Equality as a key to national development

Professor Mohammed Arif was a guest speaker at the 120th birth anniversary celebrations of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar at India House, London. The following is an edited version of his speech:

Babasaheb belongs to a group of great people who changed the course of history. He was an outstanding intellectual, moral and political leader. His life was full of hardship as he portrayed in his writings and speeches but he was resilient, courageous and had faith in the ultimate success of his mission.

Dr. B. R. Ambedkar

He had faith in the invincible power of the human spirit in the pursuit of justice and human dignity as he pointed out in one of his speeches. He said ‘educate, agitate and organize: have faith in yourself. With justice on our side I do not see how we can lose our battle.’ Although his message was revolutionary, he believed in non-violence and felt that the struggle for equality should be waged at the political, moral and constitutional levels. He believed in the orderly removal of inequality.

French Revolution

Babasaheb’s invaluable gift to India was the Indian constitution. The constitution he gave was democratic, secular and had universal adult suffrage without any discrimination. In fact, if we look at Britain in 1776, at the time of the American Revolution, Britain was not a democracy. The House of Commons was composed of MPs elected by two percent of the population and they were all men. It is only after 1928, after considerable struggle, that the franchise was extended to every man and woman at 21. Yet 20 years later, Babasaheb Ambedkar gave adult franchise to all Indians and guaranteed fundamental rights. The constitution has been the foundation of India’s unity and progress.

His social philosophy as he put it was enshrined in three words: liberty, equality and fraternity. Many people, perhaps, do not know that these concepts were Indian concepts and were embodied in the teaching of the Buddha, these words of wisdom were uttered around 500BC, and therefore not borrowed from the French Revolution.

Many people felt deep resentment at being viewed as part of a minority when they were all Indian and belonged to the same land. Babasaheb’s view was that the issues of majority and minorities would disappear with the passage of time through changing attitudes. I remember a remarkable speech made by the former Indian High Commissioner, Kamlesh Sharma, who argued that India was a country of minorities. Every religion, every sub-religion, every sect, every regional culture is a minority culture - people have started to recognise this fact and therefore the issues of majority and minorities are slowly disappearing. In fact, he was endorsing what Babasaheb had said many years previously.

Babasaheb said ‘Men are mortal. So are ideas. An idea needs propagation as much as plants need watering, otherwise both will wither and die’. I think there is a need for propagating his ideas universally as they have universal applicability in terms of democracy, justice and human dignity.

Economic and social progress

India has a long tradition of standing up to injustice and discrimination. People may recall that immediately after Independence, Krishna Menon condemned apartheid in South Africa at the United Nations. India was the first country to do so.

It has become a lot easier to propagate Ambedkar’s ideas of the capability of moral force to challenge the powers of vested interests. Today, information cannot be controlled. Information has been democratised. The internet has changed everything. Technology has changed the parameters of political and social debate. Today we communicate via email, Face book and Twitter which are available to everyone worldwide. Babasaheb said ‘If the depressed classes gained their self-respect and freedom, they would contribute not only to their own progress and prosperity but by their industry, intellect and courage would contribute also to the strength and prosperity of the nation’.

Babasaheb felt that greater social and economic equality was a good thing - it leads to efficiency, competitiveness, social harmony and economic progress. This has been borne out by the example of the Scandinavian countries - these countries are more egalitarian than any other countries in the world. e.g. in Norway, the usual gap in a company between the lowest and highest paid employees is one to four plus healthcare and social benefits. These countries at the same time, barring Singapore and Hong Kong, are at the top of the competitiveness league table. It is clear, empirical proof that a more egalitarian spirit and social welfare do not necessarily endanger competitiveness.

Another study carried out by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett of unequal societies such as the US, Britain and Portugal as well as more equal societies such as Sweden and Japan: they found unequal societies scored noticeably higher on all social problems at every level of society. This proves Babasaheb’s argument that egalitarianism does lead to efficiency, competitiveness, social solidarity, fewer social problems as well as economic and social progress.

Foreign reserves

Perhaps it is difficult to remove economic and social inequalities when countries are poor and lack resources. This is not the case with India now. Between 2007 and the present day, the world has faced the worst recession since the 1930s. In an environment of increasing unemployment, falling national incomes, rising debt and negative growth worldwide, India has managed to stem the trend, doing extremely well with national income rising seven-eight percent. Its foreign reserves have reached Sterling Pounds 400 bn and its economy is roaring ahead. It has emerged as a major economic and political power in the world. It is knocking at the door of the UN Security Council for membership.

In view of the above, it should be easier for India to reduce social and economic inequalities in the country over the next few years and realise Babasaheb’s dream of social and economic egalitarianism.

In conclusion, I would say that the best way of paying tribute to Babasaheb is to recognise that we cannot be complacent in the pursuit of justice and human dignity and we must also recognise that there continues to be a lot of work to be done.