From criticism to praise: How RSS changed stance on Ambedkar

"Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar...," Union Home Minister Amit Shah sounded a little rattled when he stated in the Parliament last year that invoking Ambedkar has become a "fashion" of late.

Hindu nationalist parties have always found Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar and his views on caste, religion and particularly Hinduism a thorn in their side. However, the increased relevance of Ambedkar's ideas over the years have caused a significant shift in their stance.

BJP's ideological parent Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a far-right organisation, has come a long way from comparing India's first law minister to a "Lilliput" in 1950 to RSS Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat inaugurating Bharat Ratna Bhimrao Ambedkar Auditorium on his birth anniversary in 2025.

What changed for the RSS and what were the significant changes in the RSS' stance on Ambedkar? let's take a look.

Criticism over Constitution, Hindu Code Bill

In 1949, four days after the Indian Constitution was adopted by the Constituent Assembly, Organiser, the mouthpiece of the Hindu nationalist organisation, carried an editorial criticising the lack of 'Bharatiyata' (Indianness) in the Constitution.

"Editorial in The Organiser, 30th November 1949. 'The worst [thing] about the new Constitution of Bharat is that there is nothing Bharatiya about it… [T]here is no trace of ancient Bharatiya constitutional laws, institutions, nomenclature and phraseology in it," noted historian Ramchandra Guha recalled in a post on X.

This criticism was intertwined with the RSS' aversion to the reforms proposed by Ambedkar in the Hindu personal laws.

"The Organiser, 7 December 1949, on the struggle led by Ambedkar to promote gender equality. 'We oppose the Hindu Code Bill. We oppose it because it is a derogatory measure based on alien and immoral principles. It is not a Hindu Code Bill. It is anything but Hindu," Guha wrote.

The Hindu Code Bill which aimed to reform Hindu personal law in India and addressed issues like marriage (including Hindu women's right to marry outside their caste), divorce, inheritance, and guardianship among Hindus was opposed fiercely by the Sangh. Several meetings and protests were organised by the RSS across India to stop the passage of the bill.

On January 11, 1950, Organiser said that Ambedkar cannot be called a modern Manu as it is “like portraying Lilliput as Brobdingnag. It is ridiculous to equate Dr Ambedkar with the learned and god-like Manu…”.

Ambedkar embracing Buddhism and RSS' call for Hindu unity

The RSS has preached for and sought Hindu unity since its inception in 1925 but, at the same time, it has been criticised for not working in favour of Dalits and keeping its upper ranks mostly restricted to Brahmins.

Ambedkar, on the other hand, a staunch supporter of social justice and a strong critique of Hinduism called the Vedas "worthless" and vowed that even though he was born a Hindu, he would not die a Hindu.

Keeping his vow, Ambedkar formally converted to Buddhism on October 14, 1956 (Vijayadashami), along with over 3,65,000 of his Dalit followers in Nagpur. This incident was seen as a dent in Sangh's vision of Hindu unity.

While the RSS did criticise Ambedkar's decision to embrace Buddhism, it was the Meenakshipuram Conversion in Tamil Nadu that finally led to the Sangh co-opting for Ambedkar's ideology to address the feeling of alienation among Dalits. Hundreds of lower caste Hindus had converted to Islam in 1981, an incident which was also seen as a pre-cursor to the Ram Temple movement.

Praising Ambedkar and co-opting his ideology

In recent years, the RSS has often praised Ambedkar for choosing a religion "born in India" to convert to, even after studying several other religions for decades.

One of the earliest incidents of the RSS incorporating Ambedkar's ideology into their own was in 1983 when the organisation celebrated its founder Keshav Baliram Hedgewar and Ambedkar's birthday together, a report by The Indian Express stated.

Since then, the RSS has continued to praise him and work towards addressing the feeling of alienation among Dalits, promoting 'Hindu brotherhood' across castes.

In 2016, Organiser put Ambedkar’s picture on the cover, calling him the "Ultimate Unifier" and published a bunch of articles praising him and his work.

In January this year, the media wing of the RSS claimed that Ambedkar had visited a 'shakha' in Maharashtra 85 years ago. As per the claim, during his visit, Ambedkar said he viewed the RSS with a sense of affinity despite differences over certain issues.

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat has also heaped praises on the architect of the Indian Constitution and on Monday, said that despite facing hardships since childhood, Ambedkar remained committed to social harmony, national development and worked lifelong to unite Hindus.