4 things Ambedkar said that Modi or his ministers would never quote

Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar is a favourite among political parties. His evocation serves them many purposes - a Dalit leader, strong opponent of the caste system, a fierce scholar, visionary and the architect of the constitution.

26 November marked India's very first Constitution Day and saw both ruling BJP and the Opposition refer to Ambedkar to enunciate values of objectivity and fairness among other things.

Even as the Winter Session of the Parliament opened on Friday, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley quoted Ambedkar saying that India lost her independence because of the treachery of her own people - a veiled attack on the Opposition.

However, here are some things that the Dalit leader said which would give the Sangh parivar affiliated BJP nightmares.

Dalit-Muslim bhai-bhai?

You must have heard right-wing groups quoting paragraphs from Pakistan or the Partition of India where it was argued that Ambedkar spoke of Hindus as Muslims not as different sects but as "different species." He did highlight the differences and the antagonism between the two religious groups but here's what the people quoting him forgot to mention - the magic of the quotation without context.

In the same book, Ambedkar shows that he is well aware on the casualties on the Muslim side as well -

"There are many lower orders in the Hindu society whose economic, political and social needs are the same as those of the majority of the Muslims and they would be far more ready to make a common cause with the Muslims for achieving common ends than they would with the high caste of Hindus who have denied and deprived them of ordinary human rights for centuries."

Also read: Lord Ram & the Constitution: Rajnath's democracy goof ups

And it is in this very book that Ambedkar vehemently opposes a Hindu Raj. He quotes examples of cooperation between Hindus, Muslims and Depressed classes, saying that abolition of the Muslim League and "the formation of a mixed party of Hindus and Muslims" is the only effective solution.

Bet you didn't see that one coming!

When Ambedkar did not go "moo!"

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Beef eating Hindus or beef eating anybody was the least of Ambedkar's concerns. What did concern him - and what seems to be baffling many others now - is why it wasn't simply an act of filling one's belly?!

In The Untouchables, Ambedkar explained why certain castes were ranked lower and given the 'untouchable' tag because they consumed cow meat. He blames the Brahmins for making the act a religious one to maintain control on the lower castes.

Organisations like the RSS often quote the Vedas to prove the historical sanctity of cows. Ambedkar's account differs -

"In Rig Veda (X. 86.14) Indira says, 'They cook for one 15 plus twenty oxen.' The Rig Veda (X. 91.14) says that for Agni were sacrificed horses, bulls, oxen, barren cows and rams. From the Rig Veda (X, 72.6) it appears that the cow was killed with a sword or an axe."Whose version is true? You decide.

An unrighteous Rama and naughty Krishna?

Ambedkar renounces Hinduism and embraces Buddhism (dramatic recreation)

Now here is a text that you would never find BJP quoting and it is called Riddles in Hinduism. In a section titled 'The Riddle of Rama and Krishna', Ambedkar does the unthinkable (for the BJP or any popular party with a reasonable Hindu voter base) - he disputes their deification!

For Rama, he questions the act of killing Sugriva's brother Vali despite no enmity with the latter. However, Rama is criticised most heavily for his conduct towards Sita. According to Ambedkar's text, not only does Rama call his own wife a "prize in a war" he then proceeds to say that he doubts her conduct after having lived in another man's premises and banishes her. In doing so, he breaks idealism around the right-wing's favourite married couple.

As for Krishna, he says that his "youthful career was full of illicit intimacy with the young women of Brindaben which is called his Rasalila."He doesn't stop here. "Of all his indecencies the worst is his illicit life with one Gopi by name Radha," and with these harsh words, Ambedkar effectively does away with the romanticism around Rasaleela.

Now that's the kind of eroticism that even the BJP won't ban!

Lessen toil, use birth control!

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Had Ambedkar been alive today, he and BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj wouldn't have seen eye to eye. Why? Because while one asks Hindu women to put their womb to good use at least four times, the other was quite straightforward when it came to population control.

As a Labour minister, Ambedkar was all in for maternity benefits and regarded overpopulation as one of major reasons for poverty. Coming from a family of fourteen children, Ambedkar could argue firsthand about the ills of having too many mouths to feed. Therefore, he advocated both family planning and contraception - for the woman's healthy upkeep as well as for a break from domestic drudgery.