Malavika Prasanna - Week 7


ON AMBEDKAR JAYANTI

It’s either an unfortunate on ironic coincidence to the Indian Tamils that Ambedkar Jayanti falls on the exact same date as the Tamil New Year. The irony lies not in the celebration of the New Year itself, but in the upper caste appropriation of the Tamil New Year. On 14th of April every year, the Brahmins in Tamil Nadu embolden their homes and temples with abundant ritual purity, while the lower castes take to the streets in celebration of a new year and a old-time hero. At the same time, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic throws some necessary light on the selective display of care and empathy. 


In his piece titled ‘Reading Ambedkar in the Time of COVID-19’, Awanish Kumar recollects Ambekdar’s assertion that the caste system in India precludes the formation of an Indian public. What is called the ‘antagonism of castes’ is such that the interests of the upper lower castes are constantly at war with each other. This caste-class antagonism in the Indian context is worth observation on 14th April, 2020 for the reason mentioned above, but particularly for through the lens of anti-nationalism. On the birthday of Ambedkar, who believed that the caste system in itself was anti-national since it came in the way of a socially integrated nation, scholars who spoke against the caste divide were arrested for instigating anti-national violence. The antagonistic interests reflected here are that of the upper castes who celebrated the arrest of Anand Teltumbde as a patriotic success, while the lower castes mourned it as a step back in crafting a united nation. The differential interest of the two castes is also evident from the overwhelming display of empathy for the upper caste-classes while the contempt and disgust towards to lower castes persists. 

 This 14th April, 2020, India neither stands together in commemoration of its anti-caste crusader, nor does it unite in the fight against the pandemic. 

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