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Source: This post is created based on the article ‘From Gaza to Bihar — faultlines Ambedkar and Patel warned us against’, published in Indian Express on 16th October 2023.
UPSC syllabus Topic: GS Paper 2, Effect of policies of developed and developing countries on India’s interest.
News: Bihar caste survey and killing of innocent civilians in Israel although are unrelated events, but B R Ambedkar and Sardar Patel’s words in Constituent assembly addresses the root-cause.
Ambedkar emphasised warned against the volatile consequences of political inequality and social-economic disparity in India. He stressed the need to make our political democracy a social democracy as well. Because without social democracy, political democracy cannot survive.
Social democracy is a way of life that recognises liberty, equality and fraternity.
What are the issues in Indian democracy?
Indian society fall short on the following 2 parameters of democracy:
1) Equality: India is a society based on the principle of graded inequality.
2) Economic inequality
Social inequalities are deeply rooted in our society and institutions, necessitating a national caste census for acknowledgment and remedial action.
Ambedkar’s citation of Edmund Burke regarding the impermanence of subjugation through force, reflects the current reality of Israel-Palestine conflict. It symbolizes the global repercussion of ignoring minority rights and the futility of force as a conflict resolution mechanism.
Ambedkar time and again warned against the explosive nature of suppressed minorities.
Both Ambedkar and Patel emphasized the dangers of neglecting minority protection and social democracy.
Sardar Patel also stated the following statement, ‘it is for us who happen to be in a majority to think about what the minorities feel, and how we in their position would feel if we were treated in the manner in which they are treated.’
It serves as a reminder of the and the responsibility of the majority to foster an inclusive, empathetic society.
