Book review: Anurag Bhaskar’s book gives a foresighted account of the many myths appropriating Babasaheb Ambedkar

WHEN WE THINK OF Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar, we understand that his legacy is one that evolves through their sustained relevance in the challenges that we contemporarily confront. The book ‘The Foresighted Ambedkar: Ideas That Shaped Indian Constitutional Discourse’, written by Anurag Bhaskar further establishes the evolutionary personality of Ambedkar’s many contributions, particularly how those contributions have been interpreted, at times perhave even exploitatively by some.  

Most often while assessing Dr Ambedkar’s contribution in the formation of Indian Constitution, we tend to confine ourselves merely to his immediate presence in constituent assembly. But this myopic approach to understand Dr Ambedkar’s contribution suppresses his long and enduring struggle that was of a more encompassing character 

Bhaskar’s  book plays a decisive role in debunking myths surrounding Dr Ambedkar including his alleged desire to burn the Constitution and his proposal for reservations in employment and education to be discontinued after ten years. Bhaskar also prominently disagrees with writers like Arundhati Roy and Shashi Tharoor who have widely claimed that Dr Ambedkar did not pursue the cause of Schedule Tribes (‘ST’) and provides a detailed description of Dr Ambedkar's contributions towards Adivasi and forest dweller communities.

In the recent times, while attempts are being undertaken to really redefine constitutional jurisprudence in India, the formidable repute of Dr Ambedkar is being debated heavily, both inside the Parliament and outside. In this context, Bhaskar’s book becomes an urgent read for everyone. 

Layout of the book

The book runs through ‘twenty-one’ chapters ranging from his early life to his educational achievements, which ultimately shaped Dr Ambedkar’s  socio-political ideology which he asserted throughout his life. In the initial two chapters of the book Bhaskar depicts the early life of Dr Ambedkar, his early engagement with caste, family, his father’s profession, the education which he received in India as well as abroad and the atrocities which he faced “as Dalit and as a Dalit professional”. 

Followed by this, Bhaskar delves into colonial constitutional reforms in two phases. The first phase captures the years preceding 1915 -  this phase preserved the interest of upper caste ruling elite only as the dual policy of non-interference and codification of customs effectively enabled the power of Brahmins to maintain pre-existing subaltern trajectory. The second phase, from 1915 to 1950, begins with the advent of Dr Ambedkar in constitutional discourse, wherein he brought true constitutional philosophy, a radical departure from governance to human right based governance, and demanded a just and inclusive social-contract for all.