India's path to redemption: Ambedkar's liberal legacy leads the way

Ambedkar gave us a liberal Constitution, and liberalism is a fundamental attribute of democracy

India honoured the memory of the chief architect of its Constitution, Babasaheb Ambedkar, by declaring a public holiday on his 135th birth anniversary on April 14. Political parties have long competed to claim they are the true inheritors and sentinels of his political legacy. It has been easier to sing paeans in his praise and install his statues at prominent locations than to keep faith with his vision of a liberal and democratic India, where individual rights transcend community-based prescriptions.

 

The Constitution of India is citizen-centric, with the state under a legal and justiciable obligation to govern without heed to