Snail Cartoon on B R Ambedkar and Nehru: The disgrace politics

It use to be the socialists and marxists people often making mockery of every public policy issue in a very symbolic way leaving away the rationality, it now become as usual business for the so called liberal dalits in India. Just see what is happening with the Shankar's cartoon on B R Ambedkar and Jawaharlal Nehru. 


Yet, in another mile stone setting, the Indian politicians have shown their shameful ugly face over a cartoon drawn on B R Ambedkar and Jawaharlal Nehru by Shankar Pillai. It was first published in 1949 and in 2006 it was adopted as part of a 11th class School textbook in political science. The issue is raised in 2012 with no specific context. 


Its really fun to read the views of different people on Ambedkar cartoon. But then beyond a point, the just don't understand the context in which this particular cartoon was drawn in about 60 years ago.


Let's have look at a few news items published:


Mr Chandrabhan Prasad is considered as one of liberal dalit intellectuals in India. But he has some limitation beyond which he does not use his commonsense!


Just see this funny statement on Ambedkar cartoon:

• Dalit intellectual Chandrabhan Prasad feels the cartoon falsifies history. He says, "The cartoonist shows that Dr B R Ambedkar is riding a snail, meaning he is slow in making the Constitution. Jawaharlal Nehru, with a whip in hand, is asking him to expedite the process. Is that a historical reality? Was Pt Nehru at any stage involved in making of the Constitution? Those who teach wrong history to children, write a wrong future for the nation. Making fun of the father of India's Constitution is unpardonable."

I agree with this particular article which argues that:

• "This nonsense will come to an end only when the rest of India rescues Ambedkar from the shackles of his ‘Dalit’ branding: Ambedkar is first and foremost a great son of India and a Dalit icon. Perhaps it’s time to rework our understanding of Ambedkar so that at least the future generations don’t make the mistake of reducing him to an icon of the Dalits alone."

In this particular context I too agree with Ashis Nandy:

• "Eminent political analyst Ashis Nandy called the reactions "absurd", saying these were a "new found political tool to score points and nothing to do with Ambedkar". He added, "Ambedkar was a classical liberal and did not favour censorship. The Constitution he drafted does not approve of censorship. This is in fact an anti-Ambdekar stand by the ministry.'' Seeking to put a lid over the row, a flustered HRD minister said he has asked NCERT to remove the offending picture. Making a statement in both Houses of Parliament, Sibal said he had written to NCERT in April asking it to withdraw the offending cartoon."

Here is another article quite rightly well articulated one:

• "However, how appropriate is it to interpret a cartoon of 1949 being misunderstood in 2012, looking at Ambedkar only as a deity which he now is to the Dalits, a deity who has replaced Buddha amongst the neo-Dalits? At that time, he was an eminent law-maker, erudite and irreverent of the established systems which discriminated sections of the society because of caste. Possibly, none of the law-makers now come within a mile of men of such stature of those times. Even Ambedkar is not known to have objected to it."

Equally important article which argues that:

• "Ambedkar’s tryst with prophethood has clearly begun. In due course, he will be up there with the Buddha as the most important prophet of the Dalits. Never mind if he isn’t the Ambedkar we know from his writings."