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Journalism of Courage
In Madhya Pradesh’s Dr Ambedkar Nagar town, formerly known as Mhow, golden busts of Gautam Buddha and B R Ambedkar mounted on blue columns serve as a shrine for the Dalit community in the slum cluster of Rajendra Nagar.
Sitting inside the shrine, Divya Wahurwagh, 18, whispers a prayer for her admission in an LLB course, wishing to become a lawyer like her idol. “Dr Ambedkar was born in my village. He went abroad and studied. I also want to leave Rajendra Nagar. No one in my family has been able to leave this slum,” Divya said.
As per the 2011 Census, Scheduled Castes account for 13% of the population in Dr Ambedkar Nagar, where the Dalit icon was born and spent three years before his family shifted to Maharashtra.
But amid the discourse around Ambedkar and the Constitution, Divya says the BJP and Congress are playing a “dangerous game”. “It’s sad that people are playing politics in Ambedkar’s name. Of course the Constitution won’t be changed, nor will reservation be given to Muslims,” she said.
Located 24 km from Indore, the town is part of the Dhar Lok Sabha constituency, which votes on May 13. Over the years, it has gained prominence with politicians making a beeline to it, from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Congress MP Rahul Gandhi.
In the ongoing Constitution debate, while Rahul Gandhi alleges the BJP wants to “throw away” the Constitution, PM Modi claims the Congress wants to “rob” reservation from OBCs and give it to Muslims.
The insecurities surrounding the reservation debate, in the context of the Constitution, has percolated across this region, where there is resentment among Dalits against both parties for playing politics over the Constitution.
Where once stood the Dalit icon’s home is now a spacious hall with white marble and a golden Ambedkar statue. Here, those in-charge of running the Bhim Janm Bhoomi have accused each other of financial misappropriation.
Sukhdev Dabar, a BTech graduate who gives tours of the Janm Bhoomi site, says, “Both parties claim to be the biggest Ambedkar bhakts and want to save the Constitution. Here, committee members are accusing each other of stealing money. This is the reality. Everyone makes speeches and takes advantage of Babasaheb.”
Located 50 km away is the Bhojshala temple and Kamal Maula mosque complex, where a sizeable number of Muslims living in the area feel anxiety and fear as they claim to be “painted as villains” in the reservation debate. Though MP has a small proportion of Muslims, they make up about 16% of Dhar’s population.
At the Bhojshala-Kamal Maula complex, an Archeological Survey of India team has been excavating the site after a High Court order.
Nilesh Kumar, 55, a cobbler, says, “It’s all Hindu-Muslim now. No one wants to ask about the engineers roaming around selling tea, and the price of dal breaking records. The Bhojshala and reservation issues have come after the Congress won seats here,” he said.
The BJP won Dhar in the last two polls with sitting MP Savitri Thakur facing Congress tribal leader Radheyshyam Muvel this time. Of the eight Assembly segments in Dhar, the Congress won five in the 2023 Assembly polls.
In Islampura village, Sharukh Soni, 29, says the distance between Hindus and Muslims has grown over the course of this election. “Moderate Hindus and Muslims have become hardliners. Can we take anyone’s rights away? We are not a vote bank, we are also humans. We must not become like Pakistan. That is the real fight,” he says.
