The shared legacies of Martin Luther King and Ambedkar's struggles

The BJP is as unnatural a champion of Dalits as capitalists are of the working class

On April 4, the US remembered Martin Luther King Jr. on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of his death. The discussions and reminiscences about the civil rights leader brought home some stark realities about race relations in the country – that notwithstanding the progress made since the period of the civil rights movement, the US is still a long way from achieving the ‘dream’ King fought and died for. Some commentators even argued that for African Americans, the situation today is worse than it once was.

These conversations were taking place at a time when Dalits across India were