Ambedkar described as modern intellectual, insulted by secularists: Film director Prakash Belawadi

NT Correspondent Bengaluru: Sandalwood director Prakasha Belawadi on Sunday described Dr B R Ambedkar as a 'Modern intellectual.' He was speaking after inaugurating a one-day workshop on Dr B R Ambedkar's revolutionary thoughts organized by the Youth Brigade at Ganabharathi auditorium at Kuvempunagar in the city. He said that there are a lot of references in history indicating Dr B R Ambedkar was insulted by 'secular leaders'. He was not allowed to contest to the Rajya Sabha by Congress leaders because of his caste and was also asked to contest the Rajya Sabha polls from different states, Belawadi claimed. He said that even today, people are afraid of speaking about caste.

The word secularism was incorporated by the forty second amendment in the Constitution of India in 1976. Even former PM Pandit Nehru and the chairman of the Constitution drafting committee Dr Ambedkar were opposed to the idea of inclusion of secularism in the preamble of the Constitution, he claimed. Even today, a lot of debates on caste and secular issues are going on across the country, he added. Speaking on the occasion, writer Chakravarthi Sulibele said that Veer Savarkar and Dr Ambedkar were contemporaries. The Constitution which was drafted by Dr Ambedkar has been amended 76 times so far, he said adding that Ambekdar struggled a lot throughout his life to root out the practices of untouchability and casteism in the country.