K C Tyagi, Former MP (JDU)
Pankaj Chaurasia, Research Scholar, Jamia Millia, Islamia University, New Delhi
On the 133rd birth anniversary of Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar, his thoughts and philosophy should be re-evaluated and his ideas should be implemented in modern India. Dr. Ambedkar not only analyzed the world and society of his time, but also actively struggled to bring about social and political change. With a broad outlook, he navigated controversies that strengthened his beliefs of secularism, social justice and socialism.
It is known from the historical narrative that the thoughts, philosophy and principles of Dr. Ambedkar were not only accurate at that time, but also remain equally relevant even today. Presently there is a need to reconsider the idea of their political representation. Dr. Ambedkar laid more emphasis on constitutional morality and social justice and included it in the Constitution, which provides legal protection of socio-economic and political equality to the most deprived communities in the Indian social structure.
The struggle for social justice in India is centuries old. After independence, constitutional steps were taken for social justice and social security was also provided to the deprived communities so that they could have sustainable development. This is why the Preamble of the Indian Constitution refers to the principle of social justice. It has been ensured in the Constitution that every policy/law made by the state will be in accordance with the policy guidelines contained in the Constitution.
Babasaheb Ambedkar raised the voice of social justice prominently in the Constituent Assembly. In the context of social justice, his views were that “If the state does not implement the Directive Principles in its policies, then the state will have to suffer the consequences in the general elections.” It is impossible for citizens to keep in power a government that does not work for the people. He believed that economic and political matters should be addressed only when the objective of social justice has been achieved. If undue emphasis is given to economic and political matters before achieving the objective of social justice, the concept of social justice will become meaningless. His warning is relevant even today.
This can be understood through the issues being raised by the parties pursuing social justice politics in the present era. At present, almost all the political parties doing social justice politics are giving importance only to political representation, whereas the first priority of the deprived communities is social self-respect and social security, hence the inclination towards social justice political parties among the deprived communities has reduced and The public is repeatedly rejecting him through their votes. This shows how visionary Dr. Ambedkar was.
The concept of social justice in India has gradually been indirectly affected by the elected governments, because while in power, electoral benefits were derived from caste equations, but inclusive policies were not implemented for the numerous most deprived castes. The real problem in the politics of social justice started when, in the name of class sentiment, those deprived communities got representation which were socio-economically prosperous in the same class, but indirectly the real backward communities were deprived of socio-economic and political representation. Are left deprived.
The system of political appointments to correct caste equations due to elections has continuously hurt the concept of social justice, because special steps taken for a particular caste etc. are exaggerated, this is a social justice and welfare state. Attacks the concept of equality, whereas the principle of social justice equality is a concept based on the concept of anti-caste, whose objective is to establish an egalitarian society. If we pay attention, even after almost seven decades of independence, the most deprived/exploited class in the social structure has not achieved much in the name of social justice, their situation seems to be far away from the concept of welfare state enshrined in the policy-directive principles.
Social justice was the mission of Dr. Ambedkar. He firmly believed that mere paper equality could not be enough for the people. There is a need for real equality for the underprivileged who have been deprived of it for thousands of years. On the last day of the Constituent Assembly, he pointed out the dangers of ‘a life of contradiction’ and warned, “How long will we continue to deny equality in our social and economic life? If we continue to deny this for a long time, we will be putting our political democracy in danger, so we have to remove this contradiction as soon as possible otherwise those who suffer from inequality will destroy the structure of democracy which this Constituent Assembly has established. Made with so much hard work.”
In the present times, socio-economically affluent castes have established their dominance in the political and educational sphere, while the socially deprived groups have managed to achieve only a symbolic presence in the sphere of power and privileges. Although various social justice advocating parties promise to implement social justice policies while in opposition, they fail to ensure significant participation of the most deprived communities while in power. Its impact falls on elections, which Dr. Ambedkar was worried about.
Dr. Ambedkar’s philosophy of social justice is broad and comprehensive, which contains solutions to solve social and economic ills. He advocates ethical reforms to make institutions more democratic, representative and more accountable to the most disadvantaged communities. Even though the way social justice works is not entirely new or revolutionary, it gives ethics to institutions and makes them accountable to the diverse community. It is time to think about how the most deprived social communities can become an important part of parliamentary democracy.
With these measures, the most vulnerable sections of the social structure can be prevented from becoming exploited classes. In the current political scenario, it is necessary to expand new policies of social justice and take measures to provide equal opportunities for the most deprived communities. The new framework of social justice must ensure that the credibility of a vision of social justice is regained among Dalits, backward classes, women, Pasmanda Muslims, backward classes and tribals.