Dalits will respond to Shourie book in kind

Misinformation, they say, will be countered by information.

In other words, the dalit community will not bother to attack Arun Shourie's Worshipping False Gods, in which the writer debunks Dr B R Ambedkar's role in the freedom struggle.

Instead, the community will counter it with a Prabhodhan (mass education) movement aimed at creating awareness among the dalits about the life and teachings of Dr Ambedkar.

Republican Party of India leader Ramdas Athavale told Rediff On The NeT that "We, the dallit community, feel that during the 50th anniversary of Independence, people like Shourie are spreading wrong information about the man who was responsible for formulating the Constitution of India. And therefore, we have decided to launch a movement to create awareness about Dr Ambedkar's life."

Thus, a team of writers headed by dalit intellectual Gangadhar Pantawne, along with writers such as Dr Raosaheb Kasbe and Rajaram Rathod, have been briefed to produce, within the next two months, a book focussing on the achievements and thoughts of Dr Ambedkar.

"We feel that a demand to ban Shourie's book will only give him more publicity," Pantawne said, in a telephone conversation from Aurangabad. "So, we have decided to reply to Shourie in writing, and, in the process, to expose the 'intelligentsia' that has been attacking Dr Ambedkar."

In his book Shourie maintains, among other things, that Dr Ambedkar was a supporter of Pakistan and that he had favoured the continuation of British rule in India.

"Dr Ambedkar had said in his writings, 'Pakistan is an avoidable thing but it seems today that it is unavoidable,' "Pantwane quotes. " 'I think majority of Muslims want their separate homeland and it looks likely that Mohammad Ali Jinnah's dream will come true.' How then can Shourie say that he was a supporter of Pakistan?" he asks.

Answering the charge that Ambedkar supported the British, Pantawane says, "Dr Ambedkar had written a book Problem of Rupee in which he has criticised the British rule in every aspect. Shourie, therefore, has not even researched well before releasing his book. In fact, even Jawaharlal Nehru and Dr Rajendra Prasad have praised Dr Ambedkar and hailed him as the Constitution maker of India."

Meanwhile, the Maharashtra government, already on the back foot following last month's deaths in police firing of dalits in an eastern suburb of Bombay recently, quickly reacted to scotch a possible uproar when Chief Minister Manohar Joshi in a public statement said that he did not recommend the writing of books such as Shourie's latest effort.

Joshi added, however, that he did not feel the need for a ban on the book.

Again, neither the Union nor the Maharashtra government has officially called for a ban on the book. Some Congress MPs did, however, burn copies of the book outside Parliament House, and called for a ban.

EARLIER REPORT: Don't ban Shourie's book: Dalit meet

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