In Maharashtra, amid disquiet over ‘threat’ to Constitution, Dalits invoke Ambedkar, close ranks

At Chaitya Bhoomi near Dadar Chowpatty in Mumbai, overlooking the Arabian Sea, there is a continuous stream of visitors in and out of the B R Ambedkar memorial on a bright summer day earlier this week. Holding colourful flowers topped with blue candles, men, women and children kneel before Ambedkar’s bust with folded hands, each lighting a candle as a mark of respect to the architect of the Indian Constitution.

A visit to Chaitya Bhoomi – where Ambedkar’s last rites were performed after his death in 1956 – is incomplete without a halt at the makeshift stalls packed with books written by Ambedkar.

Harshala Sakhre, a 15-year-old who completed her Class 10 board exam this year, stopped at one such stall to buy a copy of the Constitution. Presenting a copy of the Constitution on occasions like weddings or birthdays is becoming a trend among the Dalit community in Maharashtra.

Accompanied by her parents, who chose to celebrate their wedding anniversary by paying a visit to Chaitya Bhoomi, Harshala’s father Ganesh, a self-employed decorator, says, “The current debate on the Constitution has triggered greater curiosity and awareness among the generation next. They want to read and know the laws.”

While acknowledging apprehensions in the Dalit community over the “threat” to the Constitution, Ganesh says, “Is it so easy to replace the Constitution? Will they be able to justify the changes?”

He is referring to the heat being generated over the Constitution in the campaigning by the ruling BJP as well as the Opposition INDIA alliance for the ongoing Lok Sabha elections in the country.

While Prime Minister Narendra Modi has maintained in his speeches at poll rallies that the Constitution is sacrosanct and will not be changed, Congress