Week 7- Aishwarya Ramkumar


AN IRONIC AMBEDKAR JAYANTI

Ambedkar Jayanti is a day marked to celebrate B.R. Ambedkar and his ideas of anti-discrimination, equality, and feminism. He is credited for bestowing upon us, our constitution and fighting for the equal status of those belonging to the so-called subordinate castes. This Ambedkar Jayanti was rather antithetic as it witnessed an event so unfortunate and against the very core of Ambedkar's beliefs. The arrest of Anand Teltumde and lack of any protection offered by the SC depicts a rather sad state of affairs. Him being booked under the UAPA depicts how threatened the government is of those who dissent and raise their voices against oppression.
Further, this Ambedkar Jayanti also witnessed a nationwide lockdown owing to Covid 19. This pandemic has thrown light on the caste-class division rather effectively. While those migrant workers seeking to return to their hometowns were criticized and labeled uneducated and careless, those individuals returning to India from other countries were spared this humiliation and were permitted entry with a less as a temperature check. Further, while various religious gatherings did occur, the Tablighi Jamaat event gained most traction and was subject to most criticism, while the Tirupati festival and other similar events did not attract as much hate or even attention.
This shows that even while a nation is being subject to perhaps one of the worst health threats, individuals and even the State is more concerned with ideas of purity, pollution, caste, and class. This is perhaps why Ambedkar Jayanti falling at this particular time is rather ironic. 

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