Ambedkar X Hinduism—Pratap Bhanu Mehta
“The Vedas are a worthless set of books. There is no reason either to call them sacred or infallible…
The time has come when the Hindu mind must be freed from the hold which the silly ideas propagated by the Brahmins have on them.
Without this, the liberation of India has no future”—B. R. Ambedkar
Hinduism claims one billion adherents worldwide.
To all those who hold this religion dear, B. R. Ambedkar poses many riddles: Is it even a religion? Who is a Hindu?
Like most of his writings, Riddles in Hinduism remained unpublished during his lifetime. When the state of Maharashtra finally printed it in 1987, the Shiv Sena sought a ban. While the liberals looked away, the Dalit movement circulated copies.
At a time when the state and the Hindu right are painting Ambedkar as a ‘Hindu figure, this fierce critique—now with illuminating annotations—shows us how and why Ambedkar had no love for Hinduism.
In his introduction, Kancha Ilaiah tells us why Hinduism is facing its biggest ever challenge from Dalit-Bahujans. Ambedkar was one, today there are a million Ambedkar’