A soon-to-be-launched book in Hindi, titled Gandhi: Siyasat aur Sampradaiykta, has been written by Piyush Babele, who currently heads the Madhya Pradesh Congress’ media department. The book claims that B. R. Ambedkar stated that the Hindu Rashtra concept propagated by V.D. Savarkar was illogical.
Ambedkar’s opinion was reportedly first published in his book Pakistan or the Partition of India. Babele claims that the Hindu right-wing makes an effort to link Gandhi to the 1947 partition of India, but those claims lack contexturalizing the events that led up to it.
The author attempts to clear this up by citing excerpts from Ambedkar’s work and other sources. An excerpt reads, “Ambedkar expresses his opinion about Savarkar’s Hindu Rashtra: ‘Along with this it has to be said that Mr. Savarkar’s point of view, if not strange, is also not logical. Mr. Savarkar believes that Muslims are a different country. He even accepts that they have the right to cultural autonomy. He also allows them to have their own separate national flag. But in spite of this he does not allow a separate country for the Muslim nation. If he claims a separate homeland for the Hindu nation, then how can they oppose the Muslim nation?'”
The book, released by New Delhi-based Genuine Publications and Media Private Limited, will be launched in Indore on Tuesday. Former Union Minister Shashi Tharoor and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath are expected to attend the event noted Babele. The author also stated that while Ambedkar was not supportive of Pakistan, he was an “exceptional researcher” on the subject of the partition of India.
Babele’s book is not the first he has written, as he also authored a book titled Nehru: Mithak aur Satya (‘ Nehru: Myths and Truth’). Both of these books seek to uncover the reality behind the communal narrative spread by the Hindu right wing.
His works are an important contribution to the understanding of India’s history and how it relates to the present; this latest book is sure to reignite the conversation around the partition of India and the interpretation of Gandhi’s views on communalism.
