The ideology of Jogendra Nath Mandal, the SC leader who went up to shake hands with the Muslim League and played an important role in the creation of Pakistan is often countered with the ideology of Dr BR Ambedkar as he did not go the “Jinnah Way” but we must raise a question, Is BR Ambedkar a perfect opposition to Jogendra Nath Mandal ?

From a Hindu point of both were more or less identical. Jogendra Nath Mandal and Br Ambedkar both gave up their Dharmik way of life and made their brains filled with deep enmity against Hinduism. The levels of hatred these  ki jitwo Dalit leaders had was easily visible in their actions. While Jogendra Nath Mandal chose Pakistan or Muslims over Hindus, BR Ambedkar went to burn Manusmriti and blasphemed against Hindu Gods and Goddesses in his book “Riddles in Hinduism. Instead of bringing BR Ambedkar as a principal opposition to Jogendra Nath Mandal we Hindus can make Pramatha Ranjan Thakur in opposition to both Ambedkar and Jogendra Nath Mandal.

Pramatha Ranjan Thakur was born in the same community as Jogendra Nath Mandal but built a totally different ideology from him. Pramatha Ranjan Thakur was born in the year 1904, in the Faridpur district of Bengal Presidency. He belonged to the Namasudra community, a lower caste community and adhered to the Matuaism- a Vaishnavite religious reform movement founded by his great-grandfather, Harichand Thakur. Pramatha Ranjan Thakur received his education and got trained at the Bar in London and became the first barrister from the Namasudra community. Even Pramatha Ranjan Thakur built his own organisation Bengal Provincial Depressed Classes League in opposition to Jogendra Nath Mandal’s Provincial Scheduled Castes Federation and always remained in opposition to the views of Jogendra Nath Mandal’s organisation in terms of partition. Pramatha Ranjan Thakur also is called a person who brought the namashudra community in opposition to Muslims while Jogendra Nath Mandal was falling in love with the mallechas. Pramatha Ranjan Thakur too joined hands with the Hindu Mahasabha leader in order to resist partition. Unfortunately, partition happened and the villages where the Namashudra community lived fell in East Pakistan and therefore Pramatha Ranjan Thakur along with his family and several Matua followers migrated.

Though Pramatha Ranjan Thakur came from a lower caste, went through the horrors of partition and arrived in West Bengal in phases from East Pakistan, he refused to use caste identity for benefits and remained as refugees like others. He refused any special reservations for his community. Pramatha Ranjan Thakur vigorously opposed Ambedkar during his tenure and even opposed caste-based reservation despite being a Harijan and called for reservation based on economic status. He remained a Hindu, a vaishnavite his entire life and did not run away from obstacles. He worked for his Namashudra community and did not use them for his mere politics like other so-called Dalit leaders like BR Ambedkar or Periyar.

Co-opting Anti-Dharmic people for political gains will harm Dharma on a larger scale at the end of the day. The ruling party at the center, Bhartiya Janta Party which is looked u pon as the only pro-Hindu political party left is sadly engaging itself in the club of Ambedkar and Periyar politics in order to fetch the vote banks of lower castes. But the bigger question is will this type of politics help Dharma in the long run ?

Fetching votes in the name of anti-Hindu personalities like Ambedkar, Periyar who went up to burn our Shastras and committed blasphemy against our Devi Devtas will create an anti-shastra mindset in the minds of lower caste Hindus. Because of this kind of politics, anti-Hindu Ambedkar and Periyar have become popular and sacred figures in the eyes of Shudras. The caste politics has filled the minds of Shudras with the idea of Hinduism being a casteist religion. Patriarchy and misogyny are also the tags that are given to Hinduism and Hindu Devi-Devtas by Feminists and some Shudras. Also, this politics encourages the conversion of Hindus into Buddhism after taking inspiration from their newly created god Dr. BR Ambedkar who burnt Manusmriti, left Hinduism and went up into the folds of Buddhism. “Annihilation of Caste” is a book written by BR Ambedkar where he blasphemed Hindu Gods and Goddesses. He labeled Hinduism as Casteist and Patriarchal in nature. Also, politics creates a deep hatred for the Brahmin community which has always been at the forefront of resisting invaders and also are the one upon whose shoulders the base of Hinduism lies. This is the reason Islamists, Christians, Communists, Feminists, Neo Buddhists all tried and are trying their best to shatter down the Brahmin community. Dr Ambedkar and Periyar shared deep hatred towards Brahmins, Periyar even said that if anyone finds a snake and a brahmin, then he should kill Brahmin first. This was the level of hate that was filled inside the newly created icons of Shudras due to caste politics.

Jagjeevan Ram, and Pramatha Ranjan Thakur are some of our heroes that we need to bring in replacements for BR Ambedkar or Periyar. We need to have our own heroes. The ones who bowed down to Dharma and not betrayed it.

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