Ambedkar’s Role in Framing Constitution a Myth: Ram Bhahadur Rai

Ram Bahadur Rai said Ambedkar wanted to burn down the Constitution of India.

A copy of the Constitution of India. (Photo Courtesy: Simply Decoded)

In an interview with Outlook, former ABVP General Secretary, Ram Bahadur Rai, said
BR Ambedkar’s role in framing the Constitution of India, was a “myth” and said that the latter played a role in the construction of identity politics.

Rai, who is also a veteran journalist, said that Ambedkar’s role was only secondary and “limited” since he only “corrected the language” of whatever was provided to him by by Sir Benegal Narsing Rau, an Indian diplomat.

Rai went onto say that Ambedkar had in fact said that if the Constitution was ever to be set on fire, he would be the first one to do so.

Ram Bahadur Rai criticised the Constitution for being a haven for lawyers to bypass the law and for discouraging federalism. The Constituent Assembly, he pointed out, was a creation of the colonisers.

There have been over 100 constitutional amendments; one every year, and we still cannot say there won’t be need for more. This in itself is proof the Constitution does not fulfil today’s needs.

Ram Bahadur Rai told<i> Outlook</i>

Even the Preamble to the Constitution, he said, had a “sovereign character” as Jawaharlal Nehru had brought in “British jurist to work on the Constitution”

Rai also said that the secular people in India are against making any changes in the Constitution, attributing to it a sacred nature.

(Read the full story on Outlook)

(This article was originally published on 6 June 2016 and has been reposted from The Quint's archives on the occasion of Republic Day.)