Ambedkar at the heart of RSS' centenary foundation day programme in Nagpur

Dalit icon BR Ambedkar's statements and principles were conspicuously alluded to by both RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and former president Ram Nath Kovind in their messages during the RSS' centenary foundation day programme on Thursday.

As the Sangh writes a new chapter in its history, the organisation has been giving impetus to draw similarities between its ideological moorings and the views of BR Ambedkar, to establish that he, who enjoys deity-like status in the SC community, was ideologically closer to Sangh than the other national political outfits.

Chief guest at the programme, Kovind, citing the speech of the late Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who also came from a Sangh background, said that the former PM had said his government "would function based on Bhim Smriti (constitution) rather than Manu Smriti. And we are Bhimwadis (meaning Ambedkarites)".


Addressing the programme at its office in Resham Bagh here, Mohan Bhagwat also quoted Ambedkar to convey his message of social unity and cautioned against forces that, similar to neighbouring countries, might try to create unrest in India.

To deliver the message of unity and to show that culturally all Indians have the same background, but have different ways of worshipping, Bhagwat quoted Ambedkar, saying, he "referred to the foundation of this unity as an inherent cultural unity."

At the same programme, Kovind, who also hails from the SC community, hailed both Ambedkar and RSS founder KB Hedgewar as "nation builders".