Here is some undeniable facts of modern indian history…lest we forget how two countries, India and Pakistan treated Dalit icons?
THE INDIAN AWAAZ SPECIAL REPORT
As India is celebrating 125 anniversary Father of Indian Constitution Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar and debate is going on in parliament over the role of Baba Saheb in the making of constitution. Here we are presenting some undeniable facts of Indian history of how two great Dalit icons were treated after the independence. Senior journalist Iftikhar Gilani has helped us in preparing this story.
Father of Indian Constitution Dr. B R Ambedkar was elected to the Constituent Assembly through the support of the Muslim League.
Ambedkar had failed to win the Bombay provincial assembly election in March 1946. There was no hope for Ambedkar to make it to the 296-member Constituent Assembly elected by the provincial assemblies.
Ambedkar’s patron-in-chief Jogendra Nath Mandal Bengal Scheduled Castes Federation (SCF) leader invited Ambedkar – to Bengal where the Muslim League was in power and got him elected to the Constituent Assembly from Jassore-Khulna (now in Bangladesh) seat.
Mandal, was not only Minister of Judicial, Legislative, Works and Buildings departments but a hot favourite of Muslim League premier Hussain Shaheed Suhrawardy.
After the Partition, since Jassore-Khulna had become part of Pakistan, Congress helped him to get elected from seat vacated by MR. Jayakar from Bombay.
But soon after giving Constitution to the country, Ambedkar stood for election from Bombay (North) in the first Lok Sabha election in ’51-52, but lost. Not only did he lose, he stood fourth in the race. The seat was taken by Vithal Balkrishna Gandhi of the Congress.
He tried to enter Lok Sabha again in the by-election of 1954 from Bhandara, but lost again and was placed third. The Congress Party won again. By the time of the second general election in 1957, Ambedkar had died.
Jogendra Nath Mandal was one of the central and leading Founding Fathers of modern Pakistan, and became country’s first minister of law and labour, and also was second minister of commonwealth and Kashmir affairs.
He was Chairman of the Constituent Assembly. An admirer of Jinnah’s principles, he revolted against Prime Minister Liaqat Ali Khan.He grew increasingly disillusioned and isolated in post-Jinnah Pakistan and the final straw was the massacre of thousands of lower caste Hindus in East Pakistan in 1950. He fled Karachi and sent his resignation to the Prime Minister of Pakistan from Calcutta.