedkar’s) name but do not know his full name,” the Minister said while hitting at Mayawati.
In December 2017, Governor Ram Naik had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath expressing his concerns over prevalent incorrect spelling of Dr BR Ambedkar. Signing the pages of the Constitution of India, Dr Ambedkar had written his name as ‘Bhimrao Ramji Aambedkar’.
“The main point is the way the name should be pronounced. While its English spelling is correct, the spelling will have to change in Hindi, as will the pronunciation. Ramji was his father’s name. As per common practice in Maharashtra, father’s name is used as a middle name for sons,” Director of Babasahib Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar Mahasabha, Dr lalji Prasad Nirmal was quoted as saying.