Ambedkar Bhavan! The very name itself evokes such great emotions these days. And rightly so, Dr. BR Ambedkar himself had envisioned this central headquarter which would unite the Dalit community and spearhead the movement initiated by him for their emancipation. Despite working for over 18 years on the project, for various reasons the dream was not realised in Dr. Ambedkar’s lifetime.

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Ironically, this very building has caused a rift so deep between his followers that the entire community has split vertically into two halves. On one side are the trustees of the People's Improvement Trust, formed by Dr. Ambedkar himself, who claim to have demolished the present building for the construction of a grand 17-storey building which they say will do justice to the Dr. Ambedkar’s vision of a central headquarter. On the other side is a group led by Mr. Prakash Ambedkar, head of Bhartiya Republican Party (commonly known as BHARIP), and their followers who cry foul over the entire demolition action. What has transpired since the demolition is high-voltage factional politics, the curse of the Ambedkarite movement for a long time.

Since the demolition, followers of Dr. Ambedkar have been agitated for various reasons, ranging from the government's lukewarm response to various allegations made by the trustees against Mr. Prakash Ambedkar. However, the chief cause of agitation amongst all, which brought thousands of Dr. Ambedkar’s followers on streets on that rainy Tuesday, is the notion of the historical significance of the structure that was partially demolished. In all the din that has been created over this issue, what has not been taken in true consideration is the historical significance of the place and the structure known as Ambedkar Bhavan. Did Ambedkar Bhavan really play any role in the Dalit movement or is public emotion being swayed by the mere name of ‘Ambedkar Bhavan’?

The answer to this question, without any doubt, lies in the history of the movement from the time of Dr. Ambedkar and the history of the present Ambedkar Bhavan. The Dalit movement after Dr. Ambedkar has seen many smaller movements, like the rise and fall of Dalit Panthers from 1972 to the 1980s, as well as Namantar Andolan of Marathwada University from 1978 to 1994.

Dr. Ambedkar, right from 1938, started working on the project of this central headquarter which he envisioned would lead the entire Dalit movement. He started collecting donations from the public in 1938. He even made an appeal to the Princess and People of India to donate for the cause. From the donations so collected, the piece of land on which present Ambedkar Bhavan is situated, was purchased in the name of the Trust in October 1944. Owing to riots in 1946 in Naigaon area of Mumbai, the machinery of Buddha Bhushan Printing Press owned by Dr. Ambedkar was moved to this land in Dadar in September 1947, in a structure built by the Trust. As for the balance portion of the plot, it got partially encroached on in about 1948, for which Dr. Ambedkar, as chairman of the Trust, had to file an eviction suit to get the tenants vacated from the property. The suits mostly got resolved by 1975, while some extended to as late as 2001. Dr. Ambedkar had appointed Mr. Patankar as an architect for the project, who prepared a plan under his instructions, which in turn was approved by the municipal corporation on March 25, 1953. However, the Trust failed to execute the plan because of the ongoing litigation. Mr. Upsham, one of the trustees of the Trust and a close confidante of Dr. Ambedkar, had said on record in January 1954 in the eviction suit, that "We shall start the construction of the hall and another building together," clarifying that the plan prepared by architect Patankar never got implemented. Also, as per the statement given by Dr. Ambedkar in the matter of same eviction suit in January 1954, he himself had visited the site only about 3-4 times. Considering that no structure was built as envisioned in the plan prepared by the architect and the fact that Dr. Ambedkar himself visited the site only a few times, clearly indicates that the site itself could not have been witness to any significant activity of Dalit movement during the lifetime of Dr. Ambedkar himself.

As for the period post Dr.Ambedkar, the present structure of Ambedkar Bhavan is part of a plan approved by the BMC in June 1982 and was constructed in and around 1985, by when the Dalit Panthers movement had almost waned. Same was the case with the Namantar movement wherein Marathwada was the central region for all movement. Thus, clearly, the present Ambedkar Bhavan could not have played any significant role in either the Dalit Panther movement or the Namantar movement.

In recent times, the only historical value that could be ascribed to the present Ambedkar Bhavan is that of Rohith Vemula's mother's conversion to Buddhism at this building on the 125th birth anniversary of the Dalit icon. However, what needs to be seen is this— will the followers of Dr. Ambedkar ascribe this conversion such historical significance to the extent that they will compromise his dream of a central headquarter for this place? If no historical significance can be ascribed to this structure, then is it just the name of ‘Ambedkar’ that is swaying public opinion? Or is it the curse of factional politics that has plagued the Ambedkarite movement for so long, the struggle to consolidate the power of one faction over the other for vested interest?

What is adding to suspicion is the fact that despite being served legal notices informing about proposed demolition, Mr. Prakash Ambedkar did not agitate against the proposed demolition of Ambedkar Bhavan, which he holds very dearly, before the actual action of demolition and decided to wait for the building to be demolished to raise the agitation. The bhoomipoojan was done by the CM in a public ceremony, the intimation of demolition was published in several newspapers. Despite all this, why did Mr. Prakash Ambedkar not even trouble himself to so much as approach the court for obtaining a stay on the demolition? Followers of Dr. Ambedkar are perplexed by these questions. However, what's more worrisome is whether the agitation, which was raised on emotional grounds, will find sustainable traction with the masses or if they will be left in the lurch again for the leaders’ personal gains, as has happened in earlier movements. More importantly, what will happen to Dr. Ambedkar’s dream of the central headquarter? Will that dream be ever realised?

The writer is retired IGP.